Alpine
A terminal email program descended from Pine, with its full documentation built into the program.
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1 more ways to get Alpine
Package managers
- Homebrew
brew install alpine
About Alpine
Alpine is a text-based email client that runs in a terminal and descends from the Pine mail program. All the documentation needed to configure it is built in and can be opened with the "?" or Ctrl+G commands, so users never need to visit the website.
Releases are distributed as source code archives with signatures, plus Windows builds including a 32-bit version. The project site does not use cookies, JavaScript or tracking.
Strengths
- Lightweight keyboard-driven terminal interface
- Complete documentation built into the program
- Signed source releases and Windows builds
- Familiar to long-time Pine users
Limitations
- Text-only interface with no rich HTML rendering
- Releases are infrequent
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree to download and use.
- License
- Apache-2.0
- Platforms
- Windows, Linux, Command line
- How it runs
- Downloadable app
- Account
- Not required
- Best suited for
- Terminal users who want a simple, menu-driven mail client
- Categories
- Email clients, CLI tools
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to Alpine
Compare allSoftware that can replace Alpine for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
Mutt
A text-based email client that runs in the terminal on Unix-like systems.
Mutt is a keyboard-driven terminal client configured through a text file, with a steeper learning curve than Alpine's menus and no Windows build listed.
NeoMutt
A fork of Mutt that gathered decades of scattered patches into one maintained terminal mail client.
NeoMutt is a maintained Mutt fork with notmuch tags and compressed folders, but has no Windows build and requires writing a configuration file first.
aerc
A terminal email client with vim-style keys, an embedded terminal for composing, and first-class support for git email workflows.
aerc adds vim-style keys, asynchronous IMAP and JMAP, and git patch workflow tools, and renders HTML through a terminal browser, but has no Windows build.
meli
A configurable terminal email client written in Rust with IMAP, Maildir, notmuch and JMAP support.
meli is a configurable Rust terminal client with IMAP, Maildir, notmuch and JMAP support, but runs on macOS and Linux only and is described as experimental.
Himalaya
Manage mail accounts through a command-line client.
Himalaya replaces the menu-driven interface with a command-line client, runs on Windows, macOS and Linux, and supports several protocols and local mailbox formats.
alot
A terminal mail reader built on the notmuch indexer, with a command-prompt-driven interface.
alot is a terminal reader built on notmuch for fast search and tagging, but it needs separate tools to fetch and send mail and runs on Linux.
Claws Mail
A fast, keyboard-driven email client that loads a hundred thousand message folder without thinking about it.
Claws Mail moves you to a keyboard-driven graphical client for Windows, macOS and Linux, with plugins for PGP, spam filtering and RSS.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
msmtp
A small SMTP client that sends mail for terminal mail readers and scripts through a mail server.
getmail6
A command-line tool that fetches mail from POP3 and IMAP servers into local mailboxes.
notmuch
A fast, tag-based email indexing and search system used from a terminal or text editor.
Pegasus Mail
A long-running free desktop email client for Windows, maintained alongside the Mercury mail server.
isync
Fast IMAP to Maildir mirroring, usually invoked as mbsync.
OfflineIMAP
Synchronises IMAP accounts into local Maildir folders.
