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Alpine vs Cone: catalog facts
Alpine	Cone
Free Free to download and use.	Free Free open-source software.
Windows, Linux, Command line	Linux, Command line
Lightweight keyboard-driven terminal interface Complete documentation built into the program	Multiple IMAP and POP3 accounts plus local maildirs Built-in editor with spell checking
Text-only interface with no rich HTML rendering Releases are infrequent	Text-only interface Images and PDFs need external viewer programs
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: Apache-2.0	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 1, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.