Mailspring Alternative and Mailspring Pro Pricing
Put every mailbox on one board and let AI categorize and de-spam each message.
Mailspring is a solid desktop email client with a unified inbox, and the core app costs nothing. People look for a Mailspring alternative for three reasons: they work on more than one computer, they want incoming mail sorted for them rather than just collected, or they are weighing whether Mailspring Pro at $8 a month is worth it. For a single Windows, Mac or Linux machine, Thunderbird and eM Client are the closest swaps. For one sorted inbox that opens on any computer, a browser client such as Inboxes fits better.
This is not a page about Mailspring being bad. It is actively maintained (version 1.26.0 shipped on October 2, 2026), it supports Gmail, iCloud, Office 365, Outlook.com, Yahoo, Fastmail and any IMAP account, and its search across every connected mailbox is genuinely quick. The question here is narrower: when does a different tool do the job better, and what does each option cost in US dollars?
Why people look for a Mailspring alternative
Most switchers fall into one of four groups.
- People with two or three computers. Mailspring is an installed app with its own sync engine. Every laptop and desktop downloads and indexes your mail separately, and a new machine means adding each account again and waiting for the first sync.
- People drowning in volume rather than accounts. A unified inbox puts four mailboxes in one list, which helps, but the list is still unsorted. Receipts, newsletters, customer questions and spam that slipped past the provider filter all arrive in the same column.
- People who need a Chromebook or a locked-down work PC. Mailspring ships for Mac, Windows and Linux. There is no ChromeOS build, and a managed office computer may not let you install anything.
- People deciding on Pro. Read receipts, link tracking, send later, templates and follow-up reminders sit behind Mailspring Pro. If those are not what you need, paying for Pro will not fix the problem you actually have.
How much does Mailspring Pro cost?
Mailspring Pro costs $8 a month, on the Mailspring Pro page checked directly with the vendor. You start the subscription inside the app under Preferences, then Subscription. The core client, including the unified inbox, multiple accounts and cross-account search, costs nothing.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Mailspring | No charge | Multiple IMAP and Office 365 accounts, unified inbox, search across accounts, undo send, signatures, themes |
| Mailspring Pro | $8 a month | Read receipts, link tracking, send later, templates, follow-up reminders, snooze, contact profiles, company overviews, mailbox insights |
That works out to $96 a year. Pro is a good deal for someone in sales or recruiting who wants to know when a proposal was opened. It does nothing for the person whose real complaint is that the inbox is too long to read.
Does Mailspring have a unified inbox?
Yes. Mailspring merges every connected account into one inbox and lets you search all of them at once, and that part costs nothing. What it does not do is decide what each message is. Every new email lands in the same list in date order, and sorting it into the ones that need you today and the ones that can wait is still your job.
That is the gap a sorted inbox fills. In an email client for multiple accounts that reads each message as it arrives, a customer question, an invoice and a newsletter end up in different places before you open anything.
Mailspring alternatives compared
Five options cover almost everyone who leaves Mailspring. Prices are what each vendor publishes in US dollars; where we could not confirm a US price, the table says so rather than guessing.
| Tool | Where it runs | Unified inbox | Sorts mail for you | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mailspring | Mac, Windows, Linux | Yes | No | Core at no charge, Pro $8 a month |
| Thunderbird | Mac, Windows, Linux | Yes, Unified Folders | No, filters you write yourself | Open source, no license fee |
| eM Client | Mac, Windows | Yes | No | 2 accounts at no charge, $39.95 a year or $59.95 once |
| Mailbird | Windows, Mac | Yes | No | Paid Premium plan, check the vendor US price |
| Inboxes | Any browser, including ChromeOS | Yes, one board | Yes, AI category and spam verdict per message | $24.50 a month billed yearly, 5 mailboxes |
Thunderbird
The like-for-like swap. Thunderbird is open source, runs on the same three desktop systems, and its Unified Folders view does what Mailspring's unified inbox does. It is heavier to configure and less pretty, but it is far more extensible, and it handles very large archives well. If Mailspring frustrates you on one machine and money is the main concern, start here. Our Thunderbird alternative page covers where it falls short.
eM Client
The polished paid option for Windows and Mac. eM Client bundles mail, calendar, contacts and tasks, works with Google accounts, Microsoft Exchange servers and other IMAP mail, and the Personal license is $39.95 a year or $59.95 once in the US, which is cheaper than a year of Mailspring Pro. The version with no charge stops at two accounts. There is no Linux build. See how eM Client compares before you buy a license.
Mailbird
Windows-first and built around a unified inbox plus app integrations in a sidebar. It is a reasonable choice for a single Windows PC. Mailbird lists its prices in the currency of your region, and we have not confirmed a current US figure, so check its pricing page from a US connection before you compare.
Inboxes
Inboxes is the option when the problem is not the app but the pile. It connects any mailbox that speaks IMAP (Gmail through an app password, Yahoo, AOL, iCloud, Zoho, your own domain and most US internet provider addresses) and puts every message on one board in a browser tab. An AI model reads each new message, gives it a category and a spam verdict, and archiving syncs back to the real mailbox, so your phone stays in step. Because nothing is installed, the same sorted board opens on a work PC, a home Mac, a Linux laptop or a Chromebook with one login.
Where Mailspring is the better choice
Being straight about this saves you a wasted subscription.
- Outlook and Microsoft 365 accounts. Mailspring connects them. Inboxes does not support Outlook.com or Microsoft 365 mailboxes at all.
- Price. The core Mailspring client costs nothing, and even Pro at $96 a year is well under a year of Inboxes Solo.
- Offline reading. A desktop client keeps a local copy of your mail. A browser client needs a connection.
- Sales tooling. Read receipts, link tracking and follow-up reminders are Mailspring Pro features we do not offer.
If two or more of those describe you, stay on Mailspring or move to Thunderbird.
What is the best alternative to Mailspring for several mailboxes on several computers?
A browser-based unified inbox. Desktop clients store your accounts on each machine, so running Mailspring, Thunderbird or eM Client on three computers means three setups and three local copies of your mail. A browser client keeps the connection on the server side: add each mailbox once and the same inbox, with the same sorting, opens wherever you sign in.
That matters most for people who run a small business from more than one desk. A consultant who keeps client mail on a shop address, a personal Gmail and an old provider address usually also has contracts arriving as attachments in all three. Pairing the inbox with a tool that keeps signed contracts and their renewal dates in one place stops those deadlines from living only in whichever mailbox the PDF happened to land in.
Is Mailspring Pro worth it?
Yes, if you send a lot of mail that you need answers to. Knowing that a quote was opened twice yesterday is a real edge in sales, and $8 a month is a fair price for it. It is not worth it if what you want is less time spent reading. Pro adds tracking to the mail you send; it does nothing to sort the mail you receive.
Can I move from Mailspring without losing email?
Yes, as long as your accounts use IMAP, which nearly all of them do. Mailspring does not own your mail; it keeps a synced copy of what lives on your provider's server. Connect the same accounts to the new client, wait for the first sync, and every folder appears as it was. Only local drafts, templates and Pro tracking history stay behind, so send or copy any drafts first.
Switching in practice
Moving to Inboxes takes a few minutes per mailbox:
- For Gmail, Yahoo, AOL and iCloud, create an app password in that account's security settings. Provider addresses and your own domain usually take the normal password.
- Add each mailbox to Inboxes with its address and password. Our IMAP email client page lists the server settings for the common US providers.
- Let the first sync run, then read the board for a day alongside Mailspring before you remove anything.
Plans start at $24.50 a month billed yearly for five mailboxes, with fifteen on Growth and forty on Scale. The full breakdown is on the pricing page. If you use a Chromebook as your everyday machine, the email client for Chromebook page covers that setup step by step.