Best Email Client And Cox

ProtonMail is as easy to use as any webmail service, but it protects your message archive with zero access encryption and offers end-to-end encryption for message transmission. It's an effective.

The 7 best email apps for Windows. EM Client for customization. Thunderbird for a free email client. Mailbird for people who live in their inbox. Windows Mail for simplicity. Microsoft Outlook for email with a robust business platform. Kiwi for Gmail for Gmail power users. For security and encryption.
Basic Email Client Steps. Use the basic steps below to update your email client settings. Identify all of the devices in your household used to send email from your Cox Email address. On each device, open the email client and navigate to Settings. Locate your current outgoing server settings, then update the following fields as needed.
Cox customers with a cox.net email account can log in here. Enjoy your Cox webmail account.
7 Best Free Email Clients. These days, there’s no shortage of powerful free email client software applications for all operating systems, including Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, and iOS. Below are seven of our favorite email clients, each offering its own unique set of features and capabilities. Mailbird (Windows).

Introduction

We’ve all heard of Gmail. Some of the older ones probably remember Hotmail too. But chances are you don’t use those in a professional setting.

Microsoft Outlook had dominated the scene of business email providers. But no more. Now there are loads of good email clients. To get the skinny on the best email clients, both paid and free, check out this super roundup.

Best email clients comparison chart (top 10 highest rated)

Product	Best for	Pricing (starts at*)	Site
Microsoft Outlook	Best email client for Windows 10	$5 per user per month billed annually with Office 365
Mozilla Thunderbird	Best alternative to Gmail	Free
eM Client	Best email client for Windows & Mac	$49.95 per device
Mailbird	Top email client for multiple accounts	$1.63 per month
Airmail	Top email client for iPhone	$2.99 per month
Spike	Good desktop email client	$4 per account per month billed annually
Hiri	Good email client for Mac	$39 per year
Mailspring	Good free email client	$8 per month
INKY	Top email app to block phishing	Contact vendor
Spark	Good email app for team collaboration	$6.39 per user per month billed annually

^{*Not including free versions}

What is an email client?

An email client is a more robust email app than your average Gmail or Hotmail.

Firstly, an email client lets you host your email data on your own computer, as well as on the cloud sometimes. This is opposed to webmail which hosts everything on a server. That’s why client-based emails are better for business purposes: You have better access and protection over your work emails.

Secondly, email clients let you sync multiple email accounts into one UX. You can bring in your Gmail, Outlook or Yahoo accounts and use them all in one unified inbox.

There are a lot of great features when it comes to the functionality of email clients. These go beyond showing which emails have been read, and which are still unread.

The best email client solutions do the following:

Send later lets you write an email and schedule it to be sent at another time
Smart inboxes in email clients can identify important emails
Read receipts show you when someone has opened your email
Email templates let you save and reuse emails
Attachment management lets you store and retrieve attachments
Snooze buttons help you avoid email distractions for a period of time
Encryption is often more robust with special email clients, using tech like PGP
Phishing or other suspicious emails get flagged by email clients
Calendar tools let you create events directly from an email invitation
Contact tools let you create or edit a contact directly from an email
Collaboration tools let you share emails with colleagues and work as a team

These are just some of the great features you can expect with the best email apps.

What are the best email clients? Here’s our top 15 list:

Now that you’ve learned a thing or two about email solutions, it’s time to explore your options. This list of the best email clients covers both paid and free versions. We highlight their strong suits and list off their best features. Read on to find your perfect email client fit.

Microsoft Outlook (Best email client for Windows 10)

Forget Gmail. When it comes to email servers at the office, Microsoft Outlook is probably the best known name in email services. It first came out with Microsoft Office 97.

Microsoft Outlook combines email and calendar tools in one place. It identifies emails that are “focused.” These are important emails. You can easily create calendar events or tasks directly from the email dashboard. Outlook has good enterprise-end encryption. There’s also ransomware detection. Microsoft Outlook integrates mainly with other Microsoft products like Office and cloud storage app OneDrive. Outlook comes with mobile apps for iOS and Android.

There is a free version of Outlook. Premium versions come with Office 365. Personal plans go for $69.99 for one user, $99.99 for up to 6 users, both per year. Business plans are $5, $12.50 and $20 per user per month billed annually.

Microsoft Outlook is best for:

SMBs
Large businesses
Enterprise
Calendar
Microsoft 365 integrations
Windows users

Mozilla Thunderbird (Best alternative to Gmail)

Thunderbird is the email product of Mozilla. Like all of Mozilla’s apps, Thunderbird is free and open source. Its latest version came out in September 2020.

Mozilla Thunderbird is a free and easy to use email app. Anyone can set it up and use it like a pro in minutes. There are many customization options for the Thunderbird dashboard with add-ons. These include extensions, plugins for more features, and themes for different looks. For security, it offers do-not-track and phishing protection. There’s also an add-on for PGP encryption. You also get calendar and to-do tools. One-click address book makes it easy to add new contacts. Attachment reminders make sure you don’t forget to add mentioned files. Finally if you have multiple email accounts, Thunderbird helps keep them organized with smart folders.

Thunderbird is totally free. So are the many add-ons by Mozilla and other companies.

Thunderbird is best for:

Free users
Startups
SMBs
Customization
Multiple email accounts
Ease of use

eM Client (Best email client for Windows & Mac)

eM Client Inc. is a software company out of the Czech Republic. It got off the ground in 2017. It’s flagship app is the email client of the same name.

eM Client works in over 20 languages. It runs on the operating systems of Microsoft Windows and macOS. It supports the major email technologies. These include POP3, SMTP, IMAP, and more. You can encrypt your messages with PGP for added security. eM Client lets you watch for replies and gets you read receipts. You get access to email templates. There is an attachment manager. You can schedule emails to send later. eM Client includes modules for calendars, task management and contact management. You can also do messaging through eM Client.

There’s a free version of eM Client for 2 email accounts. The pro versions start $49.95 per device.

eM Client is best for:

Startups
SMBs
Templates
Messaging
End encryption
Translation

Mailbird (Top email client for multiple accounts)

The folks behind Mailbird call themselves a “A Brilliant Team of Email Innovation Nerds.” That should inspire confidence that they are serious about great email.

Mailbird operates on Windows. It specializes in handling multiple email accounts. You can sync from other email accounts into a unified inbox. The dashboard is clean and pleasing to the eye. Figuring out Mailbird’s features is intuitive. You can customize the look with color themes and layouts. Other Mailbird features include speed reader, snooze buttons, and attachment searching. Mailbird excels at integrating with other useful tools. These include Twitter, Whatsapp, Facebook, Evernote, and more. It also works with Google Drive and Calendar, Dropbox and Slack.

Mailbird Personal is only $1.63 per month, $19.50 per year, or a one-time payment of $39.50. Mailbird Business is $2.88 per month or $34.50 per year.

Mailbird is best for:

One person business
Startups
SMBs
Unified inbox
Multiple accounts
Integrations
Windows users

Airmail (Top email client for iPhone)

Airmail is the email client by the Italian software development Bloop SRL. They design apps for macOS and iOS. Airmail is Bloop’s main product.

Airmail works exclusively within the Apple ecosystem. It runs on iPhone, iPad and Mac computers. The design is native to each device. Apple has often praised Airmail’s cool look. The platform can respond to Siri. It syncs multiple accounts from the likes of Gmail, iCloud Mail, Office 365, Microsoft Outlook, IMAP and POP3. It lets you manage them all in one unified inbox. A smart inbox sorts out the important emails for you. You get snooze tools and send later tools. Airmail lets you set up workflow rules to automate your email management. There is a privacy mode to work offline. It also prevents pixel tracking. The iOS versions use FaceID and TouchID for extra security. Airmail even works on Apple Watches.

You can download Airmail and use many features for free. Airmail Pro is $2.99 per month or $9.99 per year. Airmail Business is a single purchase of $49.99

Airmail is best for:

Single users
One person business
Small teams
iOS devices
iPhone users
Unified inbox

Spike (Good desktop email client)

Spike is an Israeli company. It got off the ground in 2017.

You can best use Spike on your desktop with a web browser. It also works on other devices. They have apps for iOS, Android, Windows and macOS. The Spike approach is called conversational email. It removes things like subject lines and signatures to make the email thread easier to follow. The inbox highlights important emails. Spike also has a note app that’s good for collaboration. You can also chat in a sidebar in real-time. Group chats with team members work too. There are scheduler and to-do tools. Spike uses email encryption to keep your stuff safe.

Spike offers a free version. The pro plan is $4 and the Business plan is $6, both per account per month billed annually. Contact them for Enterprise prices.

Product name is best for:

Freelancers
Startups
SMBs
Group chat
To-dos

Hiri (Good email client for Mac)

Hiri is an Irish email client. It was first released in 2012.

Hiri is an email app for Mac. It puts simplicity first. Aside from email it does calendars, to-do lists and contacts. Hiri also puts a lot of attention to its design details. This includes features to remove clutter. Hiri syncs all calendar events from Office 365 and Exchange. You can share your calendars too. Hiri has an offline mode for added privacy. You also get reminders and snooze tools.

Hiri costs $39 per year or $119 for life.

Hiri is best for:

Startups
SMBs
Large businesses
Shared calendars
Mac users
Design

Mailspring (Good free email client)

Mailspring forked off from the mail client Nylas Mail. It’s open-source and built with a native C++ sync engine.

Mailspring works with macOS, Windows and Linux. It lets you use multiple IMAP & Office 365 accounts. It’s got a lot of the basic email features. These include undo send and read receipts. There’s also snooze and reminders. The dashboard is customizable with layouts and themes. Mailspring does real-time translation with English, Spanish, Russian, simplified Chinese, French, and German. There’s an RSVP feature that lets you instantly respond to email invites. Your contact list in Mailspring has profiles with Linkedin bios, social media links and company information.

Mailspring has a free version. The pro version is $8 per month.

Mailspring is best for:

Freelancers
Startups
SMBs
Translation
Contacts

INKY (Top email app to block phishing)

INKY is an email app that is foremost about protection from phishing and other fraud. It uses AI and machine learning to do this.

INKY blocks malware, spam and phishing. Its detection is more robust than average email clients. Warnings on emails range from safe, unusual and malicious. You get visibility and email tracking into the blocked emails. It also guides you if you want to examine the suspicious email closer. You can report any suspicious email with one click. INKY’s platform is hosted in the cloud. It supports Office365, Exchange and G Suite. This email security app scales up to companies of any size.

You can request a demo from INKY’s website. For prices contact them as well.

INKY is best for:

Small businesses
Large businesses
Enterprise
Email security
Phishing detection
Spam and malware detection

Spark (Good email app for team collaboration)

Spark was made by Ukranian app development company Readdle. They launched Spark back in 2015.

Spark has mobile apps for iPhones and Androids. There’s a desktop version for macOS and one for Windows is on its way. It syncs email accounts from Outlook, iCloud, Google, Yahoo, Exchange and IMAP. The intelligent inbox sorts out important emails. You can also pin important emails. There is a batch email action feature. You can also get notifications when emails come from people you know. You can work with team members with Spark. It lets you write drafts together or add private notes. Team leaders can delegate emails tasks from the email inbox. It lets you set deadlines and track progress. There’s the usual send later, follow-up reminders, snooze and customizable signatures.

Spark has a free version. The best team collaboration tools are in the Premium plan at $6.39 per user per month billed annually. Contact Spark for enterprise plans.

Spark is best for:

Startups
SMBs
Large businesses
Managers
Team collaboration
Task management

Postbox

Postbox was first released in 2007. The brains behind this desktop email client came out of the Mozilla team. It was originally based on Thunderbird.

Postbox positions itself as a professional email app. The UX is very straightforward and familiar. It syncs accounts from Yahoo, Gmail, iCloud, Office 365, Outlook, and more. The dashboard lets you see your emails in tabs. Email tools let you group your accounts. You can create favorite folders. There is advanced searching and filtering. Postbox also offers file and image management. Pre-canned responses, professional-looking signatures and pre-formatted clips are also available. There’s also an HTML code editor. Postbox uses PGP encryption.

Postbox offers one-year licenses for $29. A lifetime license is $49 (though subject to change).

Postbox is best for:

Freelancers
Startups
SMBs
Desktop email client
Tabbed browsing

Superhuman

The reviews are very mixed about Superhuman Email. Some love it, others are underwhelmed. Still this email app is worth mentioning.

Superhuman tries to reinvent a lot of email UX. The design is very streamlined and sleek. Superhuman also puts speed as the top selling point. They claim every action takes less than 100 milliseconds. It uses powerful AI in the email tirage stage. This sorts the important emails from the lesser ones. You get an undo send option. There’s also follow-ups, reminders and send later tools. Read statuses and read receipts are also part of the toolset. Superhuman gathers insights on your contacts from LinkedIn and other social media.

While there is no pricing listed on the website, other reviewers have noted that Superhuman costs $30 per month.

Superhuman is best for:

SMBs
Large businesses
Fast emailing
AI triage

ProtonMail

ProtonMail is the creation of Swiss scientists who met while working at CERN. That’s some big brains behind this email client.

ProtonMail is an email platform with full end-to-end encryption email. Security is a big deal with ProtonMail, Swiss-style. New accounts are made without needing to use personal information. It doesn’t store any IP logs. You can use ProtonMail with a web browser, or on iOS and Android devices. ProtonMail is open-source and simple to use. The interface has the look and feel as any normal email app.

ProtonMail offers a free version. The Plus version is good for one person at $5 per month. The Pro version is $8 per user per month, and the Visionary version is $30 per month for 6 users.

ProtonMail is best for:

Individuals
Freelancers
Startups
SMBs
End to end encryption
Email privacy

Zimbra

Zimbra was developed by Synacor. That’s a technology company out of Buffalo, NY. Synacor launched Zimbra in 2005.

Zimbra is collaboration software. A big part of it is the email server. The idea is to combine email with other teamwork tools. These include live chatting, 1:1 messaging and group chats. There’s also video conferencing, file sharing and screen sharing. There are tools for real-time collaboration on documents. For emailing, you can sync up Gmail, Yahoo, IMAP and POP. The platform works on Windows, macOS and Linux. You can create tags for emails. Email threads are displayed on multiple tabs. You also get undo send, restore email and scheduled delivery. Calendar and contact management are also available.

For prices contact Zimbra through their website.

Zimbra is best for:

Teams
Startups
SMBs
Collaboration
File sharing

Shift

Shift hails from Victoria, Canada. The people behind Shift have a goal to make work both more productive and more fun.

The Shift approach is to help you manage multiple workflows. You can create custom workspaces inside Shift and invite people to collaborate. Shift is a desktop email client that lets you sync up many email accounts into a unified inbox. It integrates G Suite apps, as well as Slack and Facebook Messenger. You can add extensions to Shift. These include things like Grammarly, Dropbox, HubSpot and Zoom. The overall idea is to create Shift Workspaces and add all your web apps to the UX. It can replace basic web browsing.

The basic Shift plan is free. The Advanced and Team plans are $99.99 per year.

Shift is best for:

Individuals
Freelancers
Startups
SMBs
Extensions

Key takeaways

To sum it all up, you’ve got no more excuses to stick with basic Gmail or Hotmail. Sure Outlook is a decent choice for Windows users. But we hope you’ve discovered some other good email client solutions.

FAQs

What is the difference between webmail and email client?

An email client runs off your own computer, and you can also back up your emails in the cloud. This is opposed to webmail which hosts everything on a server. Email clients are more common for business purposes, while webmail is more for personal use.

What is client-based email?

Client-based email is email software downloaded to your computer. It also stores your email archives on your own computer. You can back up your emails in cloud storage. Client-based emails have more features than simple webmail, and are often premium products.

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While every day seems to bring a new headline about an app that will “replace email,” it’s still a big part of our online lives. Particularly in the business world, email is very much alive and well.

This means that the difficulty of managing your email remains. The right email client can make this a lot easier, but finding the right one can be a challenge.

To make your decision easier, we’ve identified the best email clients out there. Below, you’ll find apps for everything from managing your personal email to organizing your team’s inbox.

Overview: One of the world’s most popular email clients, Gmail remains a great choice for many users.

While it was far from the first email client, the release of Gmail in 2004 was a big deal. It took web-based email to a whole new level, paving the way for the interactive email apps we know today.

Over 15 years later, Gmail is still an excellent email client. You can sort messages using tags, manage multiple accounts from one interface, and easily set up mail forwarding. Gmail also has a powerful spam filter, helping you avoid suspicious and time-wasting messages.

Plus, Gmail has strong integrations with Docs, Sheets, Slides, and especially Google Calendar. This makes it a great choice if you use other Google apps for school or work. And since Gmail is built by Google, you can easily find archived messages with Google’s powerful search algorithm.

Price: Free (with ads)

Platforms: Android, iOS, Web

Overview: A popular choice for business and university use, Microsoft’s flagship email client is also a solid choice for managing your personal email on Windows.

Like Gmail, Outlook needs no introduction at this point. While you’re most likely to encounter the app in a business or university setting, Outlook is also available free for personal use.

Outlook includes all the features you’d expect in a modern email program, including a built-in calendar, spam/malware filtering, and enough storage for most people’s needs. Outlook also features deep integration with Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote. You even get 5 GB of OneDrive storage free just for signing up.

For more advanced features such as message encryption, custom email domain names, and automatic removal of dangerous attachments, you’ll want to upgrade to Microsoft 365. This also gets you access to additional storage and the desktop versions of the aforementioned Microsoft apps.

Price: Free (with ads). Upgrade to Microsoft 365 Personal to remove ads, get additional storage, and unlock advanced security features.

Platforms: Android, iOS, Mac (for paid subscribers), Windows, Web

Need a better system for staying on top of your email and other work tasks? Sign up for our free productivity masterclass:

Overview: A free, open source email client focused on privacy.

Moving beyond the world of massive tech companies, we have Thunderbird. Developed by a subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation, it aims to be a secure, powerful email client for personal use.

The features of Thunderbird are quite impressive. You’ll find all the standard mail filtering, archiving, and searching that you’re used to in other apps. But Thunderbird goes beyond these basics with tools for managing large files, add-ons to extend the app’s functionality, and a unified inbox that lets you track multiple accounts in one place.

Most notably, Thunderbird places a strong emphasis on security and privacy. It detects phishing attempts, warns you when you’re about to click suspicious links, and doesn’t track your activity.

And since Thunderbird is open source, anyone is free to contribute to the project or customize the app for their own needs. The only downside of Thunderbird is its lack of mobile apps, but there are plenty of other options on this list to meet that need.

Price: Free

Platforms: Mac, Linux, Windows

Overview: A free, mobile-focused email client with powerful organization features.

Unlike a lot of other apps on this list, Edison Mail has taken a mobile-first approach to development. They aim to provide an aesthetically pleasing, ad-free email experience on your Android or iOS device.

At its most basic, Edison Mail lets you manage all of your inboxes and email accounts in one place. Whether you have a Gmail, Outlook, or even Yahoo! email address, you can easily access it through Edison Mail.

Where things get interesting, however, is with Edison Mail’s built-in assistant. It has many features for travelers, including flight updates, destination weather forecasts, and just-in-time directions. It can also notify you about package deliveries based on incoming emails, monitor price drops on items, and even automatically unsubscribe you from annoying newsletters and promotional emails.

To keep all of these features free, Edison Mail uses an interesting monetization model. Instead of showing ads, they aggregate ecommerce information from your inbox and use that to create consumer trends reports that they then sell to businesses. While this is less private than Thunderbird or ProtonMail, it still provides a better user experience than ad-supported email clients.

Price: Free

Platforms: Android, iOS, Mac. A Windows desktop app is also in development.

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Overview: Spike transforms your email inbox into a fully-featured, conversational workspace.

If you wish your inbox looked less like email and more like iMessage or WhatsApp, then you’ll love Spike.

Aimed at teams who need a better way to manage their communications, the app turns your email into a real-time chat experience. This makes it an interesting alternative to dedicated chat apps such as Slack or Microsoft Teams.

Beyond its email management features, Spike offers a built-in Notes app for collaborating on projects with your team. While it doesn’t offer the power of dedicated project management tools, it’s enough for smaller teams to get a lot done without having to jump between apps. In a similar vein, there’s also an integrated task list to help you take action on emails.

Price: Free with limited message history, 5 GB of storage, and limited notes and tasks. To get unlimited messages, unlimited notes and tasks, and additional storage, upgrade to the Pro plan for $4 / month per account (billed annually).

Platforms: Android, iOS, Mac, Windows, Web

Overview: An extremely secure, privacy-focused email client based in Switzerland.

Historically, you had to choose between usability and security in email apps. ProtonMail gives you the best of both worlds, ensuring that your data is secure and private while also providing a normal email client experience.

So what makes ProtonMail so secure? On the technical side, all messages are end-to-end encrypted. This means no one, not even ProtonMail, can decrypt or read what’s in your messages.

As a side effect, this also means ProtonMail cannot sell or share your private information with third parties. Plus, ProtonMail accounts are anonymous. They don’t log your IP address and don’t require personal information to create an account.

As if this weren’t enough, ProtonMail is based in Switzerland. Thus, Switzerland’s strict privacy laws apply, and it’s nearly impossible to access the extremely limited data on ProtonMail’s servers without a Swiss court order.

ProtonMail’s primary data center is also located beneath 1000 meters of granite in a well-guarded bunker, so physical security concerns are minimal.

Price: Free (limited to 500 MB of storage and 150 messages per day). Upgrade to the Plus plan for 5 GB of storage, 1000 messages per day, and a custom email domain. Business plans are also available for an additional cost.

Platforms: Android, iOS, Web

Overview: For teams that need to collaborate on high volumes of email, Front is the email client to use.

Let me preface this section by saying that Front is not the right email app for most people. If you’re just managing personal email or a small volume of internal communications, it’s likely overkill.

However, if you have more email than you can handle and need to easily delegate to teammates, Front is a lifesaver. We use it to manage our team inboxes at College Info Geek, and it’s made things so much easier.

My favorite feature is the ability to see different teammate’s inboxes in a single view. If I need to jump into my manager’s inbox to respond to a message meant for me, I can. Plus, Front lets you assign messages to other teammates, saving the hassle of forwarding and CCing.

Beyond this, Front lets you chat with team members about emails without leaving the app. This frees up space in other team chat apps and keeps communications about emails readily accessible.

Finally, Front includes lots of features for automating email. You can create rules and canned responses to process email more efficiently. And if you need features from other work apps, Front has an extensive list of integrations.

Price: Basic features are available for $9/user per month (billed annually). To unlock integrations, more team channels, and unlimited rules, upgrade to Plus for $24/user per month. Enterprise plans are available for larger teams.