Tech
I ditched Outlook for this open source email client (and it’s not Thunderbird)
Outlook has become cluttered, ad-heavy, and so intrusive that I went looking for an alternative. However, instead of going with Thunderbird—which feels a bit dated—I switched to a modern, open-source email client with a clean design and features you’d usually expect from premium apps.
Why I ditched Outlook
The new Outlook for Windows is a privacy nightmare! If you connect non-Microsoft accounts to the email client—and I use Gmail—all your credentials and account data get routed via Microsoft’s servers rather than directly between your device and the provider. Our friends over at XDA have detailed how Outlook quietly moves your email to the cloud.
But if that wasn’t enough, the app is lacking basic features you’d expect from an email client in 2025. For instance, there’s no unified inbox. I have multiple email accounts, and with Outlook, I have to manually jump between all of them to view all my emails.
The UI is also unnecessarily cluttered and busy, constantly pushing Microsoft’s other services. You’ll even see intrusive ads popping up right in your list of emails—which I find completely outrageous. One time, I opened Outlook and went to click on a new email I had just received, only to click on an ad for Office 365 that popped up at that exact moment. This kind of user experience in a supposedly professional email client is just unacceptable!
Why Mailspring is my new email client
After bearing with Outlook’s shenanigans for some time, I knew I wanted to move to an open-source alternative—one that respects my privacy and actually cares about its users. I tried Thunderbird, and it’s great feature-wise, but I didn’t like its design—it felt a bit old and dated. But then I found Mailspring, which not only boasts a polished and modern design but a wealth of powerful features that would put paid alternatives to shame. Here’s a quick overview of what you get.
A clean and modern design with theming support
Despite being an open source application, Mailspring looks surprisingly sleek and modern. It has a clean design that displays all your necessary information without making the interface feel cluttered.
By default, Mailspring uses a four-column layout: email folders on the left, followed by your email list, then the email preview, and finally a section with information about the sender and previous email exchanges. It’s very intuitive, but if it feels like too much, you can tweak it by clicking the hamburger menu and then Preferences > Appearances.
You can also change themes to make Mailspring look completely different. It comes with six themes by default—I personally like Darkside. You’re also free to use any of the community themes or create your own, though that would require some coding know-how.
Unified inbox support
Unlike Outlook, Mailspring actually supports a unified inbox! If you click on Inbox, you can view all emails from all your connected accounts in a single, consolidated feed. Everything appears chronologically in one place, making it dramatically easier to stay on top of multiple email accounts.
Of course, you can select the individual accounts to view their specific inboxes as well. All connected accounts are neatly available right under the email folders.
Snooze emails, set reminders, and send later
When you get an email, you can choose to snooze it. Mailspring will then remind you of that specific email at a specified time. I personally use it for those long but interesting newsletters that I want to read later but don’t want to risk losing them in my inbox.
The reminder feature works similarly but for your sent emails. You can set a reminder for an email, and you’ll get a notification if you don’t get a reply to it within a specific timeframe. It’s a great way to follow up with clients after sending them an invoice.
Finally, you’ve got the send later feature, which lets you delay your emails. It’s particularly useful if you want to send an email to someone but know you’ll be busy then—or sleeping for that matter!
In-app email translations
Mailspring supports in-app translation, which saves you from copying an email, opening a browser, and heading to Google Translate. Just hit the translate button, and the email is automatically translated. At the time of writing, there’s support for about 100 languages.
Link tracking and pixel tracking
Mailspring allows you to track when people open your emails—called pixel tracking—and also when people click on the links you send in your emails—called link tracking. These functionalities are generally reserved for professional email marketing software, and getting them in a free consumer tool is brilliant!
When writing an email, you can enable link tracking or pixel tracking for that specific email. Then, when the recipient opens that email or the link in the email, you’ll get a notification in Mailspring’s View Activity dropdown. In fact, you’ll get a notification every time that email or link is opened.
These features are genuinely useful in professional contexts. When sending emails for job interviews, knowing whether they saw your message gives you actionable information about when to send a follow-up. The same applies to support emails or project collaboration.
Why I Want Email Read Receipts (and You Might Too)
Fight fire with fire, and trackers with trackers.
In the EU under GDPR, and in some other jurisdictions, email tracking is illegal without explicit permission from the recipient. Use these features only after obtaining the necessary permissions if you or your recipient live in these areas.
Detailed analytics
Beyond basic tracking, Mailspring provides a comprehensive analytics dashboard with insights into your email performance. You can see not only how many emails you received and when, but also detailed metrics about your sent emails—how many you sent, how many were opened, and how many got replies! It can also show you what subject lines and templates perform the best. You can access it by going to View Activity > Activity View.
Email analytics are necessary for marketers, but can be useful for non-marketers as well. Suppose you’re job hunting—this data can help you understand which subject lines are getting opened more often, so you can better optimize your approach.
It’s local and privacy-centric
Unlike Outlook, Mailspring stores all my login credentials locally on my PC. My emails are also downloaded and stored locally (as local cache) and never sent to Mailspring’s servers. That said, if I use specific features like link tracking and pixel tracking—which are completely optional and voluntary—they will expose my email address, along with my recipient’s, and also the links that I’m sharing. Mailspring needs this information to inform you if and when your email or link was opened. However, this doesn’t expose the email content or any attachments.
Is Mailspring really free and open-source software?
Mailspring is open-source but not entirely free—it follows a freemium model. The free tier gives you all the core features plus limited access to cloud tools like link tracking and pixel tracking. For unlimited access, you can upgrade to Mailspring Pro for $8 per month. Personally, I stick with the free plan since I don’t need tracking on every email!
How to install and set up Mailspring
If you liked what you’ve read till now and want to install Mailspring, simply head over to its official website and download the Windows installer. Run the EXE file—the installation process will barely take a couple of minutes.
Once done, Mailspring will prompt you to create a Mailspring account. This is completely optional and only necessary if you want to use its advanced features like link tracking and pixel tracking.
You’re not creating a new email address like “yourname@mailspring.com.” Mailspring doesn’t have an email server. It’s only an email client.
After the registration process—whether you do it or skip it—you need to connect your email account to Mailspring so you can see your emails inside the client. The app supports all major email providers—Gmail, Outlook, Yahoo—with a simple point-and-click setup process. If you’re using a custom domain or less common email provider, you can manually configure IMAP and SMTP settings instead. I’ve used both methods, and they both work flawlessly!
Once you’ve connected your first account, Mailspring will take anywhere from a few seconds to about a minute to sync and download your emails. You can add additional email accounts anytime by clicking on the hamburger menu, then Add Account, which again opens the same setup wizard.
There you have it—why I left Outlook and why I chose Mailspring. However, if you’re looking for something truly FOSS, more feature-rich, and don’t mind a slightly outdated design, Thunderbird is a great alternative too.
