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eM Client acquires Postbox and ends its development

The Postbox email app for Windows and macOS has been acquired by eM Client. Unfortunately, this also spells the end of Postbox.

It is a bad week for apps, first Syncthing for Android was discontinued, and now Postbox is dead. Postbox was launched in 2008, and was based on Mozilla's Thunderbird. You can read Martin's review of the app here.

(Image courtesy: eM Client)

Postbox acquired by eM Client

eM Client is based in the Czech Republic. The details about the acquisition have not been disclosed, but the company has announced that Postbox will no longer be sold or developed, and support for the app will be available until December 22, 2024. The Help Center will be around for one more year, until December 22, 2025. Users can continue using Postbox as long as it is compatible with your operating system. Well, at least they aren't killing the app immediately.

Postbox acquired by eM Client

Refund requests for recent purchases need to be submitted by November 22, 2024.  eM Client is offering some discounts for Postbox users who are switching to its email app. A similar announcement on Postbox's website goes into more details about the offers. Users who had purchased Postbox on or after September 22nd, 2024, are eligible for a 100% off discount, on a one-time purchase or first year of subscription to eM Client. All other Postbox customers can claim a 50% off discount for their purchase.

I recommend reading the eM Client Acquisition FAQ to learn more about your options for a refund. The Migration FAQ will be helpful if you're switching to eM Client.

An FAQ page says that Postbox was sold to eM Client to offer more advanced features for users, and because the company has a larger development team, etc. That's PR talk. See, this is often a problem with software that offer lifetime licenses, such as how Postbox did. The company used to sell annual subscriptions, but decided to discontinue the options in 2020, to solely focus on lifetime licenses. I don't think this was a sensible thing to do, from a business' perspective.

I remember when Malwarebytes switched to a subscription model and there was an uproar, but given its large user-base, I think the company could not have sustained with a lifetime licensing model. That said, eM Client does have an option for a lifetime license, if that interests you, and you have $50 to spare. The email software is available for Windows, macOS, iOS and Android. It does not have a Linux version, and the app is not open source. eM Client's free version for desktops only supports two email accounts for personal use. The premium version has many additional features, but I'll leave it to you to decide if it is worth using.

What are some alternatives to eM Client?

There are some good free alternatives to eM Client. How about the Mail app on Windows? No, I'm just kidding. Don't use Microsoft's Mail app, it's just a garbage web-wrapper version of the Outlook website, and you can't block the ads.

Mozilla's Thunderbird is great for desktop users on PC, Linux or Mac, as it offers good privacy, supports add-ons, and many protocols including Microsoft Exchange. Mailspring (a fork of Nylas Mail) is also open source, and the email app is available for Windows, Linux and macOS. You can skip creating a Mailspring ID to use the app without premium features such as read receipts, snoozing, translation, etc.

Linux users have even more email clients to choose from there's Geary, Claws Mail (also available for Windows), Evolution and KMail (Kontact by KDE).

Android users may want to take a look at FairEmail (Google Play, F-Droid) and K9 Mail (Google Play, F-Droid), the latter is undergoing some changes that will turn it into Thunderbird for Android. iOS users don't really have much of a choice when it comes to privacy-friendly email clients, but, fortunately, Apple Mail is an excellent app that offers great security. Apple's stock Mail app is also available for macOS, and iPadOS users. Proton Mail is also a good option that you could consider, and it is available across all major platforms.

Which email app do you use?

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