The 7 Best Email Clients for Mac in 2026 (Tested & Ranked)

Mac users have more email client options than ever. We tested them all. Here's our honest ranking.

How We Tested

We ran every major Mac email client on M-series Macs and measured what actually matters: RAM usage, startup time, AI capabilities, privacy architecture, price, and macOS integration.

These aren't theoretical benchmarks. We used each app as our daily driver for a week, processing hundreds of emails, testing shortcuts, and monitoring system resources with Activity Monitor.

1. Inboxed — Best Overall

Built with Rust and Tauri, Inboxed is a native Mac app that weighs just 10MB and uses around 50MB of RAM. It runs local AI via Apple MLX and Metal, so your emails never leave your device.

• Price: Free, $1/month for Pro features
• AI: Local Private LLMs (Llama 3, Mistral) on-device
• Best for: Privacy-conscious users who want AI without cloud surveillance
• Native Mac: Yes, built with Tauri for M-series chips

Try Inboxed if you refuse to compromise between intelligence and privacy.

2. Apple Mail — Best Free Default

Pre-installed on every Mac. Zero cost. Reliable IMAP/Exchange sync. Apple Intelligence provides basic features like Smart Reply and message categorization.

But there's no real AI summarization, no advanced automation, and the interface hasn't evolved much in years. It's perfectly fine if you just need to send and receive messages.

• Price: Free (bundled with macOS)
• AI: Apple Intelligence basics only
• Best for: Simple needs, people who don't want another app
• Native Mac: Yes, by Apple

See how Inboxed compares to Apple Mail

3. Superhuman — Best for Speed Obsessives

Superhuman is blazing fast with 100+ keyboard shortcuts and instant search. If you live in your inbox and can afford $30/month, it's hard to beat for pure velocity.

The catch? It's Electron-based (not truly native), AI runs in the cloud, and the price is steep. You're paying for speed and status, not privacy.

• Price: $30/month
• AI: Cloud-powered (OpenAI integration)
• Best for: People who value speed over everything
• Native Mac: No, Electron wrapper

Inboxed vs Superhuman comparison

4. Canary Mail — Best Cross-Platform Option

Works on Mac, iOS, Android, and Windows. AI features for smart replies and summarization, plus PGP encryption support.

But despite privacy marketing, Canary's AI is cloud-powered. Your emails hit their servers for processing. At $20/year it's affordable, but not truly private.

• Price: $20/year
• AI: Cloud-based AI despite privacy claims
• Best for: Users who need cross-platform sync
• Native Mac: Yes

Compare Canary Mail to Inboxed

5. Spark — Best for Teams

Spark excels at team collaboration with shared drafts, email assignments, and team comments. It's designed for groups working from a shared inbox.

The tradeoff: your emails are stored on Readdle's servers (not just processed—stored). AI features cost $59/year. Fine for teams, questionable for personal use.

• Price: Free basic, $59/year for AI
• AI: Cloud-based, emails stored on Readdle servers
• Best for: Teams sharing inboxes
• Native Mac: Yes

Spark vs Inboxed feature comparison

6. Thunderbird — Best Open Source

Free, open source, and highly customizable with extensions. Thunderbird has been around forever and works reliably.

But the UI feels dated, there's no AI integration, and it's surprisingly resource-heavy for what it does. Great for power users who want control; not for mainstream use.

• Price: Free (open source)
• AI: None
• Best for: Open source advocates, power customizers
• Native Mac: No, cross-platform build

How Inboxed differs from Thunderbird

7. Outlook — Best for Microsoft Ecosystem

If you live in Microsoft 365, Outlook gives you full integration with Teams, Calendar, OneDrive, and SharePoint. Copilot AI features handle summarization and drafting.

But on Mac, Outlook is bloated (nearly 1GB installed), costs $99/year for the full suite, and AI runs via cloud Copilot. It's enterprise software with enterprise baggage.

• Price: $99/year (Microsoft 365 subscription)
• AI: Cloud Copilot integration
• Best for: Microsoft 365 users, enterprise environments
• Native Mac: Yes, but resource-heavy

Outlook vs Inboxed comparison

Quick Comparison Table

The Bottom Line

If you want AI features without sacrificing privacy, Inboxed is the only option that runs everything locally on your Mac.

If you just want simplicity and don't care about AI, Apple Mail is perfectly adequate.

If money is no object and you prioritize speed above all else, Superhuman delivers—but you'll pay for it monthly and give up your privacy.