Columba

Columba

Columba is an open-source email client for Linux, Windows, and macOS. It supports POP3 and IMAP for receiving emails and SMTP for sending emails. Key features include support for multiple email accounts, spam filtering, email searching, flexible message views, automatic contact g
Columba image
email messaging pop3 imap smtp

Columba: Open-Source Email Client

Columba is an open-source email client for Linux, Windows, and macOS. It supports POP3 and IMAP for receiving emails and SMTP for sending emails. Key features include support for multiple email accounts, spam filtering, email searching, flexible message views, automatic contact grouping, and customizable keyboard shortcuts.

What is Columba?

Columba is an open-source email and news client that supports the POP3 and IMAP protocols for receiving email and SMTP for sending email. It runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS.

Some key features of Columba include:

  • Support for multiple email accounts and newsgroups
  • Configurable spam filtering
  • Fast full text and header search
  • Flexible message views like thread view, virtual folders
  • Automatic contact grouping by first letter or domain
  • Custom keyboard shortcuts
  • Support for HTML mail, attachments, and signing/encryption (PGP/GnuPG)
  • Usable either as a standalone program or Applet for KDE or GNOME panel

Columba aims to provide an efficient email client that is easy to use but still highly customizable. Its focus is on supporting power users who want keyboard shortcuts, search, and filtering options while organizing a large volume of email from multiple accounts.

While it lacks some polish compared to proprietary clients, its open-source nature allows it to be modified and extended easily. It offers a good alternative to Thunderbird or other email clients for those seeking an open-source option.

Columba Features

Features

  1. Support for multiple email accounts
  2. POP3 and IMAP support for receiving emails
  3. SMTP support for sending emails
  4. Spam filtering
  5. Email searching
  6. Flexible message views
  7. Automatic contact grouping
  8. Customizable keyboard shortcuts

Pricing

  • Open Source

Pros

Free and open source

Available on Linux, Windows and macOS

Good feature set for an open source email client

Cons

Development has stalled, last update in 2009

Limited native support for modern email protocols and features

Small user community compared to proprietary clients


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