Preferred free e-mail client for Windows 10

[joe3k]

Hey guys,

Just wondering what everyone's preferred free (or at least very cheap) e-mail client is for Windows 10?

Thunderbird seems to have a lot of functionality although perhaps doesn't look very modern
Mailbird looks good but it only allows for one account and multiple accounts are required
emClient looks good but again it only allows for 2 accounts (although this would normally be fine for most users)
Windows 10 Mail itself is ok but doesn't seem to allow move to next e-mail after deletion, which is a problem and believe it or not, the main reason for considering an alternative (hopefully a free one)

Ideally needs to include a Unified Inbox for multiple accounts.
Thoughts?

 

[Diggs]

I'm a long time Thunderbird user and even with Outlook on all my machines prefer Thunderbird. Not looking very modern saves allot of confusion among users. I'm running eight email accounts in Thunderbird on my main machine.

 

[Sky-Knight]

I use Outlook or Thunderbird with the Lightning Calendar add-on.

 

[Porthos]

emClient looks good but again it only allows for 2 accounts (although this would normally be fine for most users)

Ideally needs to include a Unified Inbox for multiple accounts.
Thoughts?

Using the client in your other topic, How many accounts do they have? Do they have more than 2? eM Client purchase is a one time fee per device. There is no annual subscription.

 

[nlinecomputers]

Pay the piper and get eMpro for $50

 

[frase]

I use emClient if only needed for a single user. Is a decent product - has Calendar- Contacts etc.
Windows Mail urghhh
Outlook probably the best but is expensive for a license for one user.
Thunderbird - absolutely hate it - I call it Chunderbird.

So this seems multiple users like 3-4-5? If more than 3 I would personally go for Outlook 365.

 

[Mick]

It's not free - and looks clanky - but I always recommend The Bat. Home edition is advertised at 16.95 GBP. You think of it - The Bat can do it.

 

[Your PCMD]

I used Thunderbird for years, but switched to Outlook (I have 2016 H&B) as I loath O365 as it's a continuous money grab. If I did not have Office, I would use emClient as $50 for one and done is a good price and the program is modern. Although, if you only have 1 or 2 accounts, you can't beat the free version.

 

[Sky-Knight]

$100 / year for 6 seats of Office 365 that includes Outlook for an entire family isn't exactly expensive. It's cheaper than buying and properly maintaining two seats of Home and Business.

 

[lan101]

For home users either emclient or oeclassic. Oeclassic works great for the old folks that get cornfused easily lol.

For business users yeah at this point if they can't pay $100 for an office 365 suite prolly not the clients I want anymore. I have some business clients that are very basic and just use webmail gmail etc. That's fine with me if it works for them...the ones that annoy me are the ones that want outlook or something like outlook but don't want to pay anything for it.

If they complain about $100 per year when they can use it on multiple machines, I just tell them it is what it is or go the emclient route.

 

[Sky-Knight]

@lan101 $100 / year is for HOME use, not business use on O365. Small Business Premium is $12.50 / month / user.

 

[nerd2u]

Switch to Gmail it's free lol.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

 

[Sky-Knight]

Switch to Gmail it's free lol.

Sent from my SM-G870W using Tapatalk

Everyone has a cloud "free" email. Though that is another option, why use Outlook when Outlook.com is free? It's not like that web client has any less functionality. The same holds true of Gmail.com.

 

[Altster]

Thunderbird - Open Source, easy to set up, easy to maintain and you can run multiple accounts with / through it!

Just my 2 cents...

 

[Your PCMD]

$100 / year for 6 seats of Office 365 that includes Outlook for an entire family isn't exactly expensive.

Read that again, but slowly.

For home use @ $100/yr for say 100 people = $1700/yr
For business @ $12.50/mo for say the same 100 people = $15,000/yr

 

[nlinecomputers]

Do you have a family of 100 people? What is your mother a rabbit? The home versions of Office 365 are not legal to use in business situations.

 

[Sky-Knight]

@Your PCMD Typically speaking people consider the average family in the US to be four people. But you do say you're from Gainseville, and you probably have to deal with the southern Okis... so I should have clarified my bad!

 

[Porthos]

But you do say you're from Gainseville, and you probably have to deal with the southern Okis... so I should have clarified my bad!

Some just don't put anything on the end of "IT".

 

[fencepost]

I tell people "Don't think of it at $15k/year, think of it as costing less than 1/160th of what you're paying for your full-time employees anyway."

For my personal stuff I've been on Thunderbird for years ever since I switched away from Pegasus Mail, for the "personal business" side I'm figuring that 12.50/month for Business Premium just to develop some experience with Sharepoint makes sense.

 

[Your PCMD]

@Your PCMD Typically speaking people consider the average family in the US to be four people. But you do say you're from Gainseville, and you probably have to deal with the southern Okis... so I should have clarified my bad!

What does me being from Gainesville have anything to do with this? Have a sense of humor please. My post was in a sarcastic nature. No one should use the O365 Home for Business although you might can if you have a home office or home business (clarification?). My post was just a numbers analogy. But lets do the analogy a little bit more shall we? But for "business".

For business @ $12.50/mo for say 50 employees = $7,500/yr
Buy Office H&B for $220ish for the same 50 employees = $11,000

You would be better off buying outright than to pay the subscription as you'll break even just shy of a year and a half. That being said, ONLY if you were to use the H&B in the workplace solely. If you are traveling outside the workplace, than perhaps the monthly would suit you better as you can have it on multiple devices. However, you can access your Outlook (though any of the dozens of free clients), your One Note and your One Drive from any other device as well with the standalone Office.

As with ANY AND ALL products, there are pros and cons to each. @fencepost has a good point, but that can depend on your locality I suppose.