Mailbird: Best Alternative to Thunderbird in 2025

Layout and User Experience

While Thunderbird received a significant UI refresh with the Supernova release in 2023, many users still find its interface more traditional and complex compared to modern email clients. The biggest Thunderbird vs. Mailbird difference lies in their approach to user experience design.

Sure, if you use any software on a daily basis you eventually learn how to navigate it - that's even the case with rocket science.

But is that the best utilization of your time?

Software and apps in this day and age should be intuitive enough to not have a steep learning curve, so spending days unraveling the mystery of using an email client seems like we're technologically pushing you back to the early 2000s.

Lack of simplicity, a clean UI, and an intuitive UX are the main reasons people start searching for a replacement for Thunderbird. Email clients such as Mailbird feature an easy-to-use interface, enabling users to master it in less than five minutes (not days).

User Experience

User experience encompasses the little details you don't recognize consciously but that intuitively guide you to use the software effectively.

Mailbird has many such thoughtful elements. Let's look at examples -

Example #1- Let's say you're a Dropbox user and you activated the Dropbox app from your Mailbird App Store. Apart from accessing your Dropbox app by clicking on the Dropbox icon in the bottom left, the only other place you'll find it is when you're composing a new email or replying to one. It shows up like this -

And when clicked upon, it opens the Dropbox file explorer for you to select files to be attached.

Example #2- You might think Mailbird doesn't offer as many features and functionalities as Thunderbird. Otherwise, the inbox and menu would look the same, right? That's not quite correct.

Instead of cluttering the interface with lots of buttons and options, we strategically hide them to show up on certain user actions. If you look at how emails are displayed in Mailbird, it looks just like any other email program, but when you hover over the profile picture of an email message, an action bar appears on top, which makes it easier for you to deal with it.

You can even click on the profile picture of an email message, and it will show you all the emails you've exchanged with that person. Such features make you wonder, "Why use Thunderbird anymore?"

Layout and UI

In Mailbird, you can customize the layout and color theme, personalizing your inbox to match your preferences and workflow.

Most Popular Features

In order to find the perfect alternative to Thunderbird, people tend to only look for ones that have exactly the same features as their current email client, regardless of whether or not those features will actually be used.

Mailbird has integrated the standard features users know from Thunderbird, and the client also offers special Mailbird-only features that streamline email management. These features include unified inbox functionality, quick preview of attachments, a speed reader, LinkedIn lookup, snooze, email tracking, and one-click unsubscribe tools.

Integration with Third-Party Apps

An additional feature that differentiates Mailbird from other email clients is the integration of a variety of popular apps, turning Mailbird into a true all-in-one communication hub by combining email, messaging, task management, calendars, and video meetings in the most effective way possible for the user. This includes the ability to integrate with custom project management software, offering tailored solutions that fit into complex software ecosystems and help manage projects and tasks directly from your inbox.

Mailbird's development team continues to add and improve these features based on user feedback. Think Mailbird needs a certain feature to convince you to switch? We have a Mailbird Feature Request forum where you can submit your ideas.

Imagine working like a productivity machine through your email, while also being able to jump on a call without having to switch to a browser or another software. It's not just convenient but also way more efficient. In Mailbird, as the best Thunderbird replacement, you have all your communication power tools in one place. In the Mailbird vs. Thunderbird battle, the former is the absolute winner, thanks to this feature.

Featured apps include:

• Messaging apps, like Facebook, X (Twitter), and WhatsApp.

  

• Task management apps and tools, like Todoist, Moo.do, Evernote, and Asana, can easily be activated in your Mailbird AppStore.

  

• Video meeting apps, such as Whereby and Veeting Rooms, allow you to easily jump on a call or virtual meeting, without having to leave your Inbox.
  

  

• Calendar apps, like Google Calendar and Sunrise Calendar, give you a nice overview of your upcoming appointments and enable you to schedule appointments from your Mailbird.
  

  

Cost

Mailbird has three different pricing options to choose from. Depending on the number of accounts and your actual email needs, Mailbird has the perfect plan for you, which may include:

• Mailbird Free
• Mailbird Premium Pay Once
• Mailbird Premium Yearly

Mailbird gives you a free trial when you install it for the first time. This is a great chance to find out if Mailbird Premium is the right choice for you.

Still have questions before downloading Mailbird? Our team is always there to help you out. Shoot us an email to [email protected] or message us @getmailbird. We are ready to help you and to answer every single one of your questions. That's a great value that comes with Mailbird - direct responses and feedback to help you through your email, communication, and communication management needs.

Ready to make the switch to the best alternative to Thunderbird? Simply start downloading Mailbird! You'll just love it.

Editor's Note: This post was originally published in July 2015 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness in 2025.

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