What is Mailpile used for?

Mailpile is a web-based email client with PGP-focused encryption and a fast tag-based search engine; development of the original version has halted pending a Python 3 rewrite. It is a good fit for private webmail on a personal server and local email with built-in PGP.

Is Mailpile open source?

Yes. Mailpile is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at mailpile/Mailpile and is written mainly in Python.

Yes. Mailpile is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.

Can I self-host Mailpile?

Yes. Mailpile can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.

What is Mailpile an alternative to?

Mailpile is an open-source alternative to Spark Mail, Mailbird and Apple Mail. Other open-source alternatives to Spark Mail include Mailspring, FairEmail and Thunderbird for Android.

Is Mailpile actively maintained?

The most recent commit to Mailpile was on 1 November 2023. The project has 8.8k stars on GitHub.

Mailpile: open-source alternative to Spark Mail, Mailbird

About Mailpile

Mailpile is a modern web-mail client that aims to make private email easier, with user-friendly encryption and an emphasis on a clean interface. It was designed to make receiving and sending PGP-encrypted or signed email convenient, and its development was funded by a large community of backers.

Its core is a custom-written search engine built to handle large volumes of email on consumer hardware. Mail is organized with tags, similar to Gmail labels, and incoming messages can be tagged automatically through static rules or Bayesian classifiers. The primary interface is web-based, with a basic command-line interface and an API for developers, so it can run as a local desktop application or as web-mail on a personal server.

The README now carries a notice that development on this codebase has halted until the Python 3 rewrite is complete, and it points to legacy Docker images for anyone who needs to open version 1 data. The repository metadata lists the license as Other, while the project says its code is released under an OSI-approved free software license.

Key features

PGP encrypted and signed email support
Fast custom search engine for large mailboxes
Tag-based organization like Gmail labels
Automatic tagging with rules and Bayesian classifiers
Web interface with CLI and developer API
IMAP and SMTP client support

Good fit for

→Private webmail on a personal server
→Local email with built-in PGP

Built with: Python
Tags: email; pgp; encryption; webmail; search; privacy; imap; python

Mailpile: questions and answers

What is Mailpile used for?: Mailpile is a web-based email client with PGP-focused encryption and a fast tag-based search engine; development of the original version has halted pending a Python 3 rewrite. It is a good fit for private webmail on a personal server and local email with built-in PGP.
Is Mailpile open source?: Yes. Mailpile is open source under a custom licence. Its source code is on GitHub at mailpile/Mailpile and is written mainly in Python.
Is Mailpile free?: Yes. Mailpile is open source, so the software itself is free to use under the terms of its own licence.
Can I self-host Mailpile?: Yes. Mailpile can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure; there is no official hosted version.
What is Mailpile an alternative to?: Mailpile is an open-source alternative to Spark Mail, Mailbird and Apple Mail. Other open-source alternatives to Spark Mail include Mailspring, FairEmail and Thunderbird for Android.
Is Mailpile actively maintained?: The most recent commit to Mailpile was on 1 November 2023. The project has 8.8k stars on GitHub.