Cross Platform Mail Client - Free and Low Cost

There are those that say email is dead and texting is the most popular form of communication.  However, those people are also the most likely to have an inbox with thousands of unread emails.  For most of us, the mail client is one of our most used applications.  While these applications have almost become a commodity, there are still some important distinctions among the top players.  There are also some new kids on the block worth a look.

Spark

URL: https://sparkmailapp.com/

This is a nice front end for those of us that have several different email accounts to keep track of.  It has mobile application versions as well so you can feel like you are always in the same solution across all your devices.  It is quick and easy to learn as well as a nice way to organize emails across accounts.

Outlook

URL: https://products.office.com/en-us/outlook/email-and-calendar-software-microsoft-outlook

This is Microsoft's default client and very popular in the business world.  It is a good enough client and provides easy ways to import as well as export email data including attachments.  The calendar features are highly useful in a company that uses exchange and there are countless integrations available for it.

Gmail

URL: https://www.google.com/gmail

This is a browser client, but still one of the better email clients out there.  You can find mobile versions to make it easier to work with this on any device.  It also has a lot of mail organization and filtering features that make it almost fun to use.  It is free and includes a lot of cloud storage space so it is perfect when you need a stand-alone email for personal or side hustle communication.

Blue Mail

URL: https://www.bluemail.me/

This is in beta currently and a free solution.  The version as of recording this episode is slick looking and good for switching among accounts.  However, it is still a bit light on features so this is more worth watching at this point instead of adapting it for an organization.

Thunderbird

URL: https://www.thunderbird.net/en-US/

This is a mail client with staying power.  It has been around for a long time and provides all the features you expect from a functional mail client.  It is starting to show it's age a bit in the UI and it can be a bit slow when you start to get very large mailboxes.  That being said, it is hard to go wrong with this and it does run on most platforms natively.

Postbox

URL: https://www.postbox-inc.com/

This is not free (it costs $30) and although it has a nice UI I am not generally not impressed.  While this is easy to install and use that are better options that are free IMHO.  It does have templates and responses features that can make it the best option if you have an account you tend to send the same messages out of regularly.  This may be perfect for handling your sales or support email accounts.

Polymail

URL: https://polymail.io/

This is paid and starts at $10/user/month.  While a good client generally, it is best for teams.  It includes a calendar, analytics around opens and responses, and also good tracking of conversations.  There are also some features that are much like ones we saw in a few of the CRM tools.