nextcloud / nextcloud/mail

Mail app versus competitors

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Description

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

Nextcloud official Mail app is now pretty good, but lacks some major features (imap search, nextcloud users as contacts...). Alternatives exist, but have their own limitations.
There is some sort of frustration because Nextcloud is about to be a game changer in the groupware world, it could certainly be an MS Exchange / Office alternative.

Describe the solution you'd like

Ideally, we should have (at least) one mail client offering all major features needed in a professional environment.

Describe alternatives you've considered

Here is a comparison of 3 mail/groupware solutions usable with a Nextcloud backend :

Features Nextcloud Mail 2.0.3 SnappyMail 2.19.1 Thunderbird
       
Nextcloud users as contact No (!) Yes Yes
Nextcloud Contacts Yes Yes Yes
Contacts Avatars Yes No No
Circles No No No
Send from Nextcloud Files App (in the context menu) No No No
Send from Netxcloud Files storage Yes Yes No (unless sync client)
Send link from Nextcloud Files storage Yes No No
Save attachments to Nextcloud Files storage Yes Yes No (unless sync client)
Save individual .EML to Nextcloud Files storage No (unless sync client) Yes No (unless sync client)
Save multiple .EML to Nextcloud Files storage No No No (unless sync client)
Nextcloud theme integration ***** *** /
Unified search on Subject Yes Yes No
Unified search on Sender No (only with full email address and from: keyword) Yes No
Advanced Search No (work in progress) Yes (**) Yes (*****)
Messages display filter No No Yes
Messages sorting No Yes Yes
.ICS to Nextcloud calendar Yes No Yes
UI speed and responsiveness ** **** *****
Rich text editing *** **** *****
Rich text signature Yes Yes Yes
1 signature by identity No Yes Yes
Complex copy/paste from MSWord No No Yes
Local/cloud folders No No Yes (off cloud)
.EML opening from Files App No No Yes
SIEVE Filter /Out of Office Yes Yes Yes
Multiple compose windows No No Yes
Message context menu No No Yes
Junk mail detection No No Yes
Display modes * *** *****
Additional context

I hope this contribution can help the community to choose the right solution for their needs and the developers to focus on the most waited improvements

Contributor guide

Open the contributing guide

First steps

  1. Read the whole issue, then the project's contributing guide.
  2. Comment on the issue to say you are picking it up — it saves two people doing the same work.
  3. Fork the repository and make your change on a branch.
  4. Open a pull request that references the issue number.

Research direction

No file, test, or entry point is named. Start by identifying which single gap in the comparison is in scope, then locate the relevant Mail app area and define completion with a specific feature and corresponding test or user-visible behavior.

Written by the indexing model from the issue text.

Assessment

Domain
full-stack
Issue type
Feature
Difficulty
5/5
Estimated time
Over a week
Activity status
Quiet
Clarity
Needs clarification
Newbie friendliness
25/100

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