Betterbird
Hacker ApprovedRanked 7 of 16 email clients by recommenders
Thunderbird fork that people recommend for better stability, easier setup and extra features. Caveat: one critic worries that forks like it may stop being maintained.
Thunderbird fork that people recommend for better stability, easier setup and extra features. Caveat: one critic worries that forks like it may stop being maintained.
13 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 12
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 92%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 12 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 12 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 4 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Better than Thunderbird
“Just don’t expect Betterbird to be way different than Thunderbird. It is better”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Help Keep Thunderbird Alive” “On the whole I find that fork a better experience than Thunderbird.”
Comment from 8 Jun 2026 in “Thunderbird Littering My Home” “I use that instead of Thunderbird.”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “Help Keep Thunderbird Alive” Easier setup and stability
“If you want mail to just work and updates going smoothly it's the solution.”
Comment from 18 Jun 2026 in “Microsoft new Outlook takes 10 seconds to do what Outlook Classic does instantly” “It's easier to setup and more stable.”
Comment from 24 Feb 2026 in “Firefox 148 Launches with AI Kill Switch Feature and More Enhancements” Fixes bugs Mozilla ignores
“they fix bugs like that, which Mozilla just refuses to address”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Thunderbird for iOS” “community run patchsets make it a much better product”
Comment from 13 Oct 2026 in “Thunderbird for iOS”
Other email clients people recommend
The four most recommended other email clients, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mozilla Thunderbird | 210 | 155 | 58% | 13 | 20 yrs12 owners | — |
| Microsoft Outlook | 117 | 403 | 23% | 12 | 20 yrs8 owners | — |
| Apple Mail | 57 | 88 | 39% | 12 | 10 yrs9 owners | — |
| Penguin Mail | 14 | 13 | 52% | 1 | — | — |
| BetterbirdThis page | 12 | 1 | 92% | 4 | — | Approved |
What people said
12 of the 15 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“they fix bugs like that, which Mozilla just refuses to address”
“community run patchsets make it a much better product”
“If you want mail to just work and updates going smoothly it's the solution.”
“On the whole I find that fork a better experience than Thunderbird.”
“I use that instead of Thunderbird.”
“Just don’t expect Betterbird to be way different than Thunderbird. It is better”
“Betterbird looks promising, so I'll give it a try”
“There are more pragmatic teams who could take over the project”
“Betterbird is a good option. It has additional good stuff that Thunderbird is lacking”
“Never knew this project existed. Cool stuff!”
“Until it's not maintained, like most Thunderbird forks so far”
“It's easier to setup and more stable.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.