# K-9 Mail

Hacker Approved page: https://hackerapproved.com/p/k-9-mail/

12 people recommended K-9 Mail in Hacker News comments, 1 had mixed feelings and 1 criticized it, November 2025 to October 2026. It was recommended in 6 of 12 months, in 12 threads. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** Free Android email client that works with IMAP and PGP and is still maintained. One critic worries it will decline over time.

Summary written by Claude from 14 comments.

## Why people recommend it

- Long-time users happy, no complaints (3 comments in the sample): "I have been using K9 for a long time on Android. No complaints." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50078140)) "K-9 Mail works fine for me." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50074396)) "being pretty happy with it" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48973403))
- Works with IMAP and Gmail (2 comments in the sample): "I've not had issues plugging Gmail into Thunderbird, aquamail, k-9 mail" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47450141)) "K-9 Mail via IMAP to access it to avoid connecting them there" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50095447))
- Maintained and no cloud calls (2 comments in the sample): "they've ensured that k9mail is still maintained seems like an objective win" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47708530)) "The only Android mail client not making random calls to cloud servers" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46732990))

## Other email clients people recommend

- [Mozilla Thunderbird](https://hackerapproved.com/p/thunderbird/): 141 recommend, 53 mixed, 145 criticize
- [Microsoft Outlook](https://hackerapproved.com/p/microsoft-outlook/): 44 recommend, 62 mixed, 365 criticize
- [Apple Mail](https://hackerapproved.com/p/apple-mail/): 41 recommend, 14 mixed, 79 criticize
- [GNOME Evolution](https://hackerapproved.com/p/evolution/): 11 recommend, 2 mixed, 3 criticize

## The badge

A product earns the Hacker Approved badge when at least 10 people recommend it, recommenders outnumber critics at least 2 to 1 (mixed feelings count toward neither side), it was recommended in at least 4 of the 12 months and in at least 5 different threads, and no single thread supplies more than half of the people who recommend it. Health and money products are never badged.

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "K-9 Mail", https://hackerapproved.com/p/k-9-mail/ (12 recommend, 1 mixed, 1 criticize; Hacker News comments, November 2025 to October 2026).

Counts updated 2 Nov 2026, with data through October 31, 2026.