mbsync
Email sync tool in Productivity & writing
Syncs IMAP mailboxes to local Maildir so mail from several services can be read and sent from one place, often paired with msmtp and mutt.
Syncs IMAP mailboxes to local Maildir so mail from several services can be read and sent from one place, often paired with msmtp and mutt.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 4 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 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
Accesses mail from many services
“I use this to easily access mail from different services, and I can also send from any of them.”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “What I self-host” Converts mail to Maildir for other tools
“I use mbsync, to Maildir and then NMH Maildir to folder/file format.”
Comment from 18 Aug 2026 in “Ask HN: Good IMAP Email Clients?” Local caching helps with mail
“Email -> Mbsync+msmtp + mutt. Caching helps there”
Comment from 15 Jan 2026 in “Starlink roam 50GB is now 100GB with unlimited slow speed after that” Used for archiving mail
“archive the rest somewhere else. mbsync etc”
Comment from 31 Oct 2026 in “Proton's CEO Cancels AI 'Re-Interviews'”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Lacked Auth header support, needed patching
“I first used imapsync and then patched mbsync to support the Auth header.”
Comment from 3 Feb 2026 in “Migrate Wizard – IMAP Based Email Migration Tool”
What people recommend instead
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| imapsync | 11 | 0 | 100% | 5 | — | Approved |
| mbsyncThis page | 5 | 1 | 83% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“archive the rest somewhere else. mbsync etc”
“I use this to easily access mail from different services, and I can also send from any of them.”
“I use mbsync, to Maildir and then NMH Maildir to folder/file format.”
“I first used imapsync and then patched mbsync to support the Auth header.”
“Email -> Mbsync+msmtp + mutt. Caching helps there”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.