Mimestream
Ranked 12 of 16 email clients by recommenders
A native Mac app for Gmail that people recommend for speed, keyboard navigation and reliability, since it uses the Gmail API. Critics note it is a paid subscription and mostly a nicer interface for Gmail.
A native Mac app for Gmail that people recommend for speed, keyboard navigation and reliability, since it uses the Gmail API. Critics note it is a paid subscription and mostly a nicer interface for Gmail.
11 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 3
- approval share
- 73%
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: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 2.7 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
Native Mac app for Gmail
“It's wonderful and GMail-backend-only fully native Mac App by one of the former lead engineers of the Apple Mail app.”
Comment from 16 Apr 2026 in “The Gemini app is now on Mac” “I get gmail, without the UX of gmail, and something that I can command-tab into, instead of a browser window.”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Bye Bye Gmail” Uses Gmail API, not IMAP
“Mimestream is good specifically because it uses Gmail Sync API, not IMAP/SMTP.”
Comment from 3 Jun 2026 in “Gmail thinks I'm stupid, so I left” “"just works" because it uses the Gmail API”
Comment from 3 Jun 2026 in “Gmail thinks I'm stupid, so I left” Actively developed and fast
“Very fast and supports all the usual native macOS keyboard navigation”
Comment from 18 Jun 2026 in “Microsoft new Outlook takes 10 seconds to do what Outlook Classic does instantly” “Truly excellent mail client. Actively and thoughtfully developed.”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Mostly a nicer UI for Gmail
“I've heard good things about it, for sure, but I'd argue that it isn't really an Email client.”
Comment from 18 Jun 2026 in “Microsoft new Outlook takes 10 seconds to do what Outlook Classic does instantly” “So it's a subscription-based app that basically gives you nicer UI/UX for your google emails. Oof.”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Bye Bye Gmail” Subscription cost, Mac-only
“So it's a subscription-based app that basically gives you nicer UI/UX for your google emails. Oof.”
Comment from 24 Jan 2026 in “Bye Bye Gmail” “50 dollars for an app on an OS which I don't use”
Comment from 4 Jun 2026 in “Gmail thinks I'm stupid, so I left”
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 | — | — |
| MimestreamThis page | 8 | 3 | 73% | 4 | — | — |
What people said
11 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“Truly excellent mail client. Actively and thoughtfully developed.”
“I've heard good things about it, for sure, but I'd argue that it isn't really an Email client.”
“Very fast and supports all the usual native macOS keyboard navigation”
“50 dollars for an app on an OS which I don't use”
“Mimestream is good specifically because it uses Gmail Sync API, not IMAP/SMTP.”
“I loved Mimestream when I worked at a place that was on Google.”
“"just works" because it uses the Gmail API”
“It's wonderful and GMail-backend-only fully native Mac App by one of the former lead engineers of the Apple Mail app.”
“$50/year for a nice app that I use on a daily basis to make my life better? Worth every penny.”
“So it's a subscription-based app that basically gives you nicer UI/UX for your google emails. Oof.”
“I get gmail, without the UX of gmail, and something that I can command-tab into, instead of a browser window.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.