PigeonPost
Switching without risk
The switch is not a one-way door. Your mail stays with your provider the whole time, so trying PigeonPost costs nothing and leaving costs nothing.
Nothing to migrate, nothing to unwind
This is the part that matters most if you have years of mail you are not willing to risk.
Your mail stays put
PigeonPost connects to your existing account over IMAP and keeps a local, searchable copy for offline use. For an IMAP account there is nothing to import on the way in and nothing stranded on the way out. Stop using PigeonPost and your mailbox is exactly where it always was.
Your calendar and contacts move both ways
Calendars import and export as .ics (RFC 5545) and round-trip with Outlook and Thunderbird. Contacts export as vCard at full fidelity (postal addresses and birthdays included) or as CSV for names, emails and phone numbers. A .eml file opens straight in the app and on Windows PigeonPost can be your default .eml handler. It can also register as your system's default email app on Windows, macOS and Linux, so a mailto: link opens a new message here instead of in the client you left.
The switch, in a few steps
No importer, no export dance. For an IMAP account, moving in is adding the account and pressing sync.
Download and install
Run the installer for your platform: the Windows setup, the macOS DMG or the Linux Flatpak. There is no PigeonPost account to create, so once it is installed you go straight to adding your mailbox.
Add your account
Pick your provider and the wizard fills in the servers. Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Zoho, Fastmail and StartMail connect with an app password. Microsoft opens a browser sign-in. Any other IMAP or POP3 mailbox takes its own host and port.
Sync
Your mail, folders and read state come down into a local, searchable copy. Your mail stays in your account with your provider the whole time.
Your worries, answered
The questions a Thunderbird or Outlook user actually asks, answered plainly. Where the answer is no, we say so.
Will I have to migrate years of mail?
No. PigeonPost talks to your existing account and caches a local copy. The mail itself never leaves your provider.
What if I try it and want to go back?
Then you close it and nothing has changed. Your accounts were never moved, so they are still live in your old client. Your calendar and contacts export back out in standard files.
Does my Gmail or iCloud account work?
Yes, through an app password. A wizard fills in the servers for Gmail, iCloud, Yahoo, Zoho, Fastmail and StartMail.
I use a Google Workspace account for work.
That one will not work here. Workspace is OAuth-only, so an app password is refused by Google. Personal Gmail is fine with an app password.
Is my Microsoft password safe?
You sign in through Microsoft in your own browser, so PigeonPost never sees your password. It keeps your Microsoft sign-in token in your OS keychain.
Can opening a message track me?
No. HTML renders in a sandboxed frame that runs no scripts and makes no remote requests. Remote images stay blocked until you load them, so opening a message cannot tell the sender you read it.
It is one developer. What if it stops?
It is GPL-3.0 with the full source on GitHub, free to read, fork or continue. Your mail stays with your provider and your calendar and contacts live in standard files, so nothing is trapped.
Does it work offline?
Yes. Cached mail reads with no connection. Anything you write offline queues in a per-account outbox and delivers when you reconnect.
Which platforms?
Windows, macOS (Apple Silicon) and Linux, each with its own native installer: a Windows setup program, a DMG and a Flatpak.
Will it choke on my huge folders?
No. The message list is virtualised and stays fluid in folders of tens of thousands of messages.
Ready when you are
Add your account, press sync and you are in. If it is not for you, close it and nothing has changed.