What it does
Claws Mail is a GTK-based email client that extends its mail workflow through plugins. Official plugin documentation covers PGP/Inline, PGP/MIME and S/MIME signing and encryption.
Encryption in Claws Mail depends on the relevant plugins. The PGP core plugin supplies shared functionality, while PGP/Inline and PGP/MIME handle their respective message formats. Those PGP plugins require GnuPG and GPGME; the S/MIME plugin provides another standard encrypted-mail route.
The client also uses a standard MH message format and documents import and export. That can matter when choosing a locally managed mail archive. Follow the project’s own download and plugin pages: its homepage explicitly warns that Claws Mail is not hosted on GitHub.
Strengths
- PGP/Inline, PGP/MIME and S/MIME plugins are documented.
- Standard MH storage and import/export support local message management.
Watch out for
- PGP plugins require GnuPG and GPGME components.
Best for
- People who prefer a configurable desktop client with modular encryption
Sources
- Claws Mail - The user-friendly, lightweight, and fast e-mail client (Oct 26, 2026)
- Claws Mail - Plugins (Oct 26, 2026)