> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.nevillehobson.io/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Mailbird Next: four years on, the unified inbox still keeps me here - URL: https://www.nevillehobson.io/mailbird-next-four-years-on-the-unified-inbox-still-keeps-me-here/ - Published: 2026-10-26T07:22:00.000Z - Updated: 2026-10-26T08:07:22.000Z - Description: Four years after switching to Mailbird, I've moved to Mailbird Next – a ground-up rebuild for Windows and Mac. What's changed, what's better, what still needs work, and why the unified inbox keeps me using it. - Author: Neville Hobson - Tags: Reviews, Communication, Innovation, Technology On New Year's Day 2022, I moved my email from Microsoft Outlook to Mailbird. A few days later I [wrote about my first impressions](https://nevillehobson.com/2022/01/04/mailbird-is-a-good-tool-for-email-and-calendar-management/?ref=nevillehobson.io). I gave it 30 days to prove itself. Over four years later, I'm still using it. Mailbird is a desktop email client that can bring several email accounts – Gmail, Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo or any IMAP account – into one unified inbox, with calendar, contacts and apps such as WhatsApp and Slack alongside. The company was founded in 2012 and says it has more than 3.3 million registered users today. What I'm using now, though, is a bit different to the previous version. Mailbird Next [launched on 5 October](https://www.getmailbird.com/assets/press/mailbird-next-press-release.pdf?ref=nevillehobson.io) as a new generation of the app. I've moved from version 3 of Mailbird – now called Mailbird Classic – to Mailbird Next, which carries the version 4 numbering. Rather than repeat what I said in 2022, this post looks at what has changed and whether it still earns its place on my desktop. If you want the full rundown, Mailbird's [features page](https://www.getmailbird.com/features/?ref=nevillehobson.io) covers the lot. ## **Why I still use it** My email use has changed since 2022\. I no longer do the kind of work that needs the many workflow features an app like this offers, so I don't use most of them. One feature matters more to me than all the others: the unified inbox. 💡 I have six email accounts – a mix of Gmail and domain accounts. In Mailbird, mail from all six arrives in one inbox, and it works seamlessly. When I want to focus on one account only, I can select it from the vertical sidebar. On a phone, you can pull several Gmail accounts into something like a unified mailbox. On a Windows desktop, with a mix of providers, I haven't found anything comparable. I've looked, and I've asked around. ## **A ground-up rebuild** The original Mailbird was a Windows-only app. Mailbird Next has been rebuilt from scratch on a single codebase that runs on both Windows and Mac. - **History.** The rebuild began in 2020\. Mailbird for Mac, the first product built on the new foundation, launched in October 2024\. Mailbird Next now brings that same foundation to Windows. - **Mobile.** Apps for iPhone and Android are in public beta. - **Linux.** A Linux beta arrived on 14 October. That widens what Mailbird can do, and who it might appeal to. Moving across was painless. On first launch, Mailbird Next found my Classic installation and brought over all six accounts. According to [Mailbird's release notes](https://www.getmailbird.com/mailbird-next-release-notes/?ref=nevillehobson.io), the import also covers folders, signatures, filters, snippets and contacts. The mobile app is less smooth. It doesn't import anything, so you add each account one by one as if you were a brand-new user. I tried it briefly a few weeks ago but haven't set it up properly yet. Perhaps a future version will make this easier. The pace of development is notable. The release notes show updates landing most weeks, and the latest Windows version, 4.36, arrived on 19 October. ## **A cleaner interface and a calendar I'd actually use** The redesigned interface is the improvement I notice most each day. There's much more white space, and it's far easier to pinpoint what you want to see. On my large 32-inch widescreen monitor connected to my desktop PC, the right-hand side of the window shows my calendar in schedule view. I also have the app installed on my Dell XPS laptop with its 13-inch screen. Pretty small by comparison, but Mailbird Next lets me see everything I want with the calendar view hidden until I bring it up. Of course, you can customise the layout. For example, in my app, I have message preview in the centre, with the list of emails to the left and the calendar to the right. In 2022, I grumbled that the calendar panel looked like an iPhone screen and was confusing. This is a real improvement. Events are easy to identify at a glance, with a coloured icon and a thin vertical colour line next to each one. The built-in calendar does everything you'd expect, including alerts. I can also pull in Google Calendar, which I sometimes do. Mostly, though, I want a clear view of what's coming up rather than a place to take action, and the new design delivers that. ## **Printing: better, but not there yet** My one real gripe with the old version was printing. The print dialogue looked like something from the Windows NT days of the late 1990s, and printing was hit-or-miss. Print a long email without seeing it first, and you'd inevitably end up with a final page with a single line. Or worse: a two-page message plus signature, etc, followed by two pages promoting what else to read. Mailbird Next improves on this. Printed and PDF copies now include the sender, recipient and date, and there's a good print preview dialogue. Frustratingly, though, the preview says the app doesn't support print preview! ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/59/f0/59f0f3d2-7a4d-469d-80ba-430572591933/content/images/2026/10/mailbird-printpreview.jpg) Mailbird Next’s print preview dialogue – but the preview itself isn’t supported. I print emails often, so a working preview would be very useful. For now, I print to PDF first to check what it looks like before committing to paper. It's a pity, but not a deal breaker. ## **AI on your terms** Mailbird Next adds AI in two forms, and both are off by default. The first is a built-in MCP server. MCP is the Model Context Protocol, an open standard for connecting AI tools to other software. It lets you connect an AI app you already use, such as Claude or ChatGPT, to your mailbox. Once connected, an AI app can help you read mail and attachments, draft replies, archive messages and unsubscribe from lists – but only when you ask. Write actions need your permission. Mailbird’s [AI privacy page](https://www.getmailbird.com/ai-privacy-and-data-flow/?ref=nevillehobson.io) is candid on one point: before sending, any confirmation prompt comes from the AI app you’ve connected, not from Mailbird itself. It’s worth reading before you switch anything on. It's also worth being clear about one other thing: the MCP server runs on your computer, but the AI you connect may not. If you connect a cloud service such as Claude or ChatGPT, whatever you ask it to read goes to that service. If you want everything to stay on your machine, you can connect a model that runs locally. ![](https://storage.ghost.io/c/59/f0/59f0f3d2-7a4d-469d-80ba-430572591933/content/images/2026/10/AI-in-Mailbird-1815x1190.jpg) Mailbird’s MCP server runs locally, with write actions off by default. An AI app can sit in the side panel beside your mail. The second form is Wingman, Mailbird's own on-device assistant. It's currently in beta testing. Mailbird says it doesn't use customer emails to train its AI. I haven't connected Mailbird Next to Claude yet. I'll explore how I might use it with email later. I do already use MCP to connect my Plaud voice recorder to Claude and ChatGPT, so I know how useful this kind of connection can be. Whether I want an AI reading my inbox is a separate question, and one I'd rather answer when I've thought through how I'd actually use it. ## **Free or Premium** Mailbird Next is [free to download](https://www.getmailbird.com/is-mailbird-next-free/?ref=nevillehobson.io), with no time limit. The catch is that the free version supports only one email account. The unified inbox – the very reason I use Mailbird – is a Premium feature. [Premium](https://www.getmailbird.com/mailbird-next-premium-plan-explained/?ref=nevillehobson.io) adds: - unlimited email accounts - side-panel app integrations - the native calendar and contacts - Exchange support - more besides You can pay yearly, or pay once. Note that a pay-once licence doesn't include future major versions unless you also buy the Lifetime Updates add-on. A single licence covers one person on up to three devices, across Windows, Mac and mobile. New users get all Premium features free for seven days. I've had a paid Premium licence since 2022, and that continues with Mailbird Next. ## **The verdict** **What's good** - The unified inbox works seamlessly across a mix of Gmail and domain accounts. - One licence now covers Windows, Mac and, in beta, mobile. - The interface is much cleaner, and the calendar view is far better. - Privacy is built in: mail is stored locally, and you can block tracking pixels. - AI is optional and switched off until you turn it on. **What's not** - Print preview isn't working for me. - The mobile apps are still in beta, and you have to add accounts one at a time. - If you have more than one account, the free version won't be enough. - Pay-once buyers need to understand what the Lifetime Updates add-on does and doesn't cover. None of the negatives are show stoppers. Mailbird Next is straightforward and easy to use. If you juggle more than one email account, it's well worth a look. --- ## **How this post was made** This post started as two short voice recordings I made on my [Plaud Note](https://www.plaud.ai/products/plaud-note-ai-voice-recorder?ref=nevillehobson.io). Through Plaud's MCP connection, Claude pulled in the transcripts. It then combined them with the press release, the release notes, and my 2022 review, researched everything, and produced a first draft, which I verified and edited into what you've just read. It seems fitting for a review of an email app that now speaks MCP too. --- **Sources:** - [Mailbird Next press release](https://www.getmailbird.com/assets/press/mailbird-next-press-release.pdf?ref=nevillehobson.io) - [Mailbird Next release notes](https://www.getmailbird.com/mailbird-next-release-notes/?ref=nevillehobson.io) - [Mailbird Next is here](https://www.getmailbird.com/mailbird-next-is-here/?ref=nevillehobson.io) - [Is Mailbird Next free?](https://www.getmailbird.com/is-mailbird-next-free/?ref=nevillehobson.io) - [Mailbird Next Premium explained](https://www.getmailbird.com/mailbird-next-premium-plan-explained/?ref=nevillehobson.io) - [Mailbird AI privacy and data flow](https://www.getmailbird.com/ai-privacy-and-data-flow/?ref=nevillehobson.io) - [My 2022 review](https://nevillehobson.com/2022/01/04/mailbird-is-a-good-tool-for-email-and-calendar-management/?ref=nevillehobson.io) (Screenshots of Mailbird Next on a Mac and AI courtesy of Mailbird; print preview captured by author.)