Thunderbird Pro and Thundermail announced: what you need to know
When Mozilla announced plans to drop the email client Thunderbird about ten years ago, some users feared that this could be the end of the popular open source email client. Things have turned out different though. The project is thriving, thanks to an increasing number of donations that it is receiving.
This allowed the team to expand Thunderbird to mobile platforms, for the first time in history. A suitable candidate was found in K9-Mail for Android, which has since then be renamed to Thunderbird Mobile. A version for iOS is also in the works, but not yet available.
Recently, plans were announced to create new services. The first reactivates Firefox Send, a file transfer service. The second, Thunderbird Appointment, is an entirely new service.
Thunderbird Business Development and Community Manager Ryan Sipes announced two major additions to the portfolio on Friday.
- Thundermail, an email service.
- Thunderbird Pro, a list of services (Appointment, Send, and Assist).
Here is what we know about the plans:
Thundermail
The team wants to offer email accounts to users and expand its services this way. Users can sign up for a Thundermail email account and use it in Thunderbird and also on the web.
This is another first for the Thunderbird team, as web-based email services were never offered. Unlike competitors like Gmail or Outlook, Thundermail will be "100% open source". The service is developed and built by the Thunderbird team as well as contributors.
The main goal is to provide a "better service than the other providers out there" and one core feature is the alignment of the email service with the project team's values.
Thunderbird Pro
Thunderbird Pro unifies different services under its hood. The three starting services are the following ones:
- Appointment: a scheduling service that is designed to simplify meetings. Users may send a link to someone, which the recipient may use to pick a time on the sender's calendar for the meeting.
- Send: a revived version of Firefox Send. Email is still limiting file attachments, and Send aims to go around this similarly to how Google Drive or OneDrive help Gmail and Outlook customers get around the limitations.
- Assist: an AI, powered by Flower AI, which introduces AI features. None are mentioned specifically at this point and the team is clear that this will be entirely optional to use. Processing may be done on the user's device, or online using Nvidia's confidential compute feature.
Monetization
Monetization plays a central role, as the services costs money to run and maintain. The Thunderbird team plans to give "consistent community contributors" free access to the new services. Others will have to pay a subscription for access.
Once a sustainable userbase is established, a free tier may be introduced. This may have some limitations, like less storage for Thunderbird Send.
Closing Words
The newly announced mail service and Thunderbird Pro will be completely optional. Thunderbird users do not have to use them. The creation of an email service expands Thunderbird further and helps it compete with Gmail or Outlook more directly.
Especially the ability to manage emails on the web could attract new users who do not want to install a dedicated email client. The services may help as well, but it is too early to tell how successful or niche they will be.
All in all, these plans may help the Thunderbird team establish a second revenue pillar next to donations, which will benefit the entire community, if successful.
Now you: what is your take on this? Would you sign up for a Thunderbird email service or the announced services? Let us know how you feel about it in the comment section below. (via Sören Hentzschel)
Thunderbird client has a very hard time with relatively large (not huge) message stores. Not Responding is a frequent message. And Tbird has been around for how long? Not sure it’s long for this world.
@ James,
Pardon me, but suggesting users use Gmail isn’t a viable suggestion in my humble opinion unless you don’t object to third parties reading your emails. Google used to do that, but stopped the practice back in 2017, but it’s still possible that third party apps continue the practice unabated.
Mashable has an article on the subject: https://mashable.com/article/google-reading-your-emails-response
The biggest risk with alternative email services is longevity. The last thing you need is to have an email address that dies when the service is ultimately dropped. I suppose using a custom domain would mitigate, but then you might as well use Gmail, which will almost certainly still be around in a decade.
I hope this is good news for the continuation of Thunderbird, since Mozilla might have future problems losing their Google funding.
Zorin OS has ditched Firefox, and replaced it with Brave.
I would think other distros will follow this path, too.
Will these new services belong to the MZLA Technologies Corporation (which owns Thunderbird) or Mozilla?
If they don’t belong to MZLA Technologies Corporation, they might have an unpleasant breakup when the Google search revenue stream dries up.
Theres no alternatives left to Outlook if they go through with this
I have a paid for subscription to Tuta.com (formerly Tutanota) which has an encrypted email client for all operating systems. I use it on my Android phone and on my Windows laptops. They also have a free account with 1GB storage which also supports 2FA.
Since Tuta is a German company where its servers are also located it’s GDPR-compliant, Open Source and there are no ads. Well worth looking at if you’re looking for an email client which works on any OS and will be synced with your phone: https://tuta.com/
Thunderbird user, Eudora before that on Windows/Linux primarily for ability to easily backup mailboxes offline, and one app convenience vs browser versions. I donate infrequently so im a bad supporter of a consistent revenue stream. I wont be using any new app services as im using phone for appointments and mobile email apps from the various providers. The email service is interesting, see how it pans out.
Sad. Oh well, there’s alternatives. Mutt, anyone? :D I should add a “/s” but I can’t.
No. No. I use Thunderbird because I want my email local, not on the web. Also, it sounds to me like they are about to take things too far from its basic functions and what has made it such a great email client.
Nothing will change for you unless you switch your current email provider to the new Thundermail and/or decide to go with Thunderbird Pro.
It would be nice to have a privacy-minded email service added to the ranks. I believe Kagi is working on mail service too.
I’m pretty sure I’ve heard this story before and I’ve never liked the ending.
Thunderbird Pro establishes a precedent and direction for the program in a very bad direction. Yet another poor choice on the part of Mozilla.
Still waiting on Thunderbird sync though
Project ‘Thundermail’ with its “ability to manage emails on the web [that] could attract new users who do not want to install a dedicated email client.” which is my case. Remains to be seen what features ‘Thundermail’ will provide and compare them with, i.e. the ‘Posteo’ email service provider, which I’ve used for years with greatest satisfaction.
Regarding ‘Thunderbird Pro’, should I use an Email client, would be without (if feasible) its ‘Assist’, an AI, powered by Flower AI, which introduces AI features.” given AI assistance, here, gets a one-way ticket to garbage.
By the way, I have no information regarding ‘Flower AI’. AI flourishes everywhere nowadays … what the heck do I need AI assistance to manage my emails? I’ve managed them easily for decades without being assisted by no one and even less by anything (because AI is definitely a thing).