A Mailbird alternative made for Gmail, on Linux too

Mailbird gathers all your email accounts in one app for Windows and Mac, Gmail among them, over IMAP. Dodosend is narrower on purpose: made for Gmail itself, run from the keyboard, on Mac, Windows and Linux. Here’s how they compare, and when Mailbird is the better pick.

Get the desktop appDownload

Free for one Gmail mailbox, on macOS, Windows, and Linux.

At a glance

Mailbird’s details come from its own site, checked in October 2026.

	Dodosend	Mailbird
Price	Free for one Gmail mailbox; the Multi-mailbox plan, monthly or yearly, adds more	Free for one account; Premium $5.75/month billed yearly, or a one-time license (both on sale when checked)
Free plan	Yes: one Gmail mailbox, with every feature	Yes: one account on one device; Premium features are a 7-day trial
Desktop apps	macOS 12+, Windows 10+, Linux (AppImage, .deb, .rpm)	Windows 10 and 11 (64-bit), macOS 13 Ventura or later
Phone and web	Not yet: desktop only	iPhone and Android apps in beta; no web app
Email accounts	Gmail and Google Workspace	Gmail, Outlook, Microsoft 365, iCloud, Yahoo and other IMAP accounts; Exchange on Premium
With Gmail	Made for Gmail: labels stay labels, and search reads Gmail’s common operators	Over IMAP, which has to be turned on: labels show up as folders
Unified inbox	No: one mailbox at a time; on Multi-mailbox, Ctrl+Tab moves to the next	Yes, on Premium
Keyboard	A key for every action, and a ⌘K / Ctrl+K palette that reads “remind me fri 10”	More than 20 keyboard shortcuts
AI	Only to help you search: finding a mail from what you remember of it, and reading a search typed as a sentence. No AI keeps your mail or learns from it, and none writes for you	An AI assistant, in beta, on Premium

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Search the way Gmail does

One search covers every folder at once, and one you run every day can stay as a tab. Try it on sample mail, before you install anything.

Interactive demo. A hands-on look at how it works: use your keyboard or mouse, and the guide shows you what to do. The mail is made up.

Dodosend

Inbox

3 unread

Maya Chen

10 threads

Step 1 of 3

Press / to search your mail.Tap “Show me” to search your mail.

Search every folder at once. Keep a search you use as a tab in the sidebar.

Which one is for you

Pick Dodosend if…

Your mail is all Gmail
Mailbird reaches Gmail over IMAP, so IMAP has to be on and labels show up as folders. Dodosend works with Gmail itself: labels stay labels, and from: or has:attachment work as they do in Gmail.
You’re on Linux
Dodosend has a Linux desktop build, as an AppImage, a .deb and an .rpm, next to macOS and Windows. Mailbird is for Windows and Mac.
You’d rather not touch the mouse
Every action in Dodosend has a key, ! shows the ones for the screen you’re on, and ⌘K (Ctrl+K) opens a palette for the rest that reads “remind me fri 10”.
You want every feature for free
Dodosend’s Free plan has everything for one Gmail mailbox: reminders, scheduled send, the calendar. Mailbird’s free version covers one account, with its Premium features as a trial.

Pick Mailbird if…

You have more than Gmail
Mailbird takes Outlook, iCloud, Yahoo and any IMAP account, and Exchange on Premium. Dodosend is Gmail and Google Workspace only, for now.
You want every account in one inbox
Mailbird’s Premium puts all your accounts in one unified inbox. Dodosend shows one mailbox at a time.
You’d rather pay once
Mailbird sells a one-time license. Dodosend’s Multi-mailbox plan is billed monthly or yearly.
You want a settled app
Dodosend is still in beta: it changes often, and you may hit a rough edge. If you’d rather not, Mailbird is the steadier choice.

Switching from Mailbird

Nothing moves: your mail stays in Gmail, so your threads, labels and drafts are there once you sign in to Dodosend with Google. Dodosend doesn’t need IMAP turned on, since it works with Gmail itself. You can keep Mailbird for your other accounts; both work on the same Gmail.

Questions

Is there Mailbird for Linux?

No. Mailbird is for Windows and macOS. Dodosend runs on Linux as an AppImage, a .deb or an .rpm, for x86_64.

Does Dodosend have a unified inbox?

No. Dodosend shows one Gmail mailbox at a time. On the Multi-mailbox plan you connect as many as you like and move between them with Ctrl+Tab.

Is Dodosend free?

Yes, for one Gmail mailbox, with every feature: the command palette, reminders, scheduled send, the calendar. The Multi-mailbox plan, billed monthly or yearly, is only for connecting more mailboxes.

Can I use Mailbird and Dodosend side by side?

Yes. Both work with your Gmail account, so what you archive or send in one shows up in the other.

Try it on your own inbox

Your Gmail, your keys, no card. Your mail stays on your computer, and Google lets you revoke access anytime.