Email (IMAP/SMTP) vs Proton Mail (unofficial)
Email (IMAP/SMTP) is an MCP server published by boutquin. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). Proton Mail (unofficial) is an MCP server published by sethbang. Marketplaces we read that list it: 1 (Official MCP Registry). As of our marketplace pass on 2026-10-22. This pair was picked by a reader, not by our comparison rule, so search engines are asked not to index the page.
Where each is published
| Marketplace |  Email (IMAP/SMTP) |  Proton Mail (unofficial) |
|---|---|---|
| Official MCP Registry | Listed Version: 1.0.1 Forks (GitHub): 3 Stars (GitHub): 3 Not marked · First seen |
Listed Version: 1.0.2 Downloads/month (npm): 388 Downloads/week (npm): 64 Forks (GitHub): 1 Stars (GitHub): 7 Not marked · First seen |
Each figure is the marketplace's own and is never added up across marketplaces. A marketplace that publishes no figure shows none: no number is not zero.
The facts side by side
| Fact | Email (IMAP/SMTP) | Proton Mail (unofficial) |
|---|---|---|
| Marketplaces that list it | 1 | 1 |
| Stars (GitHub) (differs) | 3 (worse) | 7 (better) |
| Forks (GitHub) (differs) | 3 (better) | 1 (worse) |
| Last release | Not published | Not published |
| Where it runs (differs) | On your machine (ghcr.io/boutquin/mcp-server-email:latest) | On your machine (proton-mail-mcp) |
| Transport | stdio | stdio |
| Tools it declares | Not published | Not published |
| Environment variables it asks for (differs) | 2, secrets among them: 1 | 15, secrets among them: 2 |
| Licence | Not stated | Not stated |
| Repository (differs) | github.com/boutquin/mcp-server-email | github.com/sethbang/proton-mail-mcp |
| Changes in the last 7 days | 0 | 0 |
| First seen | 2026-10-11 | 2026-10-11 |
Lines where the two differ have a tinted background and bold values. Where the data itself says which value is better (more marketplaces, a larger figure of the same marketplace, a fresher release, a verified mark on a marketplace that lists both), the better one is also marked green with ▲ and the worse one red with ▼. Where it runs, the transport, the tools, the settings, hooks, the bundle's parts, the licence and the week's changes are marked only as different: more or fewer is not better in itself.
What each says it does
Email (IMAP/SMTP)
Multi-account IMAP/SMTP email server with 22 tools for reading, sending, searching, and organizing.
Proton Mail (unofficial)
Unofficial Proton Mail MCP — send, read, search & organize email over SMTP and IMAP
How to run each
Email (IMAP/SMTP) As a local MCP server: Docker image
claude mcp add --env "EMAIL_ACCOUNTS=<YOUR_EMAIL_ACCOUNTS>" --transport stdio email -- docker run -i --rm -e EMAIL_ACCOUNTS ghcr.io/boutquin/mcp-server-email:latestRequires: EMAIL_ACCOUNTS (secret)
Proton Mail (unofficial) As a local MCP server: npm package
claude mcp add --env "IMAP_PASSWORD=<YOUR_IMAP_PASSWORD>" --env "PROTONMAIL_PASSWORD=<YOUR_PROTONMAIL_PASSWORD>" --env "PROTONMAIL_USERNAME=<YOUR_PROTONMAIL_USERNAME>" --transport stdio proton-mail-mcp -- npx -y proton-mail-mcpRequires: IMAP_PASSWORD (secret), PROTONMAIL_PASSWORD (secret), PROTONMAIL_USERNAME
Commands built only from what the marketplaces declare; the full set for every client is on each card.
Tools each declares
Neither one's marketplaces publish a list of tools, so there is nothing to compare.
Settings each asks for
Only Email (IMAP/SMTP) asks for
EMAIL_ACCOUNTS (secret)EMAIL_CONFIG_FILE
Only Proton Mail (unofficial) asks for
ALLOW_EMPTY_FOLDERALLOW_FILE_DOWNLOAD_DIRDEBUGIMAP_HOSTIMAP_PASSWORD (secret)IMAP_PORTIMAP_SECUREIMAP_USERNAMEPROTONMAIL_HOSTPROTONMAIL_PASSWORD (secret)PROTONMAIL_PORTPROTONMAIL_SECURE
Show the remaining 3
PROTONMAIL_USERNAMEREADONLYRESTRICT_OUTBOUND_TO_SELF
Settings as each marketplace publishes them. Asking for fewer is not better in itself.
What it can do: Email (IMAP/SMTP) · What it can do: Proton Mail (unofficial) · Compare two other plugins
Data comes from the Official MCP Registry (registry.modelcontextprotocol.io), CC0 1.0. Figures come from our own regular passes over the marketplaces, last read on . We publish no contact details for plugin publishers.