Email is still central to most business applications, no matter what type of office software you use. For some, that means using Outlook with Microsoft Office, but for those who use alternative office software, there are also alternative email clients.

Email remains the primary method of communication between businesses, but there are a number of different ways to use and store email…

The first basic way is to use a mail client, which often uses the POP3, SMTP or IMAP protocols to collect mail directly from the server to your PC or other computing device. This usually means downloading and installing mail client software to receive your emails, and a server to store and retrieve emails from.

The second main way is to use cloud services through a web application, which means you don’t need to download any software or even have a server to collect your emails, since everything is stored online at the web application provider.

While email clients may require a little more work, they also give you better control over user data. In other words, only you control your emails, and third parties don’t have access to them unless you intentionally — or accidentally – allow it.

This can be an important factor for business purposes, because allowing emails to run through Web applications means that while it will be securely stored, it also means that the vendor controls your data, and some companies openly admit that they will scan private emails at least for marketing purposes.

So while consumers are seeking the ease of use of web application emails, many companies still prefer to control their emails through an email server and email clients to protect sensitive business data.

The best email clients – at a glance

• Microsoft Outlook
• Mail for Windows 10
• eM client
• Mailbird Pro
• Inky
• Touchmail
• Thunderbird