Mailwell and FranklyMail

A native Mac app for your FranklyMail mailbox.

I moved [email protected] to FranklyMail this month. I wanted another JMAP host besides Fastmail and Kagi Mail, and FranklyMail includes it in its one plan, for $9 a year. It’s a small, independent host, a lot like Mailwell, and that felt like a good fit.

Emin, who makes FranklyMail, and I tested Mailwell with it together, and he’s been great to work with. Mailwell knows FranklyMail now, so typing your address fills in everything for you, even on your own domain.

Emin wrote about it on FranklyMail’s blog too, with how to set up your domain and mailbox and move your old mail across. Read his post.

How they work together

• New mail right away. Mailwell connects over JMAP, so FranklyMail tells it when something changes, in any folder. You don’t wait for the next check, and sending goes over the same connection.
• All your mailboxes in one window. FranklyMail lets you make as many mailboxes as you need. Add each one to Mailwell and they share one unified inbox, and you can still open any one on its own.
• Filters on both ends. FranklyMail’s filters sort mail on the server before it reaches your Mac. Mailwell adds inbox tabs and its own rules on top, so you can shape how you read it too.
• Your mail stays between you and FranklyMail. There are no Mailwell servers. Mailwell keeps a copy on your Mac, so search is quick and your mail is there when you’re offline. Remote images and tracking pixels are blocked until you allow them.

Setting it up

First set up your domain and a mailbox on FranklyMail. Emin’s post walks you through it, and FranklyMail checks your DNS records as you go. Once that’s done, here’s how to add it to Mailwell.

1. Download Mailwell and open it.
2. Choose Add Account and type your FranklyMail address. Mailwell sees that your mail runs through FranklyMail and fills in the settings.
3. Click Open FranklyMail and make an app password for that mailbox. Name it Mailwell so you can find it later, then paste it in. It’s the mailbox’s app password, not the password you use to sign in to FranklyMail.
4. Click Connect.

Have more than one mailbox? Add each one with its own app password. If you’d rather use IMAP than JMAP, choose Use IMAP instead before you connect.

Price

FranklyMail is $9 a year for unlimited mailboxes and domains, with 10 GB of storage shared between them. Mailwell is free for 14 days, then $5 a month or $49 a year, for up to 3 Macs. They’re separate, so you pay each one directly. Prices are as of October 2026.

If your mail is on FranklyMail and you’re on a Mac, I hope you’ll give it a try, and I’d love to hear how it goes. Questions about Mailwell come to me at [email protected], and questions about FranklyMail go to Emin at [email protected].