MXDeck vs Spark
Spark is a polished mail app on Mac, iPhone, Android and Windows, with a free plan, unlimited accounts, AI and team features. MXDeck is a Mac-only app for people who run many domains on their own mail servers and want their passwords and mail to stay between the Mac and those servers.
Facts about Spark are as of November 2026 and link to Spark’s own pages in the sources. MXDeck is in development; nothing below says it is out.
Pick Spark if
- You work on more than a Mac. Spark runs on Mac, iPhone, Android and Windows, and one subscription covers them. MXDeck is Mac only, with no iPhone app.
- You want AI help. Spark’s paid plans include an AI assistant, meeting notes and auto-drafts. MXDeck has no AI features and does not plan to add them.
- You share mail with a team. Shared emails, comments, shared drafts, delegation and templates are built in.
- You use Gmail, Outlook.com or Exchange. Spark signs in to them directly. MXDeck needs a Gmail app password and cannot connect to Microsoft 365, Outlook.com or Exchange yet.
- You want lots of accounts for free. Spark’s free plan lists unlimited email accounts.
Pick MXDeck if
- You do not want a third party holding your mail passwords. Spark’s privacy page says that for custom IMAP accounts it stores your login and password, encrypted, in its database. MXDeck keeps passwords only in the macOS Keychain and connects only to your mail servers, plus api.mxdeck.com for DNS checks. No analytics.
- You have 10 to 30 domain mailboxes. Import them all from one YAML or JSON file; MXDeck verifies each mailbox as it adds it.
- You reply from many domains. A reply always goes out from the mailbox the mail arrived in, and every message carries a coloured tag for its mailbox.
- You want to know when a domain’s mail breaks. MXDeck grades every domain A to F on MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, TLS, blacklists and reverse DNS, with fix hints and a notification when a grade drops.
- You want to read the code. MXDeck’s code will be published under the FSL licence.
MXDeck is still being built. Threads, undo send, macOS notifications and a menu bar icon are in. Send later, Remind me and drafts synced to the server’s Drafts folder are coming. No POP3 (Spark has none either), no rules, and spam filtering is left to your server.
Feature by feature
| Feature | MXDeck | Spark |
|---|---|---|
| Status | In development, beta for the waitlist first | Shipping |
| Price | Free up to 3 domains; paid plans from $6/month (planned) | Free plan; Plus and Pro paid per user |
| Number of mailboxes | Free: 3 domains; more on paid plans (planned) | Unlimited, on every plan |
| iPhone, Android, Windows | No | Yes |
| IMAP / SMTP mailboxes | Yes | Yes |
| POP3 | No | No |
| Exchange | No | Yes via EWS |
| Gmail and Outlook.com sign-in | Partial with an app password, no Google sign-in yet | Yes |
| All mailboxes in one window | Yes | Yes Smart Inbox |
| Bulk import of mailboxes from a file | Yes YAML/JSON, each mailbox verified | No |
| Domain mail-health grade (MX, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, TLS, blacklists) | Yes A–F grade, alert when it drops | No |
| Send later | Coming | Yes processed on Spark’s servers |
| Templates, shared drafts, teams | No | Yes processed on Spark’s servers |
| AI features | No | Yes on paid plans |
| Where your password is stored | macOS Keychain only | Encrypted in Spark’s database for custom IMAP accounts |
| Where your mail goes | Direct to your mail servers; only DNS checks via api.mxdeck.com | Mostly on device; some features processed on Spark’s servers |
“No” means we did not find the feature in the vendor’s official documentation as of November 2026. “Coming” means it is being built for MXDeck and is not in the app yet.
The privacy difference, plainly
Neither app stores the content of your mailbox on its own servers as a copy: Spark says your email stays on your provider’s server. The difference is in the middle. Spark’s servers hold a token or, for custom IMAP accounts, your encrypted password, and features like Send Later, shared drafts and teams run through its server-side processing. For push notifications Spark keeps an encrypted subject and part of the message for up to 4 hours. That is a reasonable design for a cross-platform app with team features, and Spark documents it openly.
MXDeck has no server in that path. Your Mac talks to your IMAP and SMTP servers directly, which also means notifications only arrive while the Mac is on. If you run mail for clients and promised them their passwords stay with you, that matters.
Want to see how your domains look today? Run the free mail health checker, or read how to manage email for many domains. More comparisons are on the compare page.
Questions
Does Spark store my email password?
For custom IMAP, AOL and Exchange accounts, Spark’s privacy page says the access token it keeps is your login and password, encrypted in its database. For Gmail, Outlook and Yahoo it keeps an app-specific token instead. MXDeck keeps passwords only in your Mac’s Keychain.
Does Spark read my mail on its servers?
Spark says mail content stays on your provider’s server. For push notifications it stores an encrypted subject and part of the message for up to 4 hours, and features like Send Later, shared drafts and teams use its server-side processing.
Is Spark free?
Spark has a free plan with unlimited email accounts. Plus and Pro add AI and team features; see Spark’s pricing page for prices in your region.
Is MXDeck available now?
Not yet. The Mac app is in development and the waitlist gets the beta first.
Sources
Checked in November 2026. Spark showed prices in euros to us; they may differ in your region.
- Spark: Pricing (plans, unlimited email accounts, AI features, platforms)
- Spark: Email privacy, everything you need to know (stored credentials, push notification data, server-side features)
- Spark: App privacy policy
- Spark: Add more email accounts to Spark (IMAP supported, POP3 not supported)
- Spark: Can’t add an Exchange or Microsoft 365 account
One Mac inbox for all your domains. MXDeck is in development. Join the waitlist and get the beta first.
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