WMail vs the Fastmail app on iPhone

The Fastmail app and WMail are the two iPhone apps that talk to Fastmail over JMAP, so both keep the features that make Fastmail worth paying for. The difference is in how they feel to use every day, and what WMail adds on top of the features Fastmail gives you.

	WMail	Fastmail app
Built natively for iPhone	Yes	No
Masked Email	Yes	Yes
Replies keep the mask	Yes	Yes
Private memos	Yes	Yes
Send later, held by Fastmail	Yes	Yes
Undo send	Yes	Yes
Pause the inbox	Yes	No
Quick reply under the thread	Yes	No
Newsletter bundles	Pro	No
Templates with shortcuts	Pro	No
Send to Things, Reminders & more	Pro	No
Unified inbox	Yes	No
Calendar and contacts	No	Yes

What they have in common

Both apps are built on JMAP, the protocol Fastmail designed, rather than IMAP. That means the Fastmail-specific features carry across in both:

Masked Email — create a masked address while you sign up for something, and replies go out from the mask so the sender never sees your real address.
Memos — private notes on a conversation, synced with Fastmail on the web.
Send later — scheduled mail is handed to Fastmail's servers, so it goes out even with your phone switched off.

So it doesn't matter if you use Fastmail's app or WMail you get to keep using all these features.

Where WMail is different

It's a native iPhone app. WMail is written for iOS with Apple's own frameworks, so scrolling, swipes, text and dark mode behave the way the rest of your iPhone does. It also uses the parts of iOS a mail app can: Widgets, Control Centre actions and Quick Actions.

It adds features for getting through email. WMail is built around spending less time in your inbox:

Pause the inbox on evenings and weekends, so mail keeps arriving but you don't see it until you're back.
Quick reply from a bar under the conversation, with the email right above it, instead of a full-screen composer for a two-line answer.
Newsletter bundles move chosen senders out of the Inbox and deliver them as one tidy row at a time you pick.
Templates expand a shortcut like ;thanks into a saved reply or insert a long reply from the quick Templates picker.
Integrations send an email or link to Things, Reminders, Bear and more.

When the Fastmail app is the better choice

The Fastmail app covers more of your Fastmail account in one place. If you want your calendar and contacts alongside your mail, or you manage rules, domains and account settings from your phone, the Fastmail app does that and WMail doesn't: WMail is focused on email and has no plans to add a calendar. We feel the iOS default Calendar does a great job of managing calendars.

Plenty of people use both — WMail for mail, and Fastmail's app or website for everything else. In fact WMail is designed so you can swap between the two, we try to ensure we handle everything natively in Fastmail when we can so that you can continue to use Fastmail's app on Desktop and WMail on your iPhone.

The short version

Choose the Fastmail iPhone app if you want one app for all of Fastmail like Domain configuration. Choose WMail if email is what you open most, and you want it to feel like a native iPhone app with tools to get through it faster and you want to connect multiple Fastmail accounts. WMail is free for all its core features, so the easiest way to decide is to try it alongside the Fastmail app.