# Betterbird privacy rating

Fork of Mozilla Thunderbird that follows its Extended Support Releases and adds extra fixes and features. Available for Windows, macOS and Linux.

**Our pick.** Open-source (MPL-2.0) fork of Thunderbird with telemetry reporting turned off and built-in OpenPGP and S/MIME. It connects directly to any IMAP, POP3 and SMTP provider and blocks remote content by default.

## Summary

Betterbird scores 89 out of 100 (grade B) on the email clients criteria. It meets 7 of 8 criteria: open source, no trackers or telemetry, no ads or data sales, OpenPGP support, connects directly, blocks remote content and works with any provider. It does not meet independent audit. It is based in Germany: Fourteen Eyes member; EU member (GDPR).

- Website: https://www.betterbird.eu
- Source code: https://github.com/Betterbird/thunderbird-patches
- Jurisdiction: Germany. Fourteen Eyes member. EU member (GDPR).
- Platforms: Windows, macOS, Linux
- Home page trackers: none found
- Category: [Email clients](https://privacyratings.com/email-clients/)
- Grade: B (89/100)

## Criteria

| Criterion | Answer | Note | Evidence |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | Yes | MPL-2.0. | https://github.com/Betterbird/thunderbird-patches/blob/main/LICENSE |
| No trackers or telemetry | Yes | Builds are made with telemetry reporting turned off, and the website has no third-party trackers. | https://github.com/Betterbird/thunderbird-patches/blob/main/153/mozconfig |
| No ads or data sales | Yes | Funded by donations. No ads. | https://www.betterbird.eu/donate/ |
| Independent audit | No | No independent audit is published. |  |
| OpenPGP support | Yes | OpenPGP and S/MIME are built in, as in Thunderbird. | https://www.betterbird.eu/faq/ |
| Connects directly | Yes | Connects directly to mail servers, as Thunderbird does. No vendor service is involved. | https://www.betterbird.eu/faq/ |
| Blocks remote content | Yes | Remote content is blocked by default, as in Thunderbird. | https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/remote-content-in-messages |
| Works with any provider | Yes | Works with any IMAP, POP3 and SMTP provider. | https://support.mozilla.org/en-US/kb/manual-account-configuration |

Source: https://privacyratings.com/email-clients/betterbird/
Edit: https://github.com/privacyratings/privacyratings.com/edit/main/ratings/email-clients/betterbird.md