SmarterMail vs MailEnable

Mobile / Desktop Support

Outlook Support

As mentioned, MailEnable offers an "Outlook connector" to mimic MAPI-like features to connect Outlook to their email server. This may be somewhat useful, but it doesn't offer a complete synergy between MailEnable and Outlook. In addition, MailEnable doesn't offer any true collaboration integration for MacOS customers – whether using Outlook for Mac or the native Apple Mail client. (Not to mention the native calendar and contacts apps.)

SmarterMail, on the other hand, offers server-side support for Outlook via the Microsoft MAPI protocol. SmarterMail is, in fact, the only other email and collaboration server outside of Exchange that offers this level of integration between Outlook and a mail server. It goes beyond color Category synchronization and offers features such as distribution lists, sending "On Behalf of" and other enterprise-level features users rely on when using Outlook with Exchange. MAPI is also licensed on a per-server basis and can be managed by system or domain administrators.

MacOS Client Support

While MailEnable offers standard protocol support for MacOS clients, SmarterMail supports the Microsoft Exchange Web Services (EWS) protocol. This is the protocol used by Mac clients such as Apple Mail and Outlook for Windows, as well as eM Client for Windows. EWS brings a very high level of integration between SmarterMail and these clients and provides users with increased functionality compared to connecting via more traditional methods, such as via IMAP. MailEnable is currently working on support for EWS, but as of this writing it is not available.

Other Desktop Clients

Both products also support standard email protocols such as IMAP and POP3. These protocols work in any email client available, though without some of the more functional components like sharing of collaboration items. (E.g., sharing calendars.) Both also support CardDAV and CalDAV for synchronizing contacts and calendars (respectively), which are also supported by most standard desktop clients, as well as standalone calendar and contact apps, scheduling services (e.g., Calend.ly), etc.

Mobile Client Support

Alongside IMAP, POP3, CalDAV and CardDAV -- all of which can work with mobile email clients, calendar apps, etc. -- both MailEnable and SmarterMail support EAS, which is the best mobile synchronization method available for mobile. Using EAS, users can get virtually the same experience on their mobile devices they do with desktop clients. EAS is also used by the standard Windows Mail client, as well as the Windows Calendar and People apps.

Technical Support

MailEnable handles support requests via paid support "tokens", plus it's possible to purchase support packages ranging from Silver to Gold. Custom packages are available as well. When you purchase a MailEnable license, you're provided with a "Bronze" package, that is valid for 3 months from the date of purchase and includes 2 "Standard" support tokens.

The tokens for support are available based on issue severity, and the type of support required. For example, standard, non-critical issues, emergencies, installation or evaluation. Response times vary based on the token purchased, ranging from 1 business day for standard tokens to 2 hours for emergencies.

In addition to paid options, MailEnable has a number of free support options in the form of their knowledge base, product documentation, and their forums.

As for SmarterTools, any customer with active Maintenance and Support receives FREE technical support, and you only interact with "SmarterTools engineers". That is, the people in our support department are all highly skilled and extremely knowledgeable network and server administrators who know the ins-and-outs of the Windows environment, not to mention the how's and why's of SmarterMail. Our SLA for technical support is 4 hours, and we consistently beat that metric. We also offer paid support options, such as installation and upgrade tickets, training, and 24/7 emergency support. Our SLA for emergency support is 1 hour, which is also a metric that is consistently surpassed.

In addition, SmarterTools has an extensive knowledgebase for all products and an extremely active customer Community where customers work together to solve issues alongside SmarterTools employees.

System Requirements

MailEnable

• Windows Server 2008 R2+
• NO Database
• CPU not specified
• 4GB+ RAM
• Single disk storage minimum

SmarterMail

• Windows Server 2019+ 64-bit
• NO Database
• 1.5GHz – 3GHz CPU
• 2GB – 16GB+ RAM
• Single drive or separate OS and data drives. (Recommended for large user bases.)

Generally, the hardware requirements for a mail server will focus on using enterprise-level SSDs as mail servers are dependent on input/output (i/o) and are extremely write-intensive. Therefore, having fast, sturdy drives is strongly recommended by any mail server vendor. CPU and RAM requirements are dependent on the number of mailboxes and the types of mail services being offered, as well as the amount of traffic the mail server receives.

Current Development*

Tracking releases of a product is a very good indicator of whether the product is still being supported by the developers. If a product lacks releases, or if releases are sporadic, that can indicate that the company offering the product is less invested in its success and continued viability, whereas active development shows a continued interest in the product and its success and continued support.

MailEnable has released 1 version of their product in 2022. However, they are still very active with releases, averaging 3 to 6 releases per year.

SmarterTools has released 4 versions of SmarterMail in 2022 alone. We strive for at least one release per month, regardless of the number of changes, fixes, and updates available. Some releases are larger than others, but one release per month is our goal.

*As of March 2022