SMTP vs POP3 vs IMAP

functionality:

• for sending mail:
  • SMTP (doesnt handle mail recieving)
    • doesnt store emails. only transfers them
    • used with both POP3 and IMAP for mail transmission
• for storing and retrieving mail:
  • POP3
  • IMAP

POP3 vs IMAP:

POP3	IMAP
need to download emails from the server to read em	all mail interaction is on the server
deletes the emails from the server after download is done by default	keeps the mail on the server. no need to download
emails can be accessed offline due to mail storage being local and not server based	needs an internet connection due to it being cloud based
no synchronization. single device storage only	synchronization across all devices, action taken on one device reflects across all the others
supports SSL/TLS encryption but less secure than IMAP	supports SSL/TLS encryption