Overview

Your ability to send and receive emails is largely due to 3 TCP protocols: SMTP, IMAP,
and POP3. If you've got a couple of minutes to spare, now's a good time to know what
they are and how they differ from one another.

SMTP

Let's start with SMTP because its primary function is different from the other two. SMTP
or Simple Mail Transfer Protocol is mostly used for sending out email from an email
client (e.g. Microsoft Outlook, Thunderbird or Apple Mail) to an email server. It's also
used for relaying or forwarding mail messages from one mail server to another. The
ability to relay messages from one server to another is necessary if the sender and
recipient have different email service providers.

SMTP, which is specified in RFC 5321, uses port 25 by default. It may also use port 587
and port 465. The latter, which was introduced as the port of choice for secure SMTP
(a.k.a. SMTPS), is supposed to be deprecated. But in reality, it's still being used by
several mail service providers.

Now that you have a basic understanding of SMTP, it's time to turn our attention to the
two protocols for retrieving email from mail servers: IMAP and POP3. Let's start with
POP3.
POP3

As shown in the figure above, the Post Office Protocol or POP is used to retrieve email
messages from a mail server to a mail client. The latest version, which is what's widely
used, is version 3 - hence the term "POP3".

POP version 3, which is specified in RFC 1939, supports extensions and several
authentication mechanisms. Authentication features are necessary to prevent malicious
individuals from gaining unauthorized access to users' messages.

Generally speaking, a POP3 client retrieves email in the following manner:

1. Connects to the mail server on port 110 (or 995 for SSL/TLS connections);
2. Retrieves email messages;
3. Deletes copies of the messages stored on the server; and
4. Disconnects from the server

Although POP clients may be configured to allow the server to continue storing copies of
the downloaded messages, the steps outlined above is the usual practice. Leaving them on
the server is a practice that's usually done via IMAP. Let's talk about it now.

IMAP

IMAP, especially the current version (IMAP4), is a more sophisticated protocol. It allows users to group
related messages and place them in folders, which can in turn be arranged hierarchically. It's also
equipped with message flags that indicate whether a message has been read, deleted, or
replied to. It even allows users to carry out searches against the server mailboxes.

Here's how IMAP works in a nutshell:

5. Connects to the mail server on port 143 (or 993 for SSL/TLS connections);
6. Retrieves email messages;
7. Stays connected until the mail client app is closed and downloads messages on
demand.

Notice that messages aren't deleted on the server. This has major implications, which
we'll talk about shortly.

IMAP specifications can be found in RFC 3501.

Considerations when choosing between IMAP and POP3

Since SMTP's main function is different altogether, the dilemma of choosing the better
protocol usually involves only IMAP and POP3. Here are some of the things you will
want to put into consideration:

Server storage space

A server with limited storage space is one major factor that may force you to favor POP3.
Since IMAP leaves messages on the server, it can consume storage space faster than
POP3.

Advantage: POP3

Anytime, anywhere access

There's one good reason why IMAP was designed to store messages on the server. It's
meant to enable retrieval of messages from multiple devices; sometimes, even
simultaneously. So if you have an iPhone, an Android tablet, a laptop, and a desktop, and
you want to read email from any or all of these devices, IMAP would be the better choice.

Advantage: IMAP

Synchronization

If you access email messages from multiple devices (who doesn't these days?), you'll
likely want all devices to reflect whatever action you performed on one device.

For instance, if you read messages, A, B, and C, then you'll want those messages to be
also marked as "read" on the other devices. If you deleted messages B and C, then you'll
want those same messages removed from your inbox on the other devices as well. If you
moved message A to another folder ... well, you know what I mean. All these
synchronizations can only be achieved if you're using IMAP.

Advantage: IMAP

Organization

Because IMAP allows users to arrange messages in a hierarchical fashion and place them
in folders, it's certainly better at helping users organize.

Advantage: IMAP

Computational overhead

Of course, all that IMAP functionality comes at a price. It's arguably more difficult to
implement and certainly consumes a lot more CPU and RAM, especially when it
performs those synchronizations. In fact, high CPU and memory usage can happen at
both the client and server side if there's a ton of messages to sync.

Advantage: POP3

Privacy

This is one concern that would weigh heavily on end users who frequently deal with
confidential information. These users would prefer to download all email messages and
leave no copies behind on the server.

Advantage: POP3

Speed

Whereas POP3 downloads all mail messages upon connection, IMAP may optionally
download just the message headers or certain portions and leave, for example, the
attachments on the server. Only when the user decides the remaining portions are worth
downloading, will those portions be downloaded. In this regard, IMAP can be considered
faster.

However, if all messages on the server are supposed to be downloaded every single time,
then POP3 would now be faster.

Advantage: Depends on the situation

As you can see, each protocol has its own advantages and disadvantages. It's really up to
you to decide which functions/capabilities are more important to you.