Email MCP Server (IMAP/SMTP) vs Telegram MCP Server (chigwell)

A side-by-side comparison of two Communication servers — tools, transport, auth, maintenance, and copy-paste config for each.

	Email MCP Server (IMAP/SMTP) Provider-agnostic email MCP over IMAP/SMTP — read, search and send from any mailbox Verified stdio (local) API key Python	Telegram MCP Server (chigwell) Full Telegram user-account MCP via MTProto: read chats, manage groups, send messages Verified stdio (local) API key Python
Category	Communication	Communication
Language	Python	Python
Transport	stdio (local)	stdio (local)
Auth	API key	API key
GitHub stars	254	1.2k
Last commit	19 days ago	9 days ago
Verified
Actively maintained
Install	`uvx mcp-email-server@latest stdio`	`git clone https://github.com/chigwell/telegram-mcp && cd telegram-mcp && uv sync && uv run main.py`
Repo	Open	Open

Verdict

Pick Email MCP Server (IMAP/SMTP) if you prefer its approach (provider-agnostic email mcp over imap/smtp — read, search and send from any mailbox).

Pick Telegram MCP Server (chigwell) if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Add Email MCP Server (IMAP/SMTP)

Install / run

uvx mcp-email-server@latest stdio

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "email-mcp-server-imap-smtp": {
      "command": "uvx",
      "args": [
        "mcp-email-server@latest",
        "stdio"
      ]
    }
  }
}

Requires `uv` (the Python package runner). Install it from https://docs.astral.sh/uv/ if `uvx` is not found.

Add Telegram MCP Server (chigwell)

Install / run

git clone https://github.com/chigwell/telegram-mcp && cd telegram-mcp && uv sync && uv run main.py

Paste into ~/Library/Application Support/Claude/claude_desktop_config.json

{
  "mcpServers": {
    "telegram-mcp-server-chigwell": {
      "command": "uv",
      "args": [
        "--directory",
        "/absolute/path/to/telegram-mcp",
        "run",
        "main.py"
      ],
      "env": {
        "TELEGRAM_API_ID": "<your-telegram-api-id>",
        "TELEGRAM_API_HASH": "<your-telegram-api-hash>",
        "TELEGRAM_SESSION_STRING": "<your-generated-session-string>"
      }
    }
  }
}

FAQ

Email MCP Server (IMAP/SMTP) or Telegram MCP Server (chigwell) — which is better?

Pick Email MCP Server (IMAP/SMTP) if you prefer its approach (provider-agnostic email mcp over imap/smtp — read, search and send from any mailbox). Pick Telegram MCP Server (chigwell) if you prefer the more popular, battle-tested option, and you need the broadest set of tools.

Can I use both Email MCP Server (IMAP/SMTP) and Telegram MCP Server (chigwell)?

Yes — MCP clients let you enable multiple servers at once. Add both configs to your client's mcpServers and use whichever tool fits the task.

Do Email MCP Server (IMAP/SMTP) and Telegram MCP Server (chigwell) work with Claude, Cursor and Windsurf?

Both do. Copy the per-client config below into Claude Desktop, Cursor, or Windsurf.

View Email MCP Server (IMAP/SMTP) →View Telegram MCP Server (chigwell) →More comparisons →