OK, so I haven't used Neomutt (or mutt) in ages, but I assume it's about as capable as aerc, which I do use. Aerc is an alternative to Gmail in a couple of ways:

If you interpret the meaning the way you did, aerc can access a gmail account via IMAP, just like any IMAP client can. So it's a replacement for GMail web
It can be configured to use notmuch, which is the most GMail-like interface to mail in that it indexes email for searching and uses tags instead of folders - like GMail. So it's a replacement for GMail in that it behaves the most like GMail without being backed by GMail (although, you can connect it to a GMail account email corpus if you like).
It can talk to any IMAP server, so it's a replacement for GMail in the purest sense: there is nothing GMail involved.

I suspect Neomutt is equally capable; I've just always disliked the UI.

What were you expecting? A promo for ProtonMail, or a replacement as in, "hey you can go here and register an email account, so it's a replacement for GMail?"

[–] cheddar@programming.dev -1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Gmail is a service. A client is a client. A client can't be an alternative to a service just like Firefox can't be an alternative to Lemmy.

[–] hellofriend@lemmy.world 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Don't be pedantic. It's obvious the OP is referring to the client portion of Gmail, not the service portion.

[–] cheddar@programming.dev -4 points 3 months ago

The title says:

An alternative to Gmail

If the title is misleading, the problem is not on my side.

[–] boredsquirrel@slrpnk.net -1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Because

gmail has a simple web ui
is an integrated service you often accidentally get
a service and a client
does not need installation

And so much more

[–] sxan@midwest.social 3 points 3 months ago

Isn't that what makes it an "alternative" and not a "clone"?