Difference between SMTP and IMAP

SMTP(Simple Mail transfer protocol) and IMAP(Internet Message Access Protocol) are both protocols that are used to send and receive emails.  The main difference between SMTP and IMAP is that SMTP is used to send email and communication while IMAP is used to retrieve email from a server.  

What is SMTP?

SMTP stands for simple mail transfer protocol. This type of protocol allows applications to transmit email messages over the internet. SMTP handles your own outgoing mail. Your email application is connected to your mail server via SMTP and sends the message.

What is IMAP?

IMAP stands for internet access message protocol is an email protocol that deals with managing and retrieving email messages from the receiving server. IMAP deals with message retrieval. You will not be able to use the IMAP protocol to send an email. Instead, IMAP is used for receiving messages.

The main key difference between SMTP and IMAP:

• SMTP is used for sending emails but IMAP is used for retrieving emails.
• SMTP is used between servers, and IMAP is only used between client and server.
• SMTP is the prevalent protocol for outgoing email whereas IMAP is only one of two prevalent protocols for email retrieval.

Explore more information:

1. Difference between TCP and UDP
2. Difference between FTP and SMTP
3. Difference between TCP and RTP
4. Difference between IMAP and POP3
5. Difference between SMTP and POP3
6. Difference between TCP/IP and OSI model
7. Difference between FTP ad TFTP
8. Difference between FTP ad SFTP
9. Difference between VPN and MPLS
10. Difference between HTTP and HTTPS
11. Difference between HTTP and WWW
12. Advantages and disadvantages of IPV4
13. Advantages and disadvantages of IPV6

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