getmail is a simple mail retrieval agent intended as a replacement for fetchmail, implemented in Python.^[5] It can retrieve mail from POP3,^[3] IMAP4,^[5] and Standard Dial-up POP3 Service servers, with or without SSL. It supports simple and domain (multidrop) mailboxes, mail filtering via any arbitrary program, and supports a wide variety of mail destination types, including mboxrd, maildir,^[3][6] and external arbitrary mail delivery agents.^[5] Unlike fetchmail, getmail's Python foundation makes it nearly immune to buffer overflow security holes.^{[citation needed]} It also has a simpler configuration syntax than fetchmail, but supports fewer authentication protocols. The software can also function as a basic mail delivery agent.^[5]

Getmail is free software and is licensed under the GNU General Public License version 2.^[1] It is written and maintained by Charles Cazabon.^[1]

The original getmail software requires Python 2, which is no longer supported. A fork named getmail6, which is not from getmail's original author, provides Python 3 support.