Spark for Windows

Used Spark for Windows?

Spark Analysis

AI Assisted Content · January 7, 2026

Not written by CNET Staff.

Spark is a free email client designed for Windows that enhances email management through smart organization and intuitive features. It allows users to categorize incoming messages based on importance, making it ideal for those who handle a high volume of emails daily. Spark's functionality includes natural language search capabilities, push notifications for priority emails, and customizable email signatures, which streamline the communication process for both personal and professional use.

In addition to its email management features, Spark serves as an instant messaging client, making it suitable for organizational use. It supports various communication protocols and offers a user-friendly interface with features like emoticons, color-coded statuses, and tools for screen capture and note-taking. Despite some limitations in configuration settings and occasional contact group issues, Spark remains a robust option for effective email and messaging solutions.

Spark for Windows

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Full Specifications

GENERAL

Release: July 1, 2011

Latest update: January 7, 2026

Version: 3.27.4

OPERATING SYSTEMS

Platform: Windows

Operating System: Windows 11

POPULARITY

Total Downloads: 67,097

Downloads Last Week: 0

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Last Updated

User Reviews

3/5

3 User Votes

Buggy and Resource-intensive
obhaydenNovember 10, 2011
Pros
Interface is clean and simple.
Cons
It takes over 100mb of memory while running, and uses considerably more network bandwidth and CPU cycles than other chat clients (such as pidgin or trillian). It often requires manually quitting before logging off or shutting down Windows, since Windows doesn't seem to be able to terminate the app. It also hangs up about 20% of the time when closed, requiring manual termination of the process using task manager. Archiving features are meager and customizability of interface and features such as timestamp aren't up to snuff.
Summary
Great corporate IM solution
Scorpion909March 5, 2009
Pros
* Easy to use and install * Administrator control over many features * No ads, games or unneeded add-ons * Ability to store conversation and availability logs for specified time periods
Cons
* Unable to lock down a couple of features from end users
Summary
Very good open source based corporate IM. The only reason I didn't give it 5 stars is because I can't figure out how to lock down some of the features from end users like setting idle time. It may be possible but I haven't figured it out yet. I am serving this from my own machine to 100 end users and it hasn't effected performance on my end at all.
dineshpnairMay 3, 2008
Pros
Cons
Summary

Developer’s Description

By Jive Software

Integrate instant messenger with numerous features.

Spark is a full-featured instant messaging (IM) and groupchat client that uses the XMPP protocol. The Spark source code is governed by the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL), which can be found in the LICENSE.html file in this distribution. Spark also contains Open Source software from third-parties. Licensing terms for those components is specifically noted in the relevant source files.