swaks
Swiss Army knife for SMTP testing
swaks is a flexible command-line SMTP transaction tester used to diagnose and verify self-hosted mail servers. It can craft and send test messages with fine control over the SMTP conversation.
Key features
- Command-line SMTP tester
- Fine control over SMTP transactions
- Diagnoses mail server issues
Strengths
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Perl
Is swaks secure?
OSV.dev has no published security advisories for swaks's repository. No known vulnerabilities is not proof of security: it means none have been publicly catalogued.
Source: OSV.dev, checked 2026-10-14. How this is measured.
swaks replaces
Health badge
Maintain swaks? Add its health score to your README. The badge links back to this page.
Compare swaks
4 head-to-head comparisons.
Similar mail servers apps
listmonk
Mail ServersSelf-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager
Replaces Mailchimp, Sendinblue
Docker Mailserver
Mail ServersProduction-ready, config-driven mail server in a container
Replaces Google Workspace, Microsoft 365
Mailspring
Mail ServersCross-platform desktop email client
Replaces Outlook, Apple Mail
Postal
Mail ServersComplete mail delivery platform for outgoing email
Replaces SendGrid, Mailgun
MailHog
Mail ServersEmail testing tool with a fake SMTP server
Replaces Mailtrap
Mail-in-a-Box
Mail ServersTurn a fresh server into a working mail server
Replaces Google Workspace, Microsoft 365