aerc vs Cypht
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted mail servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
aerc
Efficient terminal-based email client
VS
Cypht
Lightweight webmail aggregator for many accounts
| Feature | aerc | Cypht |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | LGPL-2.1 |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,300 | ★ 1,672 |
| First released | 2019 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Gmail, Outlook | Gmail, Outlook Web |
Why pick each one
Choose aerc if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Active community (3.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Cypht if…
- Released under the LGPL-2.1 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
Frequently asked questions
Is aerc or Cypht better?
Neither is universally better. aerc has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are aerc and Cypht free and open-source?
Yes. aerc is licensed under MIT and Cypht under LGPL-2.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run aerc and Cypht with Docker?
aerc: check the project docs for container support. Cypht: yes.