afew vs mailcow
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?
afew
Initial tagging script for the notmuch mailer
VS
mailcow
Dockerized full-stack mail server suite
| Feature | afew | mailcow |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | ISC | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 6,144 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 344 | ★ 13,245 |
| First released | 2011 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Gmail filters | Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace |
Why pick each one
Choose afew if…
- Released under the ISC license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is afew or mailcow better?
Neither is universally better. mailcow has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are afew and mailcow free and open-source?
Yes. afew is licensed under ISC and mailcow under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run afew and mailcow with Docker?
afew: check the project docs for container support. mailcow: yes.