afew vs imapfilter
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted mail servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | afew | imapfilter |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Read-the-docs project | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 75 · Good | 57 · Fair |
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | ISC | MIT |
| Language | Python | C |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 342 | ★ 937 |
| First released | 2011 | 2001 |
| Replaces | Gmail filters | Gmail filters |
What are afew and imapfilter?
afew
afew is an automatic tagging tool for the notmuch email system, applying filters and rules to newly delivered mail so a self-hosted mail setup keeps messages organized into virtual folders.
- Automatic tagging for notmuch
- Rule-based mail filtering
- Virtual folder organization
imapfilter
imapfilter is a mail filtering utility that processes mailboxes directly over IMAP based on rules written in Lua. It runs as a client-side tool and can sort, move, and act on messages.
- Lua-scripted filtering
- Works over IMAP
- Client-side processing
- Very lightweight
afew vs imapfilter: key differences
Afew is written in Python, while imapfilter is built with C. Licensing differs — ISC for afew versus MIT for imapfilter. Imapfilter is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 64 MB for afew. Imapfilter is the more established project (first released 2001), while afew arrived in 2011. Imapfilter has the considerably larger community, at 937 GitHub stars versus 342.
Why pick each one
Choose afew if…
- Released under the ISC license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose imapfilter if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is afew or imapfilter better?
Neither is universally better. imapfilter has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are afew and imapfilter free and open-source?
Yes. afew is licensed under ISC and imapfilter under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run afew and imapfilter with Docker?
afew: check the project docs for container support. imapfilter: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, afew or imapfilter?
imapfilter has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 64 MB for afew. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.