alot vs Himalaya
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?
alot
Terminal-based mail user agent for notmuch
VS
Himalaya
Modern command-line email client written in Rust
| Feature | alot | Himalaya |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 751 | ★ 6,962 |
| First released | 2011 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Mutt | Mutt, Outlook |
Why pick each one
Choose alot if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Himalaya if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 7k GitHub stars
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is alot or Himalaya better?
Neither is universally better. Himalaya has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are alot and Himalaya free and open-source?
Yes. alot is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Himalaya under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run alot and Himalaya with Docker?
alot: check the project docs for container support. Himalaya: check the project docs for container support.