alps vs Afterlogic WebMail Lite
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?
alps
Simple and extensible web-based email client
VS
Afterlogic WebMail Lite
Free webmail front-end for IMAP and SMTP servers
| Feature | alps | Afterlogic WebMail Lite |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 700 | ★ 360 |
| First released | 2020 | 2010 |
| Replaces | Gmail | Gmail, Outlook Web |
Why pick each one
Choose alps if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Choose Afterlogic WebMail Lite if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Shell
Frequently asked questions
Is alps or Afterlogic WebMail Lite better?
Neither is universally better. alps has the larger community, while Afterlogic WebMail Lite is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are alps and Afterlogic WebMail Lite free and open-source?
Yes. alps is licensed under MIT and Afterlogic WebMail Lite under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run alps and Afterlogic WebMail Lite with Docker?
alps: check the project docs for container support. Afterlogic WebMail Lite: yes.