alps vs SnappyMail

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?
FeaturealpsSnappyMail
CategoryMail ServersMail Servers
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguageGoPHP
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM64 MB128 MB
Deploymentbinary, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 700★ 1,670
First released20202021
ReplacesGmailGmail, Outlook Web

Why pick each one

Choose alps if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Written in Go
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
alps details

Choose SnappyMail if…

  • Very lightweight
  • Actively maintained RainLoop fork
SnappyMail details

Frequently asked questions

Is alps or SnappyMail better?

SnappyMail is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider alps if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are alps and SnappyMail free and open-source?

Yes. alps is licensed under MIT and SnappyMail under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run alps and SnappyMail with Docker?

alps: check the project docs for container support. SnappyMail: yes.

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