SHSelfHostIndex

AnonAddy vs Stalwart Mail Server

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?
AN AnonAddy Email forwarding service for creating aliases VS ST Stalwart Mail Server Modern all-in-one mail server in a single binary
FeatureAnonAddyStalwart Mail Server
CategoryMail ServersMail Servers
LicenseMITAGPL-3.0
LanguagePHPRust
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdockerdocker, binary, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 4,789★ 14,059
First released20262020
Replaces—Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace

Why pick each one

Choose AnonAddy if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Active community (4.8k GitHub stars)
  • Written in PHP
AnonAddy details

Choose Stalwart Mail Server if…

  • Single modern binary
  • Strong security defaults
Stalwart Mail Server details

Frequently asked questions

Is AnonAddy or Stalwart Mail Server better?

Neither is universally better. Stalwart Mail Server has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are AnonAddy and Stalwart Mail Server free and open-source?

Yes. AnonAddy is licensed under MIT and Stalwart Mail Server under AGPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run AnonAddy and Stalwart Mail Server with Docker?

AnonAddy: yes. Stalwart Mail Server: yes.

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