AnonAddy vs mailcow
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?
AnonAddy
Email forwarding service for creating aliases
VS
mailcow
Dockerized full-stack mail server suite
| Feature | AnonAddy | mailcow |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 6,144 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,789 | ★ 13,245 |
| First released | 2026 | 2016 |
| 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
Frequently asked questions
Is AnonAddy or mailcow better?
Neither is universally better. mailcow has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are AnonAddy and mailcow free and open-source?
Yes. AnonAddy is licensed under MIT and mailcow under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AnonAddy and mailcow with Docker?
AnonAddy: yes. mailcow: yes.