AnonAddy vs smtp4dev
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
smtp4dev
Fake SMTP server for development email testing
| Feature | AnonAddy | smtp4dev |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | C# |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,789 | ★ 3,941 |
| First released | 2026 | 2015 |
| Replaces | — | Mailtrap |
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 smtp4dev better?
Neither is universally better. AnonAddy has the larger community, while smtp4dev is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are AnonAddy and smtp4dev free and open-source?
Yes. AnonAddy is licensed under MIT and smtp4dev under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run AnonAddy and smtp4dev with Docker?
AnonAddy: yes. smtp4dev: yes.