Thunderbird Appointment vs DavMail
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted calendar & contacts options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Thunderbird Appointment
Self-hostable scheduling tool for booking meetings
VS
DavMail
POP/IMAP/SMTP/Caldav/Carddav/LDAP exchange gateway allowing users to
| Feature | Thunderbird Appointment | DavMail |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Calendar & Contacts | Calendar & Contacts |
| License | MPL-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Python | Java |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 547 | ★ 751 |
| First released | 2023 | 2020 |
| Replaces | Calendly, Doodle | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Thunderbird Appointment if…
- Released under the MPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose DavMail if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Java
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Thunderbird Appointment or DavMail better?
Neither is universally better. DavMail has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Thunderbird Appointment and DavMail free and open-source?
Yes. Thunderbird Appointment is licensed under MPL-2.0 and DavMail under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Thunderbird Appointment and DavMail with Docker?
Thunderbird Appointment: yes. DavMail: check the project docs for container support.