Beets vs Stalwart Mail

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureBeetsStalwart Mail
CategoryMedia ServersMedia Servers
LicenseMITfree
LanguagePython
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM256 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metaldocker, one-click
GitHub stars★ 15,509
First released20082023
ReplacesiTunes

Why pick each one

Choose Beets if…

  • Excellent metadata accuracy
  • Highly scriptable
Beets details

Choose Stalwart Mail if…

  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • One-click install on common self-host platforms
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Stalwart Mail details

Frequently asked questions

Is Beets or Stalwart Mail better?

Neither is universally better. Beets has the larger community, while Stalwart Mail is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are Beets and Stalwart Mail free and open-source?

Yes. Beets is licensed under MIT and Stalwart Mail under free. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Beets and Stalwart Mail with Docker?

Beets: yes. Stalwart Mail: yes.

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