Claws Mail 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?
Compare Claws Mail with
choose an app… listmonk Docker Mailserver Mailspring Postal MailHog Mail-in-a-Box Stalwart Mail Server Mautic Mailpit NeoMutt Betterbird Open Web Calendar Kontact hash-calendar
Compare mailcow with
choose an app… listmonk Docker Mailserver Mailspring Postal MailHog Mail-in-a-Box Stalwart Mail Server Mautic Mailpit Mailpile Mailu Roundcube Himalaya SimpleLogin MailCatcher Maddy Mail Server Mox Mailtrain Haraka AnonAddy RainLoop imapsync smtp4dev NeoMutt Modoboa aerc Dittofeed Rspamd Keila emailwiz SendPortal SOGo WildDuck Mailvelope iRedMail Cypht SnappyMail Forward Email Cuttlefish DebOps swaks parsedmarc Cozy PostfixAdmin Dovecot Nextcloud Groupware Apache James Nextcloud Mail chasquid Sup Betterbird imapfilter OpenTrashmail notmuch Sieve Editor meli phpList Exim alot alps Lieer Cyrus IMAP OfflineIMAP Larch OpenSMTPD Postfix ViMbAdmin Chatmail Mailman isync MailWhale Afterlogic WebMail Lite afew Apache SpamAssassin Sympa Simple NixOS Mailserver EGroupware msmtp fdm Group-Office DragonFly Mail Agent Horde Groupware Fetchmail DAViCal HyperKitty Kolab Groupware piler Postorius Nullmailer getmail6 OpenDMARC OpenDKIM bogofilter Citadel Schleuder Dovecot Pigeonhole Kopano Groupware Core Tine DKIMpy Milter mpop Courier Mail Server Afterlogic DAV b1gMail Dovel EmailRelay Inboxen Sendmail Sendy SquirrelMail
Feature Claws Mail mailcow Category Mail Servers Mail Servers License GPL-3.0 GPL-3.0 Language C JavaScript Setup difficulty Easy Medium Min. RAM 128 MB 6,144 MB Deployment binary, source docker GitHub stars ★ 200 ★ 13,245 First released 2001 2016 Replaces Microsoft Outlook Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace
Why pick each one
Choose Claws Mail if… Released under the GPL-3.0 license Easy to set up — beginner-friendly Written in C Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM Claws Mail details Choose mailcow if… All components preconfigured Active community mailcow details
Frequently asked questions Is Claws Mail or mailcow better? Neither is universally better. mailcow has the larger community, while Claws Mail is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Claws Mail and mailcow free and open-source? Yes. Claws Mail is licensed under GPL-3.0 and mailcow under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Claws Mail and mailcow with Docker? Claws Mail: check the project docs for container support. mailcow: yes.