SHSelfHostIndex

Cyrus IMAP vs Dovecot

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?
CY Cyrus IMAP Scalable IMAP and POP server for large deployments VS DO Dovecot Secure, high-performance IMAP and POP3 server
FeatureCyrus IMAPDovecot
CategoryMail ServersMail Servers
LicenseBSD-3-ClauseMIT
LanguageCC
Setup difficultyHardHard
Min. RAM1,024 MB128 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, sourcedocker, bare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 641★ 1,233
First released19942002
ReplacesMicrosoft ExchangeMicrosoft Exchange

Why pick each one

Choose Cyrus IMAP if…

  • Released under the BSD-3-Clause license
  • Written in C
Cyrus IMAP details

Choose Dovecot if…

  • Very efficient and reliable
  • Industry standard
Dovecot details

Frequently asked questions

Is Cyrus IMAP or Dovecot better?

Neither is universally better. Dovecot has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Cyrus IMAP and Dovecot free and open-source?

Yes. Cyrus IMAP is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and Dovecot under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Cyrus IMAP and Dovecot with Docker?

Cyrus IMAP: check the project docs for container support. Dovecot: yes.

Related comparisons