Cyrus IMAP vs SOGo
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Cyrus IMAP
Scalable IMAP and POP server for large deployments
VS
SOGo
Scalable groupware server with webmail, calendar and contacts
| Feature | Cyrus IMAP | SOGo |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Groupware |
| License | BSD-3-Clause | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | C | Objective-C |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 1,024 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 641 | ★ 2,143 |
| First released | 1994 | 2009 |
| Replaces | Microsoft Exchange | Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft 365 |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Cyrus IMAP or SOGo better?
Neither is universally better. SOGo has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Cyrus IMAP and SOGo free and open-source?
Yes. Cyrus IMAP is licensed under BSD-3-Clause and SOGo under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Cyrus IMAP and SOGo with Docker?
Cyrus IMAP: check the project docs for container support. SOGo: yes.