DavMail vs Xandikos
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?
DavMail
POP/IMAP/SMTP/Caldav/Carddav/LDAP exchange gateway allowing users to
VS
Xandikos
Git-backed CalDAV and CardDAV server
| Feature | DavMail | Xandikos |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Calendar & Contacts | Calendar & Contacts |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Java | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 751 | ★ 593 |
| First released | 2020 | 2016 |
| Replaces | — | Google Calendar, iCloud |
Why pick each one
Choose DavMail if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- Written in Java
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Choose Xandikos if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Python
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is DavMail or Xandikos 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 DavMail and Xandikos free and open-source?
Yes. DavMail is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Xandikos under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run DavMail and Xandikos with Docker?
DavMail: check the project docs for container support. Xandikos: yes.