Afterlogic WebMail Lite vs Postal
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?
Afterlogic WebMail Lite
Free webmail front-end for IMAP and SMTP servers
VS
Postal
Complete mail delivery platform for outgoing email
| Feature | Afterlogic WebMail Lite | Postal |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Shell | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 360 | ★ 16,724 |
| First released | 2010 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Gmail, Outlook Web | SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark |
Why pick each one
Choose Afterlogic WebMail Lite if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Shell
Frequently asked questions
Is Afterlogic WebMail Lite or Postal better?
Neither is universally better. Postal has the larger community, while Afterlogic WebMail Lite is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Afterlogic WebMail Lite and Postal free and open-source?
Yes. Afterlogic WebMail Lite is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Postal under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Afterlogic WebMail Lite and Postal with Docker?
Afterlogic WebMail Lite: yes. Postal: yes.