chasquid vs mailcow
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted mail servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | chasquid | mailcow |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 78 · Good | 94 · Excellent |
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 6,144 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 977 | ★ 13,498 |
| First released | 2016 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Google Workspace | Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace |
What are chasquid and mailcow?
chasquid
chasquid is an SMTP server written in Go with a focus on being easy to configure and maintain for small personal mail servers. It handles message submission and delivery securely.
- Easy-to-configure SMTP server
- Automatic TLS via certificates
- SPF and DKIM support
- Lightweight Go implementation
mailcow
mailcow is a complete, Docker-based mail server solution that bundles Postfix, Dovecot, Rspamd, SOGo, and a modern web UI. It makes running a full-featured mail server with antispam and webmail straightforward.
- Complete Docker mail stack
- Rspamd antispam built in
- SOGo webmail and ActiveSync
- Modern management UI with API
chasquid vs mailcow: key differences
Chasquid is written in Go, while mailcow is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for chasquid versus GPL-3.0 for mailcow. Chasquid is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 6,144 MB for mailcow. Mailcow has the considerably larger community, at 13,498 GitHub stars versus 977.
Why pick each one
Choose chasquid if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Written in Go
- Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Watch out for
- SMTP only, needs IMAP separately
- Small personal-use focus
Choose mailcow if…
- All components preconfigured
- Active community
Watch out for
- Substantial RAM requirements
- Many containers to manage
Frequently asked questions
Is chasquid or mailcow better?
Neither is universally better. mailcow has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are chasquid and mailcow free and open-source?
Yes. chasquid is licensed under Apache-2.0 and mailcow under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run chasquid and mailcow with Docker?
chasquid: yes. mailcow: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, chasquid or mailcow?
chasquid has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 6,144 MB for mailcow. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.