Docker Mailserver vs Mail-in-a-Box
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?
Compare Docker Mailserver with
choose an app… Nextcloud listmonk Mailspring Postal MailHog Stalwart Mail Server mailcow Mautic Mailpit Mailpile CryptPad Mailu Roundcube Himalaya SimpleLogin ONLYOFFICE Docs MailCatcher Maddy Mail Server Mox Mailtrain Haraka AnonAddy RainLoop imapsync smtp4dev NeoMutt Modoboa Collabora Online aerc OnlyOffice Community Server Dittofeed Rspamd Keila emailwiz SendPortal SOGo WildDuck Mailvelope iRedMail Cypht SnappyMail Forward Email Cuttlefish DebOps swaks parsedmarc Cozy PostfixAdmin Dovecot Nextcloud Groupware Apache James Nextcloud Mail chasquid Sup Betterbird imapfilter OpenTrashmail notmuch Sieve Editor meli phpList Exim alot alps LibreOffice Online Lieer Cyrus IMAP OfflineIMAP Larch OpenSMTPD Postfix ViMbAdmin Chatmail Mailman isync MailWhale Afterlogic WebMail Lite afew Apache SpamAssassin Sympa Simple NixOS Mailserver Calligra Suite EGroupware msmtp fdm Group-Office DragonFly Mail Agent Claws Mail Fetchmail HyperKitty piler Postorius Nullmailer getmail6 OpenDMARC OpenDKIM bogofilter Citadel Schleuder Dovecot Pigeonhole Tine DKIMpy Milter mpop Courier Mail Server Afterlogic DAV b1gMail Dovel EmailRelay Inboxen Sendmail Sendy SquirrelMail
Compare Mail-in-a-Box with
choose an app… Nextcloud listmonk Mailspring Postal MailHog Stalwart Mail Server mailcow Mautic Mailpit Mailpile CryptPad Mailu Roundcube Himalaya SimpleLogin ONLYOFFICE Docs MailCatcher Maddy Mail Server Mox Mailtrain Haraka AnonAddy RainLoop imapsync smtp4dev NeoMutt Modoboa Collabora Online aerc OnlyOffice Community Server Dittofeed Rspamd Keila emailwiz SendPortal SOGo WildDuck Mailvelope iRedMail Cypht SnappyMail Forward Email Cuttlefish DebOps swaks parsedmarc Cozy PostfixAdmin Dovecot Nextcloud Groupware Apache James Nextcloud Mail chasquid Sup Betterbird imapfilter OpenTrashmail notmuch Sieve Editor meli phpList Exim alot alps LibreOffice Online Lieer Cyrus IMAP OfflineIMAP Larch OpenSMTPD Postfix ViMbAdmin Chatmail Mailman isync MailWhale Afterlogic WebMail Lite afew Apache SpamAssassin Sympa Simple NixOS Mailserver Calligra Suite EGroupware msmtp fdm Group-Office DragonFly Mail Agent Claws Mail Fetchmail HyperKitty piler Postorius Nullmailer getmail6 OpenDMARC OpenDKIM bogofilter Citadel Schleuder Dovecot Pigeonhole Tine DKIMpy Milter mpop Courier Mail Server Afterlogic DAV b1gMail Dovel EmailRelay Inboxen Sendmail Sendy SquirrelMail
Feature Docker Mailserver Mail-in-a-Box Category Mail Servers Mail Servers License MIT CC0-1.0 Language Shell Python Setup difficulty Medium Easy Min. RAM 2,048 MB 1,024 MB Deployment docker bare-metal, one-click GitHub stars ★ 18,682 ★ 15,385 First released 2015 2014 Replaces Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 Google Workspace, Microsoft 365
Frequently asked questions Is Docker Mailserver or Mail-in-a-Box better? Neither is universally better. Docker Mailserver has the larger community, while Mail-in-a-Box is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Docker Mailserver and Mail-in-a-Box free and open-source? Yes. Docker Mailserver is licensed under MIT and Mail-in-a-Box under CC0-1.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Docker Mailserver and Mail-in-a-Box with Docker? Docker Mailserver: yes. Mail-in-a-Box: check the project docs for container support.