Docker Mailserver vs MailHog
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 Mail-in-a-Box 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 MailHog with
choose an app… listmonk Mailspring Postal Mail-in-a-Box Stalwart Mail Server mailcow Mautic Mailpit Mailpile Mailu Roundcube Himalaya SimpleLogin MailCatcher Maddy Mail Server Mox Mailtrain Haraka AnonAddy RainLoop imapsync smtp4dev NeoMutt Modoboa aerc Dittofeed Rspamd Keila emailwiz SendPortal WildDuck Mailvelope iRedMail Cypht SnappyMail Forward Email Cuttlefish DebOps swaks parsedmarc PostfixAdmin Dovecot Apache James Nextcloud Mail chasquid Sup Betterbird imapfilter OpenTrashmail notmuch Sieve Editor meli phpList Exim alot alps Lieer Cyrus IMAP OfflineIMAP Larch OpenSMTPD Postfix ViMbAdmin Chatmail Mailman isync MailWhale Afterlogic WebMail Lite afew Apache SpamAssassin Sympa Simple NixOS Mailserver msmtp fdm DragonFly Mail Agent Claws Mail Fetchmail HyperKitty piler Postorius Nullmailer getmail6 OpenDMARC OpenDKIM bogofilter Schleuder Dovecot Pigeonhole DKIMpy Milter mpop Courier Mail Server Afterlogic DAV b1gMail Dovel EmailRelay Inboxen Sendmail Sendy SquirrelMail
Feature Docker Mailserver MailHog Category Mail Servers Mail Servers License MIT MIT Language Shell Go Setup difficulty Medium Easy Min. RAM 2,048 MB 64 MB Deployment docker docker, binary, source GitHub stars ★ 18,682 ★ 16,107 First released 2015 2014 Replaces Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 Mailtrap
Why pick each one
Choose MailHog if… Released under the MIT license Easy to set up — beginner-friendly First-class Docker support for quick deployment Mature project with 16.1k GitHub stars MailHog details
Frequently asked questions Is Docker Mailserver or MailHog better? Neither is universally better. Docker Mailserver has the larger community, while MailHog is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Docker Mailserver and MailHog free and open-source? Yes. Docker Mailserver is licensed under MIT and MailHog under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Docker Mailserver and MailHog with Docker? Docker Mailserver: yes. MailHog: yes.