Dovecot vs WildDuck
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted mail servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Dovecot
Secure, high-performance IMAP and POP3 server
VS
WildDuck
Scalable IMAP and POP3 mail server with REST API
| Feature | Dovecot | WildDuck |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 86 · Excellent |
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | EUPL-1.2 |
| Language | C | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,255 | ★ 2,108 |
| First released | 2002 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Microsoft Exchange | Microsoft Exchange, Gmail |
What are Dovecot and WildDuck?
Dovecot
Dovecot is an open-source IMAP and POP3 server for Linux and Unix systems, written with security as a primary goal. It is the mailbox-access component of most self-hosted mail stacks.
- High-performance IMAP/POP3
- Sieve filtering support
- Flexible mailbox storage formats
- Strong security focus
WildDuck
WildDuck is a modern, scalable mail server providing IMAP, POP3, and a full REST API for managing mailboxes. It stores messages in MongoDB and is designed for clustered, highly available deployments.
- IMAP and POP3
- Full REST API
- MongoDB storage
- Designed for scale
Dovecot vs WildDuck: key differences
Dovecot is written in C, while WildDuck is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Dovecot versus EUPL-1.2 for WildDuck. Dovecot is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for WildDuck. Dovecot is the more established project (first released 2002), while WildDuck arrived in 2017.
Why pick each one
Choose Dovecot if…
- Very efficient and reliable
- Industry standard
Watch out for
- Configuration is complex
- Mailbox access only
Choose WildDuck if…
- API-driven management
- Horizontally scalable
Watch out for
- Requires MongoDB
- Complex to operate
Frequently asked questions
Is Dovecot or WildDuck better?
Neither is universally better. WildDuck has the larger community; both share a hard setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Dovecot and WildDuck free and open-source?
Yes. Dovecot is licensed under MIT and WildDuck under EUPL-1.2. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Dovecot and WildDuck with Docker?
Dovecot: yes. WildDuck: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Dovecot or WildDuck?
Dovecot has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for WildDuck. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.