Haraka vs Maddy Mail Server
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?
Haraka
High-performance, pluggable SMTP server in Node.js
VS
Maddy Mail Server
Composable, all-in-one mail server in Go
| Feature | Haraka | Maddy Mail Server |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,612 | ★ 6,060 |
| First released | 2011 | 2019 |
| Replaces | SendGrid, Mailgun | Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 |
Why pick each one
Choose Maddy Mail Server if…
- Drastically simpler than traditional stacks
- Low resource use
Frequently asked questions
Is Haraka or Maddy Mail Server better?
Neither is universally better. Maddy Mail Server has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Haraka and Maddy Mail Server free and open-source?
Yes. Haraka is licensed under MIT and Maddy Mail Server under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Haraka and Maddy Mail Server with Docker?
Haraka: yes. Maddy Mail Server: yes.