Haraka vs Mailtrain
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
Mailtrain
Self-hosted newsletter application
| Feature | Haraka | Mailtrain |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,612 | ★ 5,743 |
| First released | 2011 | 2016 |
| Replaces | SendGrid, Mailgun | Mailchimp |
Why pick each one
Choose Mailtrain if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 5.7k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Haraka or Mailtrain better?
Neither is universally better. Mailtrain has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Haraka and Mailtrain free and open-source?
Yes. Haraka is licensed under MIT and Mailtrain under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Haraka and Mailtrain with Docker?
Haraka: yes. Mailtrain: yes.