Haraka vs Mailu
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
Mailu
Simple yet full-featured Docker mail server
| Feature | Haraka | Mailu |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,612 | ★ 7,443 |
| First released | 2011 | 2016 |
| Replaces | SendGrid, Mailgun | Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is Haraka or Mailu better?
Neither is universally better. Mailu has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Haraka and Mailu free and open-source?
Yes. Haraka is licensed under MIT and Mailu under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Haraka and Mailu with Docker?
Haraka: yes. Mailu: yes.