Haraka 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?
Haraka
High-performance, pluggable SMTP server in Node.js
VS
MailHog
Email testing tool with a fake SMTP server
| Feature | Haraka | MailHog |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | JavaScript | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal, source | docker, binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,612 | ★ 16,107 |
| First released | 2011 | 2014 |
| Replaces | SendGrid, Mailgun | 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
Frequently asked questions
Is Haraka or MailHog better?
MailHog is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Haraka if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Haraka and MailHog free and open-source?
Yes. Haraka is licensed under MIT and MailHog under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Haraka and MailHog with Docker?
Haraka: yes. MailHog: yes.