iRedMail vs Postal
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?
iRedMail
Free, full-featured mail server solution
VS
Postal
Complete mail delivery platform for outgoing email
| Feature | iRedMail | Postal |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Shell | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 4,096 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,835 | ★ 16,724 |
| First released | 2007 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace | SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark |
Why pick each one
Frequently asked questions
Is iRedMail or Postal better?
Neither is universally better. Postal has the larger community, while iRedMail is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are iRedMail and Postal free and open-source?
Yes. iRedMail is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Postal under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run iRedMail and Postal with Docker?
iRedMail: check the project docs for container support. Postal: yes.