Keila vs Mailtrain
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted mail servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Keila | Mailtrain |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 86 · Excellent | 40 · Fair |
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Elixir | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, source | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,219 | ★ 5,753 |
| First released | 2021 | 2016 |
| Replaces | Mailchimp, Sendinblue | Mailchimp |
What are Keila and Mailtrain?
Keila
Keila is a self-hosted newsletter and email marketing tool built with Elixir. It offers a friendly interface for managing contacts, designing campaigns, and tracking performance.
- Friendly newsletter editor
- Contact segmentation
- Campaign analytics
- Works with external SMTP or API senders
Mailtrain
Mailtrain is a self-hosted newsletter application built on Node.js that can handle large subscriber lists. It supports custom fields, automations, and campaign reporting.
- Manages large subscriber lists
- Custom fields and segmentation
- Automation workflows
- Campaign statistics
Keila vs Mailtrain: key differences
Keila is written in Elixir, while Mailtrain is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Keila versus GPL-3.0 for Mailtrain. Keila is the lighter option, starting around 512 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for Mailtrain. Mailtrain is the more established project (first released 2016), while Keila arrived in 2021. Mailtrain has the considerably larger community, at 5,753 GitHub stars versus 2,219.
Why pick each one
Choose Keila if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2.2k GitHub stars)
Watch out for
- Smaller community
- Newsletter-only scope
Choose Mailtrain if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 5.8k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Watch out for
- Slower recent development
- Setup complexity
Frequently asked questions
Is Keila or Mailtrain better?
Neither is universally better. Mailtrain has the larger community, while Keila is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Keila and Mailtrain free and open-source?
Yes. Keila is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Mailtrain under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Keila and Mailtrain with Docker?
Keila: yes. Mailtrain: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Keila or Mailtrain?
Keila has the smaller minimum footprint at 512 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for Mailtrain. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.