listmonk vs Nullmailer

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?
FeaturelistmonkNullmailer
CategoryMail ServersMail Servers
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguageGoC++
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM512 MB16 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcebare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 22,670★ 199
First released20202000
ReplacesMailchimp, SendinblueSendmail

Why pick each one

Choose listmonk if…

  • Fast and scalable
  • Modern admin UI
listmonk details

Choose Nullmailer if…

  • Extremely lightweight
  • Simple configuration
Nullmailer details

Frequently asked questions

Is listmonk or Nullmailer better?

Neither is universally better. listmonk has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are listmonk and Nullmailer free and open-source?

Yes. listmonk is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Nullmailer under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run listmonk and Nullmailer with Docker?

listmonk: yes. Nullmailer: check the project docs for container support.

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