SHSelfHostIndex

Maddy Mail Server vs Himalaya

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?
MA Maddy Mail Server Composable, all-in-one mail server in Go VS HI Himalaya Modern command-line email client written in Rust
FeatureMaddy Mail ServerHimalaya
CategoryMail ServersMail Servers
LicenseGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageGoRust
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM256 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcebinary, source
GitHub stars★ 6,060★ 6,962
First released20192021
ReplacesGoogle Workspace, Microsoft 365Mutt, Outlook

Why pick each one

Choose Maddy Mail Server if…

  • Drastically simpler than traditional stacks
  • Low resource use
Maddy Mail Server details

Choose Himalaya if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Mature project with 7k GitHub stars
  • Written in Rust
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Himalaya details

Frequently asked questions

Is Maddy Mail Server or Himalaya better?

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

Are Maddy Mail Server and Himalaya free and open-source?

Yes. Maddy Mail Server is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Himalaya under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Maddy Mail Server and Himalaya with Docker?

Maddy Mail Server: yes. Himalaya: check the project docs for container support.

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