Mail-in-a-Box vs mailcow
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?
Compare Mail-in-a-Box with
choose an app… Nextcloud listmonk Docker Mailserver Mailspring Postal MailHog Stalwart Mail Server Mautic Mailpit Mailpile CryptPad Mailu Roundcube Himalaya SimpleLogin ONLYOFFICE Docs MailCatcher Maddy Mail Server Mox Mailtrain Haraka AnonAddy RainLoop imapsync smtp4dev NeoMutt Modoboa Collabora Online aerc OnlyOffice Community Server Dittofeed Rspamd Keila emailwiz SendPortal SOGo WildDuck Mailvelope iRedMail Cypht SnappyMail Forward Email Cuttlefish DebOps swaks parsedmarc Cozy PostfixAdmin Dovecot Nextcloud Groupware Apache James Nextcloud Mail chasquid Sup Betterbird imapfilter OpenTrashmail notmuch Sieve Editor meli phpList Exim alot alps LibreOffice Online Lieer Cyrus IMAP OfflineIMAP Larch OpenSMTPD Postfix ViMbAdmin Chatmail Mailman isync MailWhale Afterlogic WebMail Lite afew Apache SpamAssassin Sympa Simple NixOS Mailserver Calligra Suite EGroupware msmtp fdm Group-Office DragonFly Mail Agent Claws Mail Fetchmail HyperKitty piler Postorius Nullmailer getmail6 OpenDMARC OpenDKIM bogofilter Citadel Schleuder Dovecot Pigeonhole Tine DKIMpy Milter mpop Courier Mail Server Afterlogic DAV b1gMail Dovel EmailRelay Inboxen Sendmail Sendy SquirrelMail
Compare mailcow with
choose an app… listmonk Docker Mailserver Mailspring Postal MailHog Stalwart Mail Server Mautic Mailpit Mailpile Mailu Roundcube Himalaya SimpleLogin MailCatcher Maddy Mail Server Mox Mailtrain Haraka AnonAddy RainLoop imapsync smtp4dev NeoMutt Modoboa aerc Dittofeed Rspamd Keila emailwiz SendPortal SOGo WildDuck Mailvelope iRedMail Cypht SnappyMail Forward Email Cuttlefish DebOps swaks parsedmarc Cozy PostfixAdmin Dovecot Nextcloud Groupware Apache James Nextcloud Mail chasquid Sup Betterbird imapfilter OpenTrashmail notmuch Sieve Editor meli phpList Exim alot alps Lieer Cyrus IMAP OfflineIMAP Larch OpenSMTPD Postfix ViMbAdmin Chatmail Mailman isync MailWhale Afterlogic WebMail Lite afew Apache SpamAssassin Sympa Simple NixOS Mailserver EGroupware msmtp fdm Group-Office DragonFly Mail Agent Horde Groupware Claws Mail Fetchmail DAViCal HyperKitty Kolab Groupware piler Postorius Nullmailer getmail6 OpenDMARC OpenDKIM bogofilter Citadel Schleuder Dovecot Pigeonhole Kopano Groupware Core Tine DKIMpy Milter mpop Courier Mail Server Afterlogic DAV b1gMail Dovel EmailRelay Inboxen Sendmail Sendy SquirrelMail
Feature Mail-in-a-Box mailcow Category Mail Servers Mail Servers License CC0-1.0 GPL-3.0 Language Python JavaScript Setup difficulty Easy Medium Min. RAM 1,024 MB 6,144 MB Deployment bare-metal, one-click docker GitHub stars ★ 15,385 ★ 13,245 First released 2014 2016 Replaces Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace
Why pick each one
Choose mailcow if… All components preconfigured Active community mailcow details
Frequently asked questions Is Mail-in-a-Box or mailcow better? Mail-in-a-Box is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider mailcow if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Mail-in-a-Box and mailcow free and open-source? Yes. Mail-in-a-Box is licensed under CC0-1.0 and mailcow under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mail-in-a-Box and mailcow with Docker? Mail-in-a-Box: check the project docs for container support. mailcow: yes.