Mail-in-a-Box vs SOGo

A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted apps from related categories — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.

Not the right match-up?
FeatureMail-in-a-BoxSOGo
CategoryMail ServersGroupware
LicenseCC0-1.0GPL-2.0
LanguagePythonObjective-C
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM1,024 MB1,024 MB
Deploymentbare-metal, one-clickdocker, bare-metal
GitHub stars★ 15,385★ 2,143
First released20142009
ReplacesGoogle Workspace, Microsoft 365Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft 365

Why pick each one

Choose Mail-in-a-Box if…

  • Very beginner-friendly
  • Opinionated, complete stack
Mail-in-a-Box details

Choose SOGo if…

  • Strong Outlook compatibility
  • Scales to many users
SOGo details

Frequently asked questions

Is Mail-in-a-Box or SOGo better?

Mail-in-a-Box is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider SOGo if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are Mail-in-a-Box and SOGo free and open-source?

Yes. Mail-in-a-Box is licensed under CC0-1.0 and SOGo under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Mail-in-a-Box and SOGo with Docker?

Mail-in-a-Box: check the project docs for container support. SOGo: yes.

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