SHSelfHostIndex

Mailman vs Mailpit

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 Mailman Free software for managing electronic mailing lists VS MA Mailpit Email and SMTP testing tool with web UI
FeatureMailmanMailpit
CategoryMail ServersMail Servers
LicenseGPL-3.0MIT
LanguagePythonGo
Setup difficultyHardEasy
Min. RAM1,024 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, bare-metal, sourcedocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 400★ 10,067
First released19982022
ReplacesGoogle GroupsMailtrap, MailHog

Why pick each one

Choose Mailman if…

  • Industry-standard list software
  • Strong moderation tools
Mailman details

Choose Mailpit if…

  • Very fast and small
  • Great developer UX
Mailpit details

Frequently asked questions

Is Mailman or Mailpit better?

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

Are Mailman and Mailpit free and open-source?

Yes. Mailman is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Mailpit under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Mailman and Mailpit with Docker?

Mailman: yes. Mailpit: yes.

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