Mailpile vs Postal
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?
Mailpile
Privacy-focused, searchable email client
VS
Postal
Complete mail delivery platform for outgoing email
| Feature | Mailpile | Postal |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Ruby |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 2,048 MB |
| Deployment | bare-metal, source | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 8,825 | ★ 16,724 |
| First released | 2013 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Gmail | SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark |
Why pick each one
Choose Mailpile if…
- Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
- Mature project with 8.8k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Mailpile or Postal better?
Neither is universally better. Postal has the larger community, while Mailpile is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Mailpile and Postal free and open-source?
Yes. Mailpile is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Postal under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mailpile and Postal with Docker?
Mailpile: check the project docs for container support. Postal: yes.