Mailu vs Mailspring
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 Mailu with
choose an app… Nextcloud listmonk Docker Mailserver Postal MailHog Mail-in-a-Box Stalwart Mail Server mailcow Mautic Mailpit Mailpile CryptPad Roundcube Himalaya SimpleLogin ONLYOFFICE Docs MailCatcher Maddy Mail Server Mox Mailtrain Haraka AnonAddy RainLoop imapsync smtp4dev NeoMutt Modoboa Collabora Online OnlyOffice Community Server emailwiz SOGo iRedMail Cozy Nextcloud Groupware chasquid LibreOffice Online Calligra Suite EGroupware Group-Office Citadel Tine
Compare Mailspring with
choose an app… listmonk Docker Mailserver Postal MailHog Mail-in-a-Box Stalwart Mail Server mailcow Mautic Mailpit Mailpile Roundcube Himalaya SimpleLogin MailCatcher Maddy Mail Server Mox Mailtrain Haraka AnonAddy RainLoop imapsync smtp4dev NeoMutt Modoboa aerc Dittofeed Rspamd Keila emailwiz SendPortal WildDuck Mailvelope iRedMail Cypht SnappyMail Forward Email Cuttlefish DebOps swaks parsedmarc PostfixAdmin Dovecot 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 msmtp fdm DragonFly Mail Agent Claws Mail Fetchmail HyperKitty piler Postorius Nullmailer getmail6 OpenDMARC OpenDKIM bogofilter Schleuder Dovecot Pigeonhole DKIMpy Milter mpop Courier Mail Server Afterlogic DAV b1gMail Dovel EmailRelay Inboxen Sendmail Sendy SquirrelMail
Feature Mailu Mailspring Category Mail Servers Mail Servers License MIT GPL-3.0 Language Python JavaScript Setup difficulty Medium Easy Min. RAM 2,048 MB 512 MB Deployment docker, kubernetes binary, source GitHub stars ★ 7,443 ★ 17,730 First released 2016 2017 Replaces Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 Outlook, Apple Mail
Why pick each one
Choose Mailu if… Lighter than mailcow Kubernetes support Mailu details Choose Mailspring if… Released under the GPL-3.0 license Easy to set up — beginner-friendly Mature project with 17.7k GitHub stars Written in JavaScript Mailspring details
Frequently asked questions Is Mailu or Mailspring better? Mailspring is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider Mailu if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Mailu and Mailspring free and open-source? Yes. Mailu is licensed under MIT and Mailspring under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mailu and Mailspring with Docker? Mailu: yes. Mailspring: check the project docs for container support.