Mox vs emailwiz
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted mail servers options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Mox | emailwiz |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Read-the-docs project |
| Health score | 90 · Excellent | 25 · At risk |
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | Shell |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 1,024 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,868 | ★ 2,166 |
| First released | 2023 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 | Google Workspace |
What are Mox and emailwiz?
Mox
Mox is a modern mail server written in Go that provides SMTP, IMAP, and automatic TLS in a single binary. It is designed for easy, secure self-hosting with sensible defaults.
- Single binary mail server
- Automatic TLS and DNS guidance
- Built-in spam filtering
- Quickstart wizard for setup
emailwiz
emailwiz is a shell script that automatically configures a complete, secure email server with Postfix, Dovecot, Spamassassin, and DKIM on a Debian or Ubuntu system. It targets quick, opinionated setups.
- One-script mail server setup
- Postfix, Dovecot and SpamAssassin
- Automatic DKIM and TLS
- Opinionated, secure defaults
Mox vs emailwiz: key differences
Mox is written in Go, while emailwiz is built with Shell. Licensing differs — MIT for Mox versus GPL-3.0 for emailwiz. Mox is the lighter option, starting around 256 MB of RAM against 1,024 MB for emailwiz. Emailwiz is the more established project (first released 2019), while Mox arrived in 2023. Mox has the considerably larger community, at 5,868 GitHub stars versus 2,166. Mox lists first-class Docker deployment; emailwiz does not.
Why pick each one
Choose Mox if…
- Very easy to deploy
- Strong modern defaults
Watch out for
- Young project
- No webmail included
Choose emailwiz if…
- Fast to deploy
- Transparent shell script
Watch out for
- No webmail included
- Limited customization
Frequently asked questions
Is Mox or emailwiz better?
Mox is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider emailwiz if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Mox and emailwiz free and open-source?
Yes. Mox is licensed under MIT and emailwiz under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mox and emailwiz with Docker?
Mox: yes. emailwiz: check the project docs for container support.
Which is lighter on resources, Mox or emailwiz?
Mox has the smaller minimum footprint at 256 MB of RAM, compared to about 1,024 MB for emailwiz. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.