Mox vs Himalaya
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?
Mox
Modern, secure all-in-one mail server
VS
Himalaya
Modern command-line email client written in Rust
| Feature | Mox | Himalaya |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Go | Rust |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 5,771 | ★ 6,962 |
| First released | 2023 | 2021 |
| Replaces | Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 | Mutt, Outlook |
Why pick each one
Choose Himalaya if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Mature project with 7k GitHub stars
- Written in Rust
- Tiny footprint — runs in 64 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Mox or Himalaya better?
Neither is universally better. Himalaya has the larger community, while Mox is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Mox and Himalaya free and open-source?
Yes. Mox is licensed under MIT and Himalaya under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Mox and Himalaya with Docker?
Mox: yes. Himalaya: check the project docs for container support.