Postal vs PostfixAdmin
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?
Postal
Complete mail delivery platform for outgoing email
VS
PostfixAdmin
Web interface for managing Postfix mail domains
| Feature | Postal | PostfixAdmin |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | GPL-2.0 |
| Language | Ruby | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker, bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,724 | ★ 1,251 |
| First released | 2017 | 2003 |
| Replaces | SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark | cPanel Email |
Why pick each one
Choose PostfixAdmin if…
- Released under the GPL-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
Frequently asked questions
Is Postal or PostfixAdmin better?
Neither is universally better. Postal has the larger community, while PostfixAdmin is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Postal and PostfixAdmin free and open-source?
Yes. Postal is licensed under MIT and PostfixAdmin under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Postal and PostfixAdmin with Docker?
Postal: yes. PostfixAdmin: yes.