Postal vs Forward Email
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
Forward Email
Privacy-focused encrypted email for everyone
| Feature | Postal | Forward Email |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | BUSL-1.1 |
| Language | Ruby | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,724 | ★ 1,655 |
| First released | 2017 | 2026 |
| Replaces | SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Forward Email if…
- Released under the BUSL-1.1 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.7k GitHub stars)
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is Postal or Forward Email better?
Neither is universally better. Postal has the larger community, while Forward Email is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Postal and Forward Email free and open-source?
Yes. Postal is licensed under MIT and Forward Email under BUSL-1.1. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Postal and Forward Email with Docker?
Postal: yes. Forward Email: yes.