Postal vs Simple NixOS Mailserver
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
Simple NixOS Mailserver
Complete mailserver solution leveraging the Nix Ecosystem
| Feature | Postal | Simple NixOS Mailserver |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | Nix |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,724 | ★ 307 |
| First released | 2017 | 2019 |
| Replaces | SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark | — |
Why pick each one
Choose Simple NixOS Mailserver if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Written in Nix
- Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Postal or Simple NixOS Mailserver better?
Neither is universally better. Postal has the larger community, while Simple NixOS Mailserver is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Postal and Simple NixOS Mailserver free and open-source?
Yes. Postal is licensed under MIT and Simple NixOS Mailserver under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Postal and Simple NixOS Mailserver with Docker?
Postal: yes. Simple NixOS Mailserver: check the project docs for container support.