Postal vs ViMbAdmin
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
ViMbAdmin
Web interface for managing virtual mail domains
| Feature | Postal | ViMbAdmin |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Ruby | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Hard | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 2,048 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | bare-metal, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,724 | ★ 484 |
| First released | 2017 | 2011 |
| Replaces | SendGrid, Mailgun, Postmark | cPanel email |
Why pick each one
Choose ViMbAdmin if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Written in JavaScript
- Tiny footprint — runs in 256 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is Postal or ViMbAdmin better?
Neither is universally better. Postal has the larger community, while ViMbAdmin is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are Postal and ViMbAdmin free and open-source?
Yes. Postal is licensed under MIT and ViMbAdmin under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Postal and ViMbAdmin with Docker?
Postal: yes. ViMbAdmin: check the project docs for container support.