Postfix vs mailcow
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?
Compare Postfix with
choose an app… listmonk Docker Mailserver Mailspring Postal MailHog Mail-in-a-Box Stalwart Mail Server Mautic Mailpit SOGo WildDuck iRedMail Dovecot Apache James Exim Cyrus IMAP Horde Groupware DAViCal Kolab Groupware Citadel Kopano Groupware Core Courier Mail Server
Compare mailcow with
choose an app… listmonk Docker Mailserver Mailspring Postal MailHog Mail-in-a-Box Stalwart Mail Server Mautic Mailpit Mailpile Mailu Roundcube Himalaya SimpleLogin MailCatcher Maddy Mail Server Mox Mailtrain Haraka AnonAddy RainLoop imapsync smtp4dev NeoMutt Modoboa aerc Dittofeed Rspamd Keila emailwiz SendPortal SOGo WildDuck Mailvelope iRedMail Cypht SnappyMail Forward Email Cuttlefish DebOps swaks parsedmarc Cozy PostfixAdmin Dovecot Nextcloud Groupware Apache James Nextcloud Mail chasquid Sup Betterbird imapfilter OpenTrashmail notmuch Sieve Editor meli phpList Exim alot alps Lieer Cyrus IMAP OfflineIMAP Larch OpenSMTPD ViMbAdmin Chatmail Mailman isync MailWhale Afterlogic WebMail Lite afew Apache SpamAssassin Sympa Simple NixOS Mailserver EGroupware msmtp fdm Group-Office DragonFly Mail Agent Horde Groupware Claws Mail Fetchmail DAViCal HyperKitty Kolab Groupware piler Postorius Nullmailer getmail6 OpenDMARC OpenDKIM bogofilter Citadel Schleuder Dovecot Pigeonhole Kopano Groupware Core Tine DKIMpy Milter mpop Courier Mail Server Afterlogic DAV b1gMail Dovel EmailRelay Inboxen Sendmail Sendy SquirrelMail
Feature Postfix mailcow Category Mail Servers Mail Servers License IPL-1.0 GPL-3.0 Language C JavaScript Setup difficulty Hard Medium Min. RAM 128 MB 6,144 MB Deployment docker, bare-metal, source docker GitHub stars ★ 563 ★ 13,245 First released 1998 2016 Replaces Microsoft Exchange Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace
Why pick each one
Choose Postfix if… Battle-tested and stable Extensive documentation Postfix details Choose mailcow if… All components preconfigured Active community mailcow details
Frequently asked questions Is Postfix or mailcow better? mailcow is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Postfix if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Postfix and mailcow free and open-source? Yes. Postfix is licensed under IPL-1.0 and mailcow under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Postfix and mailcow with Docker? Postfix: yes. mailcow: yes.