SHSelfHostIndex

Stalwart Mail Server vs Fetchmail

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?
ST Stalwart Mail Server Modern all-in-one mail server in a single binary VS FE Fetchmail Remote mail retrieval and forwarding utility
FeatureStalwart Mail ServerFetchmail
CategoryMail ServersMail Servers
LicenseAGPL-3.0GPL-2.0
LanguageRustC
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB32 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, bare-metalbare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 14,059★ 200
First released20201996
ReplacesMicrosoft Exchange, Google WorkspaceGmail import

Why pick each one

Choose Stalwart Mail Server if…

  • Single modern binary
  • Strong security defaults
Stalwart Mail Server details

Choose Fetchmail if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Written in C
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Fetchmail details

Frequently asked questions

Is Stalwart Mail Server or Fetchmail better?

Neither is universally better. Stalwart Mail Server has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Stalwart Mail Server and Fetchmail free and open-source?

Yes. Stalwart Mail Server is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Fetchmail under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Stalwart Mail Server and Fetchmail with Docker?

Stalwart Mail Server: yes. Fetchmail: check the project docs for container support.

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