SHSelfHostIndex

Stalwart Mail Server vs MailWhale

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 MA MailWhale Self-hosted transactional email relay with API
FeatureStalwart Mail ServerMailWhale
CategoryMail ServersMail Servers
LicenseAGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageRustGo
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM512 MB64 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, bare-metaldocker, binary, source
GitHub stars★ 14,059★ 372
First released20202021
ReplacesMicrosoft Exchange, Google WorkspaceSendGrid, Postmark

Why pick each one

Choose Stalwart Mail Server if…

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

Choose MailWhale if…

  • Released under the MIT license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in Go
MailWhale details

Frequently asked questions

Is Stalwart Mail Server or MailWhale better?

Neither is universally better. Stalwart Mail Server has the larger community, while MailWhale is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

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

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

Can I run Stalwart Mail Server and MailWhale with Docker?

Stalwart Mail Server: yes. MailWhale: yes.

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