SHSelfHostIndex

Stalwart Mail Server vs OpenTrashmail

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 OP OpenTrashmail Complete trashmail solution that exposes an SMTP server and has a web
FeatureStalwart Mail ServerOpenTrashmail
CategoryMail ServersMail Servers
LicenseAGPL-3.0Apache-2.0
LanguageRustPHP
Setup difficultyMediumMedium
Min. RAM512 MB512 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, bare-metaldocker
GitHub stars★ 14,059★ 919
First released20202020
ReplacesMicrosoft Exchange, Google Workspace—

Why pick each one

Choose Stalwart Mail Server if…

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

Choose OpenTrashmail if…

  • Released under the Apache-2.0 license
  • First-class Docker support for quick deployment
  • Written in PHP
  • Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM
OpenTrashmail details

Frequently asked questions

Is Stalwart Mail Server or OpenTrashmail 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 OpenTrashmail free and open-source?

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

Can I run Stalwart Mail Server and OpenTrashmail with Docker?

Stalwart Mail Server: yes. OpenTrashmail: yes.

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