Exim 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 Exim 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 Cyrus IMAP Postfix 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 alot alps Lieer Cyrus IMAP OfflineIMAP Larch OpenSMTPD Postfix 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 Exim mailcow Category Mail Servers Mail Servers License GPL-2.0 GPL-3.0 Language C JavaScript Setup difficulty Hard Medium Min. RAM 64 MB 6,144 MB Deployment bare-metal, source docker GitHub stars ★ 786 ★ 13,245 First released 1995 2016 Replaces Microsoft Exchange Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace
Why pick each one
Choose Exim if… Extremely flexible Proven at scale Exim details Choose mailcow if… All components preconfigured Active community mailcow details
Frequently asked questions Is Exim or mailcow better? mailcow is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler medium setup. Consider Exim if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are Exim and mailcow free and open-source? Yes. Exim is licensed under GPL-2.0 and mailcow under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Exim and mailcow with Docker? Exim: check the project docs for container support. mailcow: yes.