SHSelfHostIndex

fdm vs getmail6

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?
FD fdm Fetch and filter mail with a single configuration VS GE getmail6 Flexible mail retrieval tool for POP3 and IMAP
Featurefdmgetmail6
Deploy effortRead-the-docs projectRead-the-docs project
Health score8 · At risk74 · Good
CategoryMail ServersMail Servers
LicenseISCGPL-2.0
LanguageCPython
Setup difficultyMediumEasy
Min. RAM32 MB32 MB
Deploymentbinary, sourcebinary, source
GitHub stars★ 284★ 168
First released20062002
Replacesfetchmail, procmailfetchmail

What are fdm and getmail6?

fdm

fdm is a program that fetches mail from POP3 and IMAP servers and filters it into local mailboxes based on user-defined rules. It combines retrieval and delivery in one lightweight tool.

  • Fetches POP3 and IMAP mail
  • Rule-based filtering
  • Combined fetch and deliver
  • Lightweight

getmail6

getmail6 is a mail retrieval agent that downloads messages from POP3 and IMAP servers and delivers them locally. It is a maintained, modern replacement for fetchmail with simple configuration.

  • POP3 and IMAP retrieval
  • Local mail delivery
  • Simple configuration
  • fetchmail alternative

fdm vs getmail6: key differences

Fdm is written in C, while getmail6 is built with Python. Licensing differs — ISC for fdm versus GPL-2.0 for getmail6. Getmail6 is the more established project (first released 2002), while fdm arrived in 2006.

Why pick each one

Choose fdm if…

  • Released under the ISC license
  • Written in C
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
fdm details

Choose getmail6 if…

  • Released under the GPL-2.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Written in Python
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
getmail6 details

Frequently asked questions

Is fdm or getmail6 better?

Neither is universally better. fdm has the larger community, while getmail6 is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.

Are fdm and getmail6 free and open-source?

Yes. fdm is licensed under ISC and getmail6 under GPL-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run fdm and getmail6 with Docker?

fdm: check the project docs for container support. getmail6: check the project docs for container support.

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