fdm 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?
fdm
Fetch and filter mail with a single configuration
VS
mailcow
Dockerized full-stack mail server suite
| Feature | fdm | mailcow |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | ISC | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | C | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 6,144 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 283 | ★ 13,245 |
| First released | 2006 | 2016 |
| Replaces | fetchmail, procmail | Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace |
Why pick each one
Choose fdm if…
- Released under the ISC license
- Written in C
- Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM
Frequently asked questions
Is fdm or mailcow better?
Neither is universally better. mailcow has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are fdm and mailcow free and open-source?
Yes. fdm is licensed under ISC and mailcow under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run fdm and mailcow with Docker?
fdm: check the project docs for container support. mailcow: yes.