getmail6 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?
getmail6
Flexible mail retrieval tool for POP3 and IMAP
VS
mailcow
Dockerized full-stack mail server suite
| Feature | getmail6 | mailcow |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 6,144 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 164 | ★ 13,245 |
| First released | 2002 | 2016 |
| Replaces | fetchmail | Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace |
Why pick each one
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
Frequently asked questions
Is getmail6 or mailcow better?
Neither is universally better. mailcow 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 getmail6 and mailcow free and open-source?
Yes. getmail6 is licensed under GPL-2.0 and mailcow under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run getmail6 and mailcow with Docker?
getmail6: check the project docs for container support. mailcow: yes.