getmail6 vs Mailspring
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
Mailspring
Cross-platform desktop email client
| Feature | getmail6 | Mailspring |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | GPL-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 164 | ★ 17,730 |
| First released | 2002 | 2017 |
| Replaces | fetchmail | Outlook, Apple Mail |
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
Choose Mailspring if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- Mature project with 17.7k GitHub stars
- Written in JavaScript
Frequently asked questions
Is getmail6 or Mailspring better?
Neither is universally better. Mailspring has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are getmail6 and Mailspring free and open-source?
Yes. getmail6 is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Mailspring under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run getmail6 and Mailspring with Docker?
getmail6: check the project docs for container support. Mailspring: check the project docs for container support.