getmail6 vs Mailpit
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
Mailpit
Email and SMTP testing tool with web UI
| Feature | getmail6 | Mailpit |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | GPL-2.0 | MIT |
| Language | Python | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 32 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | binary, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 164 | ★ 10,067 |
| First released | 2002 | 2022 |
| Replaces | fetchmail | Mailtrap, MailHog |
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 Mailpit better?
Neither is universally better. Mailpit has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are getmail6 and Mailpit free and open-source?
Yes. getmail6 is licensed under GPL-2.0 and Mailpit under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run getmail6 and Mailpit with Docker?
getmail6: check the project docs for container support. Mailpit: yes.