mailcow vs MailHog
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?
Compare mailcow with
choose an app… listmonk Docker Mailserver Mailspring Postal Mail-in-a-Box Stalwart Mail Server Mautic Mailpit Mailpile Mailu Roundcube Himalaya SimpleLogin MailCatcher Maddy Mail Server Mox Mailtrain Haraka AnonAddy RainLoop imapsync smtp4dev NeoMutt Modoboa aerc Dittofeed Rspamd Keila emailwiz SendPortal SOGo WildDuck Mailvelope iRedMail Cypht SnappyMail Forward Email Cuttlefish DebOps swaks parsedmarc Cozy PostfixAdmin Dovecot Nextcloud Groupware Apache James Nextcloud Mail chasquid Sup Betterbird imapfilter OpenTrashmail notmuch Sieve Editor meli phpList Exim alot alps Lieer Cyrus IMAP OfflineIMAP Larch OpenSMTPD Postfix ViMbAdmin Chatmail Mailman isync MailWhale Afterlogic WebMail Lite afew Apache SpamAssassin Sympa Simple NixOS Mailserver EGroupware msmtp fdm Group-Office DragonFly Mail Agent Horde Groupware Claws Mail Fetchmail DAViCal HyperKitty Kolab Groupware piler Postorius Nullmailer getmail6 OpenDMARC OpenDKIM bogofilter Citadel Schleuder Dovecot Pigeonhole Kopano Groupware Core Tine DKIMpy Milter mpop Courier Mail Server Afterlogic DAV b1gMail Dovel EmailRelay Inboxen Sendmail Sendy SquirrelMail
Compare MailHog with
choose an app… listmonk Docker Mailserver Mailspring Postal Mail-in-a-Box Stalwart Mail Server Mautic Mailpit Mailpile Mailu Roundcube Himalaya SimpleLogin MailCatcher Maddy Mail Server Mox Mailtrain Haraka AnonAddy RainLoop imapsync smtp4dev NeoMutt Modoboa aerc Dittofeed Rspamd Keila emailwiz SendPortal WildDuck Mailvelope iRedMail Cypht SnappyMail Forward Email Cuttlefish DebOps swaks parsedmarc PostfixAdmin Dovecot Apache James Nextcloud Mail chasquid Sup Betterbird imapfilter OpenTrashmail notmuch Sieve Editor meli phpList Exim alot alps Lieer Cyrus IMAP OfflineIMAP Larch OpenSMTPD Postfix ViMbAdmin Chatmail Mailman isync MailWhale Afterlogic WebMail Lite afew Apache SpamAssassin Sympa Simple NixOS Mailserver msmtp fdm DragonFly Mail Agent Claws Mail Fetchmail HyperKitty piler Postorius Nullmailer getmail6 OpenDMARC OpenDKIM bogofilter Schleuder Dovecot Pigeonhole DKIMpy Milter mpop Courier Mail Server Afterlogic DAV b1gMail Dovel EmailRelay Inboxen Sendmail Sendy SquirrelMail
Feature mailcow MailHog Category Mail Servers Mail Servers License GPL-3.0 MIT Language JavaScript Go Setup difficulty Medium Easy Min. RAM 6,144 MB 64 MB Deployment docker docker, binary, source GitHub stars ★ 13,245 ★ 16,107 First released 2016 2014 Replaces Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace Mailtrap
Why pick each one
Choose mailcow if… All components preconfigured Active community mailcow details Choose MailHog if… Released under the MIT license Easy to set up — beginner-friendly First-class Docker support for quick deployment Mature project with 16.1k GitHub stars MailHog details
Frequently asked questions Is mailcow or MailHog better? MailHog is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider mailcow if its specific feature set fits your needs better.
Are mailcow and MailHog free and open-source? Yes. mailcow is licensed under GPL-3.0 and MailHog under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run mailcow and MailHog with Docker? mailcow: yes. MailHog: yes.