mailcow vs msmtp
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 MailHog 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 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 msmtp with
choose an app… listmonk Docker Mailserver Mailspring Postal MailHog Mail-in-a-Box Stalwart Mail Server Mautic Mailpit OpenSMTPD DragonFly Mail Agent Nullmailer
Feature mailcow msmtp Category Mail Servers Mail Servers License GPL-3.0 GPL-3.0 Language JavaScript C Setup difficulty Medium Easy Min. RAM 6,144 MB 32 MB Deployment docker binary, source GitHub stars ★ 13,245 ★ 290 First released 2016 2004 Replaces Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace Sendmail
Why pick each one
Choose mailcow if… All components preconfigured Active community mailcow details Choose msmtp if… Released under the GPL-3.0 license Easy to set up — beginner-friendly Written in C Tiny footprint — runs in 32 MB RAM msmtp details
Frequently asked questions Is mailcow or msmtp better? Neither is universally better. mailcow has the larger community, while msmtp is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are mailcow and msmtp free and open-source? Yes. mailcow is licensed under GPL-3.0 and msmtp under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run mailcow and msmtp with Docker? mailcow: yes. msmtp: check the project docs for container support.