mailcow vs parsedmarc
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?
mailcow
Dockerized full-stack mail server suite
VS
parsedmarc
Parser and dashboard for DMARC aggregate reports
| Feature | mailcow | parsedmarc |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | JavaScript | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 6,144 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 13,245 | ★ 1,275 |
| First released | 2016 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Microsoft Exchange, Google Workspace | Dmarcian, Valimail |
Why pick each one
Choose parsedmarc if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (1.3k GitHub stars)
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is mailcow or parsedmarc better?
Neither is universally better. mailcow has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are mailcow and parsedmarc free and open-source?
Yes. mailcow is licensed under GPL-3.0 and parsedmarc under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run mailcow and parsedmarc with Docker?
mailcow: yes. parsedmarc: yes.