mail-archiver vs Velero
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted backup & recovery options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
mail-archiver
Web application for archiving, searching, and exporting emails from
VS
Velero
Backup and migrate Kubernetes cluster resources
| Feature | mail-archiver | Velero |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Backup & Recovery | Backup & Recovery |
| License | GPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | C# | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Hard |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | kubernetes, helm |
| GitHub stars | ★ 2,045 | ★ 10,187 |
| First released | 2026 | 2017 |
| Replaces | — | Kasten K10 |
Why pick each one
Choose mail-archiver if…
- Released under the GPL-3.0 license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (2k GitHub stars)
- Written in C#
Choose Velero if…
- Released under the Apache-2.0 license
- Kubernetes-ready with Helm charts available
- Mature project with 10.2k GitHub stars
- Written in Go
Frequently asked questions
Is mail-archiver or Velero better?
Neither is universally better. Velero has the larger community, while mail-archiver is simpler to set up (medium difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are mail-archiver and Velero free and open-source?
Yes. mail-archiver is licensed under GPL-3.0 and Velero under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run mail-archiver and Velero with Docker?
mail-archiver: yes. Velero: check the project docs for container support.