MailCatcher vs SimpleLogin
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?
MailCatcher
Catch-all SMTP server for inspecting test email
VS
SimpleLogin
Open source email alias solution to protect your email address
| Feature | MailCatcher | SimpleLogin |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | Ruby | Python |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,774 | ★ 6,896 |
| First released | 2010 | 2026 |
| Replaces | Mailtrap | — |
Why pick each one
Choose MailCatcher if…
- Released under the MIT license
- Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.8k GitHub stars
Choose SimpleLogin if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Mature project with 6.9k GitHub stars
- Written in Python
Frequently asked questions
Is MailCatcher or SimpleLogin better?
Neither is universally better. SimpleLogin has the larger community, while MailCatcher is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are MailCatcher and SimpleLogin free and open-source?
Yes. MailCatcher is licensed under MIT and SimpleLogin under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MailCatcher and SimpleLogin with Docker?
MailCatcher: yes. SimpleLogin: yes.