SHSelfHostIndex

MailHog vs piler

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?
MA MailHog Email testing tool with a fake SMTP server VS PI piler Email archiving system with full-text search
FeatureMailHogpiler
CategoryMail ServersMail Servers
LicenseMITGPL-3.0
LanguageGoC
Setup difficultyEasyHard
Min. RAM64 MB2,048 MB
Deploymentdocker, binary, sourcebare-metal, source
GitHub stars★ 16,107★ 200
First released20142012
ReplacesMailtrapMimecast, Barracuda Archiver

Why pick each one

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

Choose piler if…

  • Released under the GPL-3.0 license
  • Written in C
piler details

Frequently asked questions

Is MailHog or piler better?

MailHog is the stronger all-round pick: it has both the larger community and the simpler easy setup. Consider piler if its specific feature set fits your needs better.

Are MailHog and piler free and open-source?

Yes. MailHog is licensed under MIT and piler under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run MailHog and piler with Docker?

MailHog: yes. piler: check the project docs for container support.

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