MailHog 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?
MailHog
Email testing tool with a fake SMTP server
VS
msmtp
Lightweight SMTP client for sending mail
| Feature | MailHog | msmtp |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | C |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | binary, source |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,107 | ★ 290 |
| First released | 2014 | 2004 |
| Replaces | Mailtrap | Sendmail |
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
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
Frequently asked questions
Is MailHog or msmtp better?
Neither is universally better. MailHog has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are MailHog and msmtp free and open-source?
Yes. MailHog is licensed under MIT and msmtp under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MailHog and msmtp with Docker?
MailHog: yes. msmtp: check the project docs for container support.