MailHog vs smtp4dev
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
smtp4dev
Fake SMTP server for development email testing
| Feature | MailHog | smtp4dev |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Mail Servers | Mail Servers |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | C# |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary, source | docker, binary |
| GitHub stars | ★ 16,107 | ★ 3,941 |
| First released | 2014 | 2015 |
| Replaces | Mailtrap | Mailtrap |
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
Frequently asked questions
Is MailHog or smtp4dev 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 smtp4dev free and open-source?
Yes. MailHog is licensed under MIT and smtp4dev under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run MailHog and smtp4dev with Docker?
MailHog: yes. smtp4dev: yes.