Sieve Editor vs Mailpit

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?
FeatureSieve EditorMailpit
CategoryMail ServersMail Servers
LicenseAGPL-3.0MIT
LanguageJavaScriptGo
Setup difficultyEasyEasy
Min. RAM128 MB64 MB
Deploymentbinary, sourcedocker, binary
GitHub stars★ 889★ 10,067
First released20122022
ReplacesGmail filtersMailtrap, MailHog

Why pick each one

Choose Sieve Editor if…

  • Released under the AGPL-3.0 license
  • Easy to set up — beginner-friendly
  • Written in JavaScript
  • Tiny footprint — runs in 128 MB RAM
Sieve Editor details

Choose Mailpit if…

  • Very fast and small
  • Great developer UX
Mailpit details

Frequently asked questions

Is Sieve Editor or Mailpit better?

Neither is universally better. Mailpit has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.

Are Sieve Editor and Mailpit free and open-source?

Yes. Sieve Editor is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Mailpit under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.

Can I run Sieve Editor and Mailpit with Docker?

Sieve Editor: check the project docs for container support. Mailpit: yes.

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