SRS vs Stalwart Mail
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted media servers options
— licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one
replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Compare SRS with
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Compare Stalwart Mail with
choose an app… Jellyfin qBittorrent Navidrome Kodi Koel Jackett Beets PeerTube Transmission
Feature SRS Stalwart Mail Category Media Servers Media Servers License MIT free Language C++ Setup difficulty Medium Easy Min. RAM 512 MB 512 MB Deployment docker docker, one-click GitHub stars ★ 29,105 — First released 2025 2023 Replaces — —
Why pick each one
Choose SRS if… Released under the MIT license First-class Docker support for quick deployment Mature project with 29.1k GitHub stars Written in C++ SRS details Choose Stalwart Mail if… Easy to set up — beginner-friendly First-class Docker support for quick deployment One-click install on common self-host platforms Lightweight — runs in 512 MB RAM Stalwart Mail details
Frequently asked questions Is SRS or Stalwart Mail better? Neither is universally better. SRS has the larger community, while Stalwart Mail is simpler to set up (easy difficulty). Choose based on the comparison table above and your own setup.
Are SRS and Stalwart Mail free and open-source? Yes. SRS is licensed under MIT and Stalwart Mail under free. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run SRS and Stalwart Mail with Docker? SRS: yes. Stalwart Mail: yes.