Category
Simple deployment of E-mail servers, e.g. for inexperienced or impatient admins. This page ranks 18 open-source complete solutions projects by a health score recomputed every night from repository data; nothing else affects the order. docker-mailserver leads at 97/100 with 62 commits in the last 90 days and 20k stars, followed by Mailcow (97) and Stalwart Mail Server (97). 11 of the 18 score 70 or above, 9 publish a Docker image, and the median health is 84. MIT is the most common licence, carried by 6 of them. Between them they stand in for Gmail and SendGrid. The score weighs commits in the last 90 days, release recency, stars, archive status and Docker support; a low number means low measurable activity, not low quality, so a finished, stable tool can legitimately sit lower down.
Most starred
19,709 stars on GitHub, the largest community in the category.
Most active
356 commits in the last 90 days, the fastest-moving codebase here.
Most permissive
MIT licence with health 96/100: the strongest option if you need to embed or fork commercially.
Ranked by health
Top pick · highest health
Production-ready fullstack but simple mail server (SMTP, IMAP, LDAP, Antispam, Antivirus, etc.) running inside a container. Only configuration files, no SQL database.
★ 20k 62 commits / 90d ⟳ 4 days ago MIT Docker
Mail server suite based on Dovecot, Postfix and other open source software, that provides a modern Web UI for administration.
★ 14k 59 commits / 90d ⟳ yesterday GPL-3.0 Docker
All-in-one mail server with JMAP, IMAP4, and SMTP support and a wide range of modern features.
★ 16k 205 commits / 90d ⟳ 2 days ago AGPL-3.0 Docker
Simple yet full-featured mail server as a set of Docker images.
★ 7.6k 166 commits / 90d ⟳ yesterday MIT Docker
Open source email alias solution to protect your email address. Comes with browser extensions and mobile apps.
★ 7.1k 84 commits / 90d ⟳ today MIT Docker
Privacy-focused encrypted email for everyone. All-in-one alternative to Gmail + Mailchimp + Sendgrid.
★ 1.7k 250 commits / 90d ⟳ yesterday BUSL-1.1 Docker
Scalable no-SPOF IMAP/POP3 mail server.
★ 2.1k 135 commits / 90d ⟳ yesterday EUPL-1.2 Docker
Complete e-mail solution with IMAP4, SMTP, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MTA-STS, DANE and DNSSEC, reputation-based and content-based junk filtering, Internationalization (IDNA), automatic TLS with ACME and Let's Encrypt, account autoconfiguration, and webmail.
★ 5.9k 60 commits / 90d ⟳ 3 days ago MIT
Mail hosting and management platform including a modern and simplified web user interface.
★ 3.5k 338 commits / 90d ⟳ yesterday ISC
Your Debian-based data center in a box. A set of general-purpose Ansible roles that can be used to manage Debian or Ubuntu hosts.
★ 1.4k 356 commits / 90d ⟳ yesterday GPL-3.0
All-in-one mail server that implements SMTP (both MTA and MX) and IMAP. Replaces Postfix, Dovecot, OpenDKIM, OpenSPF, OpenDMARC with single daemon.
★ 6.1k 26 commits / 90d ⟳ today GPL-3.0
Email forwarding service for creating aliases.
★ 4.9k 6 commits / 90d ⟳ yesterday MIT Docker
Complete and fully featured mail server for use by websites & web servers.
★ 17k 3 commits / 90d ⟳ today MIT Docker
Turns any Ubuntu server into a fully functional mail server with one command.
★ 15k 10 commits / 90d ⟳ 8 days ago CC0-1.0
Full-featured mail server solution based on Postfix and Dovecot.
★ 1.8k 14 commits / 90d ⟳ 2 days ago GPL-3.0
Complete mailserver solution leveraging the Nix Ecosystem.
★ 320 13 commits / 90d ⟳ 9 days ago GPL-3.0
Complete email solution that runs on any webspace with PHP and MariaDB. It supports POP3 catchall mailboxes and can also integrate with Postfix or b1gMailServer if you're running your own server.
★ 4 8 commits / 90d ⟳ 9 days ago GPL-2.0
Lets you have an infinite number of unique inboxes.
★ 8 1 commits / 90d ⟳ 1 month ago GPL-3.0
| # | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | docker-mailserver Docker | 20k | 62 | MIT | 4 days ago | |
| 2 | Mailcow Docker | 14k | 59 | GPL-3.0 | yesterday | |
| 3 | Stalwart Mail Server Docker | 16k | 205 | AGPL-3.0 | 2 days ago | |
| 4 | Mailu Docker | 7.6k | 166 | MIT | yesterday | |
| 5 | SimpleLogin Docker | 7.1k | 84 | MIT | today | |
| 6 | Forward Email Docker | 1.7k | 250 | BUSL-1.1 | yesterday | |
| 7 | wildduck Docker | 2.1k | 135 | EUPL-1.2 | yesterday | |
| 8 | Mox | 5.9k | 60 | MIT | 3 days ago | |
| 9 | Modoboa | 3.5k | 338 | ISC | yesterday | |
| 10 | DebOps | 1.4k | 356 | GPL-3.0 | yesterday | |
| 11 | Maddy Mail Server | 6.1k | 26 | GPL-3.0 | today | |
| 12 | AnonAddy Docker | 4.9k | 6 | MIT | yesterday | |
| 13 | Postal Docker | 17k | 3 | MIT | today | |
| 14 | Mail-in-a-Box | 15k | 10 | CC0-1.0 | 8 days ago | |
| 15 | iRedMail | 1.8k | 14 | GPL-3.0 | 2 days ago | |
| 16 | Simple NixOS Mailserver | 320 | 13 | GPL-3.0 | 9 days ago | |
| 17 | b1gMail | 4 | 8 | GPL-2.0 | 9 days ago | |
| 18 | Inboxen | 8 | 1 | GPL-3.0 | 1 month ago |
docker-mailserver and Mailcow tie at 97/100. docker-mailserver also has the largest following, at 20k stars.
The most recent release is AnonAddy v1.7.4, published yesterday. iRedMail and Inboxen publish no tagged releases, which costs up to 25 of the 100 points. iRedMail, Simple NixOS Mailserver, b1gMail and 1 more score under 40, so check recent activity before adopting them. By stack, Python (5), PHP (3) and Go (2) are the most common. docker-mailserver, Mailu, SimpleLogin and 5 more are permissively licensed; Mailcow, Stalwart Mail Server, wildduck and 6 more are copyleft. Forward Email is source-available rather than open source, which limits commercial reuse.
By Repoly's GitHub health score, docker-mailserver at 97/100 (62 commits in 90 days, v16.0.1 from 2 months ago). Mailcow is next at 97. The score measures maintenance, not features, so shortlist the top few and try them.
DebOps (356 commits in 90 days), Modoboa (338 commits in 90 days) and Forward Email (250 commits in 90 days). Commit activity is 35 of the 100 health points, the largest single term.
9 of 18 publish a Docker image or Compose file, led by docker-mailserver, Mailcow, Stalwart Mail Server, Mailu, SimpleLogin and 4 more.
8 of 18: docker-mailserver (MIT), Mailu (MIT), SimpleLogin (MIT), Mox (MIT), Modoboa (ISC) and 3 more. 9 are copyleft.
Gmail (docker-mailserver ranks highest here) and SendGrid (Maddy Mail Server ranks highest here).
