Mail-in-a-Box
Turns any Ubuntu server into a fully functional mail server with one command.
Description from awesome-selfhosted (CC BY-SA 3.0)
Still maintained? Yes: 10 commits in the last 90 days, latest release v77 (Sep 2026).
Also an alternative to Gmail.
At a glance
Mail-in-a-Box quick facts
- Health score
- 63/100 SLOWING
- Stars
- 15,447
- Last commit
- 8 days ago (Oct 2026)
- Latest release
- v77, Sep 2026
- Licence
- CC0-1.0
Top alternatives to Mail-in-a-Box
Full rankings: Gmail alternatives
In its own words
The project's README opens: "Mail-in-a-Box helps individuals take back control of their email by defining a one-click, easy-to-deploy SMTP+everything else server: a mail server in a box."
Why it ranks here
Health score explained
Mail-in-a-Box scores 63/100, #14 of 18 in Communication - Email - Complete Solutions: 10 commits in the last 90 days earn 11.7 of 35 points, the latest release (v77, 1 month ago) earns 25.0 of 25, 15,447 stars add 16.8 of 20, an active, unarchived repository keeps 10 and no advertised Docker image leaves the final 10 unclaimed. That places it in the slowing band (40 to 69). The biggest shortfall is commit activity, worth 23.3 more points.
Recomputed nightly from the GitHub API. How the score is calculated.
- Commit activity biggest shortfall 11.7 / 35
10 commits in 90 days (30+ scores full marks)
- Release recency 25.0 / 25
v77 released 1 month ago
- Stars 16.8 / 20
15k stars on GitHub (logarithmic)
- Not archived 10.0 / 10
Repository is active
- Docker support 0.0 / 10
No Docker support advertised
Commit activity
- 10
- Last 90 days
- 23
- Last 12 months
- 8 days ago
- Last push
Ranked #14 of 18 tools in Communication - Email - Complete Solutions by health , between Postal (#13) and iRedMail (#15) .
Details
| Licence | CC0-1.0 |
| Platforms | Shell |
| Latest release | v77 · 1 month ago |
| Stars | 15,447 |
| Open issues | 554 |
| Docker | Not advertised |
| Repository | mail-in-a-box/mailinabox ↗ |
Mail-in-a-Box vs its top 5 alternatives
Active tools that share a comparison page or a category with Mail-in-a-Box (Communication - Email - Complete Solutions), scored on the same five terms.
| Tool | Health | Stars | Licence | Last commit |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| docker-mailserver | 97 | 20k | MIT | 4 days ago |
| Mailcow | 97 | 14k | GPL-3.0 | yesterday |
| Mailu | 96 | 7.6k | MIT | yesterday |
| Modoboa | 84 | 3.5k | ISC | yesterday |
| Maddy Mail Server | 80 | 6.1k | GPL-3.0 | today |
| Mail-in-a-Box (this tool) | 63 | 15k | CC0-1.0 | 8 days ago |
Mail-in-a-Box: common questions
What does Mail-in-a-Box replace?
Repoly lists Mail-in-a-Box as an open-source alternative to Gmail. Each comparison page ranks every alternative by the same health score, so you can see where Mail-in-a-Box stands against the others.
Is Mail-in-a-Box still maintained?
Mail-in-a-Box had 10 commits in the last 90 days and its last push was 8 days ago; the latest tagged release, v77, is from 1 month ago. Repoly recomputes this nightly.