Mailcow
Mail server suite based on Dovecot, Postfix and other open source software, that provides a modern Web UI for administration.
- Email Servers
- JavaScript
- GPL-3.0
- Docker
- Actively maintained
GitHub stats
- GitHub stars
- 13,563
- Forks
- 1,820
- Open issues
- 464
- Commits, last 12 months
- 316
- Last commit
- Oct 1, 2026
- Latest release
- 2026-09Sep 21, 2026
- Created
- Dec 9, 2016
Data from the GitHub API, refreshed daily.
About Mailcow
Mail server suite based on Dovecot, Postfix and other open source software, that provides a modern Web UI for administration. Mailcow is open source under the GPL-3.0 license and written mainly in JavaScript, so you can read the code, run it on your own hardware and keep full control of your data.
The project has 13,563 stars and 1,820 forks on GitHub, with 316 commits over the last year. It ships a Docker image, which makes it a good fit for a small VPS or a home server running Docker Compose.
Topics
- mailcow
- mailserver
- groupware
- sogo
- rspamd
- postfix
- dovecot
- docker
- servercow
- hacktoberfest
Open-source alternative to
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What is Mailcow?
Mailcow is a free, open-source app you can host on your own server, listed in our Email Servers category. Mail server suite based on Dovecot, Postfix and other open source software, that provides a modern Web UI for administration. The source code lives at github.com/mailcow/mailcow-dockerized, where it has 13,563 stars.
Is Mailcow free and open source?
Yes. Mailcow is open-source software released under the GPL-3.0 license, so you can self-host it at no cost. You only pay for the server it runs on, and some projects also offer an optional paid cloud plan.
Can I run Mailcow with Docker?
Yes. Mailcow provides a Docker image, so you can run it on any Linux server with Docker and Docker Compose installed. The project README lists the image name and the environment variables to set.
What are the best alternatives to Mailcow?
Popular open-source alternatives to Mailcow include docker-mailserver, Postal and Mail-in-a-Box. Mailcow itself is a self-hosted alternative to Google Workspace, Microsoft 365 and Gmail.
Is Mailcow actively maintained?
The most recent commit to Mailcow was on Oct 1, 2026 with 316 commits in the past twelve months. The latest release is 2026-09, published Sep 21, 2026. Check the open issues on GitHub to gauge how quickly maintainers respond.