Mailu
Simple yet full-featured mail server as a set of Docker images.
- Email Servers
- Python
- MIT
- Docker
- Actively maintained
GitHub stats
- GitHub stars
- 7,537
- Forks
- 1,011
- Open issues
- 100
- Commits, last 12 months
- 169
- Last commit
- Oct 4, 2026
- Latest release
- 2024.06.61Sep 30, 2026
- Created
- Jan 10, 2016
Data from the GitHub API, refreshed daily.
About Mailu
Simple yet full-featured mail server as a set of Docker images. Mailu is open source under the MIT license and written mainly in Python, so you can read the code, run it on your own hardware and keep full control of your data.
The project has 7,537 stars and 1,011 forks on GitHub, with 169 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
- docker
- imap
- pop3
- webmail
- mailserver
- smtp
- docker-compose
- dkim
Open-source alternative to
Mailu can replace these commercial products. Compare every option on each page.
Repository preview
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What is Mailu?
Mailu is a free, open-source app you can host on your own server, listed in our Email Servers category. Simple yet full-featured mail server as a set of Docker images. The source code lives at github.com/Mailu/Mailu, where it has 7,537 stars.
Is Mailu free and open source?
Yes. Mailu is open-source software released under the MIT 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 Mailu with Docker?
Yes. Mailu 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 Mailu?
Popular open-source alternatives to Mailu include docker-mailserver, Postal and Mail-in-a-Box. Mailu itself is a self-hosted alternative to Gmail.
Is Mailu actively maintained?
The most recent commit to Mailu was on Oct 4, 2026 with 169 commits in the past twelve months. The latest release is 2024.06.61, published Sep 30, 2026. Check the open issues on GitHub to gauge how quickly maintainers respond.