# Mailu

> Mailu is a free, open-source app you can self-host in the email servers category. Simple yet full-featured mail server as a set of Docker images. It has 7,537 GitHub stars, is released under the MIT license and ships a Docker image. It is a self-hosted alternative to Gmail.

## Key facts

| Fact | Value |
|---|---|
| Repository | https://github.com/Mailu/Mailu |
| Website | https://mailu.io/ |
| GitHub stars | 7,537 |
| Forks | 1,011 |
| Open issues | 100 |
| License | MIT |
| License type | Open source |
| Language | Python |
| Docker image | Yes |
| Platforms | Docker, Python |
| Categories | Email Servers |
| Commits, last 12 months | 169 |
| Last commit | Oct 4, 2026 |
| Latest release | 2024.06.61 (Sep 30, 2026) |
| Created | Jan 10, 2016 |
| Maintenance | Actively maintained |
| Archived | No |

Topics: docker, email, imap, pop3, webmail, mailserver, mail, smtp, docker-compose, dkim

## Install

Mailu ships a Docker image; follow the README at https://github.com/Mailu/Mailu for the image name and environment variables.

Need it installed for you? [appsgit installation help](https://appsgit.com/services/install): a fixed quote by email, single app installs from $79.

## Mailu replaces

- [Gmail alternatives](https://appsgit.com/alternatives/gmail): Google's email service with web and mobile apps.

## Similar apps in Email Servers

- [docker-mailserver](https://appsgit.com/apps/docker-mailserver): Production-ready fullstack but simple mail server (SMTP, IMAP, LDAP, Antispam, Antivirus, etc.) running inside a container. Only configuration files, no SQL database. (18,903 stars, MIT, Shell, Docker)
- [Postal](https://appsgit.com/apps/postal): Complete and fully featured mail server for use by websites & web servers. (16,854 stars, MIT, Ruby, Docker)
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- [Mailcow](https://appsgit.com/apps/mailcow): Mail server suite based on Dovecot, Postfix and other open source software, that provides a modern Web UI for administration. (13,563 stars, GPL-3.0, JavaScript, Docker)
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- [Maddy Mail Server](https://appsgit.com/apps/maddy-mail-server): All-in-one mail server that implements SMTP (both MTA and MX) and IMAP. Replaces Postfix, Dovecot, OpenDKIM, OpenSPF, OpenDMARC with single daemon. (6,099 stars, GPL-3.0, Go)

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