24 open-source apps
Best self-hosted Email Servers apps
Mail servers, delivery agents and webmail clients. Run your own email with full control over storage, privacy and deliverability.
The most popular self-hosted apps for email servers on GitHub are docker-mailserver, Postal and Mail-in-a-Box, ranked by stars below.
Ranked by GitHub stars
All 24 Email Servers apps
docker-mailserver
docker-mailserver/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.
Email ServersShellDockerPostal
postalserver/postal
Complete and fully featured mail server for use by websites & web servers.
Email ServersRubyDockerMail-in-a-Box
mail-in-a-box/mailinabox
Turns any Ubuntu server into a fully functional mail server with one command.
Email ServersPythonStalwart Mail Server
stalwartlabs/stalwart
All-in-one mail server with JMAP, IMAP4, and SMTP support and a wide range of modern features.
Email ServersRustDockerMailcow
mailcow/mailcow-dockerized
Mail server suite based on Dovecot, Postfix and other open source software, that provides a modern Web UI for administration.
Email ServersJavaScriptDockerMailu
Mailu/Mailu
Simple yet full-featured mail server as a set of Docker images.
Email ServersPythonDockerRoundcube
roundcube/roundcubemail
Browser-based IMAP client with an application-like user interface.
Email ServersPHPSimpleLogin
simple-login/app
Open source email alias solution to protect your email address. Comes with browser extensions and mobile apps.
Email ServersPythonDockerMaddy Mail Server
foxcpp/maddy
All-in-one mail server that implements SMTP (both MTA and MX) and IMAP. Replaces Postfix, Dovecot, OpenDKIM, OpenSPF, OpenDMARC with single daemon.
Email ServersGoMox
mjl-/mox
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…
Email ServersGoHaraka
haraka/Haraka
Fast, highly extensible, and event driven SMTP server.
Email ServersJavaScriptAnonAddy
anonaddy/anonaddy
Email forwarding service for creating aliases.
Email ServersPHPDockerModoboa
modoboa/modoboa
Mail hosting and management platform including a modern and simplified web user interface.
Email ServersPythonwildduck
zone-eu/wildduck
Scalable no-SPOF IMAP/POP3 mail server.
Email ServersJavaScriptDockeriRedMail
iredmail/iRedMail
Full-featured mail server solution based on Postfix and Dovecot.
Email ServersShellCypht
cypht-org/cypht
Feed reader for your email accounts.
Email ServersPHPSnappyMail
the-djmaze/snappymail
Simple, modern, lightweight & fast web-based email client (fork of RainLoop).
Email ServersPHPForward Email
forwardemail/forwardemail.net
Privacy-focused encrypted email for everyone. All-in-one alternative to Gmail + Mailchimp + Sendgrid.
Email ServersJavaScriptDockerDebOps
debops/debops
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.
Email ServersJinjaDovecot
dovecot/core
IMAP and POP3 server written primarily with security in mind.
Email ServersCDavMail
mguessan/davmail
POP/IMAP/SMTP/Caldav/Carddav/LDAP exchange gateway allowing users to use any mail/calendar client with an Exchange server, even from the internet or behind a firewall through Outlook Web Access.
Email ServersJavaCyrus IMAP
cyrusimap/cyrus-imapd
Email (IMAP/POP3), contacts and calendar server.
Email ServersCOpenSMTPD
OpenSMTPD/OpenSMTPD
Secure SMTP server implementation from the OpenBSD project.
Email ServersCDragonFly
corecode/dma
A small MTA for home and office use. Works on Linux and FreeBSD.
Email ServersC
What is the best self-hosted app for email servers?
By GitHub stars, docker-mailserver is the most popular self-hosted app for email servers with 18,903 stars, followed by Postal and Mail-in-a-Box. The best fit depends on your needs, so compare Docker support, license and recent activity on each app page.
Are these Email Servers apps free?
Yes. All 24 apps in this category are open source and free to run on your own server. A few also offer a paid hosted plan or enterprise add-ons, but self-hosting the open-source edition costs nothing beyond your hardware.
How do I install a self-hosted Email Servers app?
9 of the 24 apps here ship a Docker image, which is the easiest route: rent a small VPS or use a home server, install Docker, and start the app with its Docker Compose file. Apps without an image list their native install steps in the README.
Which Email Servers apps are most actively developed?
Measured by commits in the last twelve months, the most active projects are Cyrus IMAP (2,494 commits), Dovecot (1,633 commits) and Forward Email (1,392 commits). Active development usually means faster bug fixes and security patches.