AcyMailing vs Mail-in-a-Box
| Tagline | Joomla and WordPress newsletter plugin with automation | Turn any Ubuntu VPS into a complete, self-hosted mail server in one command |
| Category | Email & Newsletters | Email & Newsletters |
| Replaces | Mailchimp, ConvertKit (Kit) | Gmail / Google Workspace, Mailchimp, SendGrid |
| GitHub stars | 200 | 15k |
| Language | PHP | Shell |
| License | GPL-3.0 | CC0-1.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 2/5 Easy | 2/5 Easy |
| Deploy options | Manual | Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 1 month ago | 1 month ago |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
AcyMailing
- Tightly coupled to Joomla/WordPress ecosystem
- Advanced automation features gated behind paid plans
- No standalone deployment outside a CMS
Mail-in-a-Box
- Requires a dedicated Ubuntu VPS with a clean IP reputation; shared hosting is not supported
- No built-in bulk mailing or newsletter campaign tools
- Limited horizontal scalability; single-server architecture only
- Webmail (Roundcube) is functional but far less polished than Gmail's UI
Bottom line
Both are a similar lift to self-host; choose Mail-in-a-Box for the larger community and ecosystem. Mail-in-a-Box has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
Mail-in-a-Box
Turn any Ubuntu VPS into a complete, self-hosted mail server in one command