AnonAddy vs Mail-in-a-Box
| Tagline | Self-hosted anonymous email forwarding with unlimited disposable aliases | Turn any Ubuntu VPS into a complete, self-hosted mail server in one command |
| Category | Email & Newsletters | Email & Newsletters |
| Replaces | Gmail / Google Workspace, Mailchimp, ConvertKit (Kit) | Gmail / Google Workspace, Mailchimp, SendGrid |
| GitHub stars | 4.7k | 15k |
| Language | PHP | Shell |
| License | MIT | CC0-1.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 4/5 Involved | 2/5 Easy |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Manual | Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 21 days ago | 25 days 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.
AnonAddy
- Requires a properly configured Postfix MTA alongside the application, increasing setup complexity
- No newsletter or campaign functionality; alias forwarding only
- Mobile apps point to anonaddy.com by default; self-hosted URL must be configured manually
- No built-in spam filtering beyond what the upstream MTA provides
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
Choose Mail-in-a-Box if you want the lower-effort setup; choose Mail-in-a-Box for the larger community and ecosystem. AnonAddy 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