listmonk vs Maddy Mail Server
| Tagline | High-performance self-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager | Single-binary Go mail server replacing Postfix, Dovecot, OpenDKIM, and OpenDMARC |
| Category | Email & Newsletters | Email & Newsletters |
| Replaces | Mailchimp, ConvertKit (Kit), SendGrid | Gmail / Google Workspace, SendGrid, Mailchimp |
| GitHub stars | 22k | 6k |
| Language | Go | Go |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 3/5 Moderate | 4/5 Involved |
| Deploy options | Docker Docker Compose Manual | Docker Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 14 days ago | 23 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.
listmonk
- No built-in marketing automation/journey builder like Mailchimp
- No bundled deliverability/IP reputation management — you supply your own SMTP/SES
- No native landing page or e-commerce/CRM integrations
- Reporting and analytics are basic compared to commercial suites
Maddy Mail Server
- No webmail interface; users need a separate IMAP client
- Documentation is less comprehensive than established stacks like Postfix + Dovecot
- No built-in web admin panel for managing accounts
- Smaller ecosystem and community compared to traditional mail server components
Bottom line
Choose listmonk if you want the lower-effort setup; choose listmonk for the larger community and ecosystem. listmonk has seen more recent development. Open each guide below for deploy steps and the full feature gap.
Maddy Mail Server
Single-binary Go mail server replacing Postfix, Dovecot, OpenDKIM, and OpenDMARC