Mail-in-a-Box vs Stalwart Mail Server
| Tagline | Turn any Ubuntu VPS into a complete, self-hosted mail server in one command | Modern all-in-one mail server with JMAP, IMAP4, and SMTP in a single Rust binary |
| Category | Email & Newsletters | Email & Newsletters |
| Replaces | Gmail / Google Workspace, Mailchimp, SendGrid | Gmail / Google Workspace, SendGrid, Mailchimp |
| GitHub stars | 15k | 13k |
| Language | Shell | Rust |
| License | CC0-1.0 | AGPL-3.0 |
| Self-host difficulty | 2/5 Easy | 3/5 Moderate |
| Deploy options | Manual | Docker Docker Compose Manual |
| Managed hosting | ||
| Last updated | 25 days ago | today |
| View repo | View repo |
Where each falls short
The honest trade-offs — what you give up with each, versus the proprietary tools they replace.
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
Stalwart Mail Server
- No built-in newsletter/broadcast campaign tooling
- Web admin UI is functional but less refined than commercial email service dashboards
- Third-party anti-virus (ClamAV) integration requires additional setup
- Community support only on the free tier; paid support plans are limited
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. Stalwart Mail Server 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
Stalwart Mail Server
Modern all-in-one mail server with JMAP, IMAP4, and SMTP in a single Rust binary