Self-hosted alternatives to Gmail
Want hosted email without handing your data to Gmail? These 22 open-source apps run on your own server. Cheapest estimated hosting starts at about $5/month.
| App | Health | Stars | License | Docker | RAM (est.) | From |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forward Email direct | Actively maintained | 1.7k | BUSL-1.1, MPL-2.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| docker-mailserver | Actively maintained | 19.7k | MIT | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Postal | Actively maintained | 16.9k | MIT | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Stalwart Mail Server | Actively maintained | 15.7k | AGPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Mail-in-a-Box | Actively maintained | 15.5k | CC0-1.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Mailcow | Actively maintained | 13.7k | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 8 GB | $40/mo |
| Mailu | Actively maintained | 7.6k | MIT | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Roundcube | Actively maintained | 7.3k | GPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| SimpleLogin | Actively maintained | 7.1k | MIT | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Maddy Mail Server | Actively maintained | 6.1k | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Mox | Actively maintained | 5.9k | MIT | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| AnonAddy | Actively maintained | 4.9k | MIT | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Modoboa | Actively maintained | 3.5k | ISC | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| wildduck | Actively maintained | 2.1k | EUPL-1.2 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| iRedMail | Actively maintained | 1.8k | GPL-3.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Cypht | Actively maintained | 1.8k | LGPL-2.1 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| SnappyMail | Actively maintained | 1.7k | AGPL-3.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
| DebOps | Actively maintained | 1.4k | GPL-3.0 | ✓ | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Simple NixOS Mailserver | Maintained | 320 | GPL-3.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| b1gMail | Health unknown | – | GPL-2.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| Inboxen | Health unknown | – | GPL-3.0 | – | 4 GB | $20/mo |
| SquirrelMail | Health unknown | – | GPL-2.0 | – | 1 GB | $5/mo |
The options in detail
1. Forward Email
Privacy-focused encrypted email for everyone. All-in-one (alternative to Gmail, Mailchimp, Sendgrid).
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-03. Latest release v2.18.13 (2026-11-02). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
2. 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.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release v16.0.1 (2026-09-04). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
3. Postal
Complete and fully featured mail server for use by websites & web servers.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-01. Latest release 3.3.7 (2026-06-03). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
4. Stalwart Mail Server
All-in-one mail server with JMAP, IMAP4, and SMTP support and a wide range of modern features.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release v1.0.2 (2026-11-02). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
5. Mail-in-a-Box
Turns any Ubuntu server into a fully functional mail server with one command.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-22. Latest release v77 (2026-09-26). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
6. Mailcow
Mail server suite based on Dovecot, Postfix and other software, that provides a modern Web UI for administration.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-21. Latest release 2026-10 (2026-10-21). Needs roughly 8 GB RAM. How to run it →
7. Mailu
Simple yet full-featured mail server as a set of Docker images.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release 2024.06.67 (2026-10-23). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
8. Roundcube
Browser-based IMAP client with an application-like user interface.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-25. Latest release 1.7.5 (2026-10-19). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
9. SimpleLogin
Email alias solution to protect your email address. Comes with browser extensions and mobile apps.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-30. Latest release v4.83.2 (2026-10-26). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
10. Maddy Mail Server
All-in-one mail server that implements SMTP (both MTA and MX) and IMAP. Replaces Postfix, Dovecot, OpenDKIM, OpenSPF, OpenDMARC with single daemon.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release v0.9.6 (2026-10-03). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
11. 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 Let's Encrypt, account autoconfiguration, and webmail.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-27. Latest release v0.0.17 (2026-08-19). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
12. AnonAddy
Email forwarding service for creating aliases.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-29. Latest release v1.7.4 (2026-10-29). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
13. Modoboa
Mail hosting and management platform including a modern and simplified web user interface.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release 2.12.0 (2026-10-26). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
14. wildduck
Scalable no-SPOF IMAP/POP3 mail server.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-02. Latest release v1.55.3 (2026-11-02). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
15. iRedMail
Full-featured mail server solution based on Postfix and Dovecot.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-28. Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
16. Cypht
Feed reader for your email accounts.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-26. Latest release v2.13.0 (2026-10-16). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
17. SnappyMail
Simple, modern, lightweight & fast web-based email client (fork of RainLoop).
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-11-03. Latest release v2.38.2.1 (2026-10-23). Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
18. 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.
Actively maintained Last activity 2026-10-31. Latest release v3.3.2 (2026-09-28). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
19. Simple NixOS Mailserver
Complete mailserver solution leveraging the Nix Ecosystem.
Maintained Last activity 2026-10-21. Latest release v2.3.0 (2019-12-16). Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
20. b1gMail
Complete email solution that runs on any webspace with PHP and MariaDB. It supports POP3 catchall mailboxes and can also integrate with Postfix or b1gMailServer if you're running your own server.
Health unknown Needs roughly 4 GB RAM incl. mariadb. How to run it →
21. Inboxen
Lets you have an infinite number of unique inboxes.
Health unknown Needs roughly 4 GB RAM. How to run it →
22. SquirrelMail
Another browser-based IMAP client.
Health unknown Needs roughly 1 GB RAM. How to run it →
Why self-host instead of Gmail?
- Own your data — it lives on a server you control, with backups you decide on.
- Predictable cost — a small VPS often replaces per-seat pricing for a whole team or family.
- No lock-in — open-source licenses let you keep running the software even if a vendor disappears.
The trade-off: you are responsible for updates, backups and security. Pick an app marked Actively maintained and with Docker support for the easiest ride.
Browse related categories
Other alternatives guides
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