Alternatives · Email

mailcow alternatives

As of Nov 13, 2026, the highest-graded mailcow alternative is Modoboa (2.2 GPA). It's also the best free one.

mailcow compared with 6 alternatives: Mailu, Mail-in-a-Box, docker-mailserver, iRedMail, Modoboa and 1 more.

mailcow is free to use. All 6 alternatives are free or have a free plan.

Listings checked up to Nov 13, 2026 · Where the facts come from

At a glance

Tool	Price	Free plan	Runs on
mailcowThis tool	Free	Free	Web
Mailu	Free	Free	Web
Mail-in-a-Box	Free	Free	Web
docker-mailserver	Free	Free	Linux
iRedMail	Free plan · from $499/yr	Yes	Linux
Modoboa	Free	Free	Web
Stalwart Mail Server	Free plan · from $2.40/yr	Yes	Web

Price against what you get

mailcow has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. None of the 6 alternatives on this chart both scores higher and starts lower.

Features, ease of use and platforms, averaged

What paid plans start at, a month (each step along is roughly double) →

The best score at each price
Has a free plan
No free plan

The full chart of email apps, and the best at every price

How each one differs from mailcow

Mailu
Free Docker-based mail server with webmail and admin UI
- Mailu is free.
- Mailu also covers dMARC.
- Mailu does not cover calendar, which mailcow does.
Suits: Self-hosters who want a lean mail server without groupware extras
Mailu vs mailcow Mailu pricing and details
Mail-in-a-Box
Free script that turns a cloud server into your own mail server
- Mail-in-a-Box is free.
Suits: Individuals and small groups who want to run their own mail service
Mail-in-a-Box vs mailcow Mail-in-a-Box pricing and details
docker-mailserver
Self-hosted mail server packaged as a Docker container
- docker-mailserver is free.
- docker-mailserver also lists a Linux app.
- docker-mailserver lists no web app, which mailcow has.
- docker-mailserver does not cover calendar and email client, which mailcow does.
Suits: Technical users who want a mail server managed as config files
docker-mailserver vs mailcow docker-mailserver pricing and details
iRedMail
Open-source mail server installer for Linux and BSD
- iRedMail starts at $499 for a 1-year iRedAdmin-Pro license, $250 per year to renew.
- iRedMail also lists a Linux app.
- iRedMail lists no web app, which mailcow has.
Suits: Admins who want a self-run mail server without per-mailbox fees
iRedMail vs mailcow iRedMail pricing and details
Modoboa
Open-source mail server with a web admin panel and webmail
- Modoboa is free.
Suits: Individuals and small organizations that want their own mail server
Modoboa vs mailcow Modoboa pricing and details
Stalwart Mail Server
Open-source mail and collaboration server written in Rust
- Stalwart Mail Server starts at $2.40 per mailbox / year, billed annually (25-mailbox minimum).
- Stalwart Mail Server also covers file sharing and dMARC.
Suits: Self-hosters who want one program instead of a separate MTA, spam filter and calendar server
Stalwart Mail Server vs mailcow Stalwart Mail Server pricing and details

Limits worth knowing in mailcow

You run the server yourself: DNS records, TLS, backups of the Docker volumes and updates are yours to manage.
Official support is community-driven and best-effort; paid support is a separate subscription sold by Servercow.
Stored mail is compressed and encrypted, and the key pair sits in a Docker volume that must be backed up.
A managed mailcow is sold by Servercow, whose pages are in German and whose prices were not read here.

mailcow pricing and details

Common questions

What are the alternatives to mailcow?

The alternatives to mailcow in this directory are Mailu, Mail-in-a-Box, docker-mailserver, iRedMail, Modoboa and Stalwart Mail Server. Each one has a side-by-side comparison with mailcow.

Is there a free alternative to mailcow?

Yes. Mailu, Mail-in-a-Box, docker-mailserver and Modoboa are free to use. iRedMail and Stalwart Mail Server have a free plan alongside paid ones.

Which mailcow alternatives work on Linux?

The mailcow listing does not include a Linux app. docker-mailserver and iRedMail list one.

When were these prices checked?

Every listing on this page was checked on Nov 13, 2026, against the pages it cites. Vendors change prices without notice, so confirm on their site before you buy.

How this page was made

Where any alternative here is in our top three email apps, the best for most people is the highest placed of them: the top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades. Otherwise the page names the highest-graded alternative in the same category as mailcow, the one its listing names first winning a tie. The best free one is the highest-graded alternative that is free or has a free plan (a free trial does not count), with its catch quoted from its listing where the listing states a short one. The GPA is the average of our five grades for each tool.
The alternatives are the tools mailcow’s listing names as its closest substitutes, and the tools whose listings name mailcow.
Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing, which names the pages they were read from.
The differences are worked out from those listings.
The chart sets each tool’s starting price against our own grades for features, ease of use and platforms.

Read the method All email apps

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