Horde vs SnappyMail (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Horde grades higher than SnappyMail: 2.4 against 1.8 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Horde grades higher on the free plan, features and platforms. SnappyMail grades higher on ease of use. They get the same grade on value for money.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Which one is for you
Pick Horde if
- Fits if you already run a mail server and want webmail in front of it
- Works for people who like open-source suites and don't need a company behind it
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't want to run and update a server
- Skip it if you want a support contract, as support is the community or a third-party sponsor
- Watch out: Horde 6 and IMP 7 shipped with rough edges and a security fix soon after
- Watch out: no vendor means no service-level guarantee
Pick SnappyMail if
- Fits if you already run an IMAP server and want a light web front end for it
- Works for hosts who like open-source software and are happy to run PHP themselves
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a mail server, because it sends and receives nothing on its own
- Not for you if you don't have a server, since there is no hosted version in the listing
- Too light for anyone who wants calendars, tasks or team sharing built in
- Watch out: it needs PHP 8.2 or newer with the mbstring extension
- Watch out: Internet Explorer and Edge Legacy don't work with it
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAHordeFair | 1.8GPASnappyMailWeak | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CFree, but only if you host it yourself, so there's a server to pay for. | CFree under the AGPL-3.0 licence, but only if you host it, and that needs a PHP server. Self-hosted free is a C for value, not an A. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe whole suite is free under open-source licences, with no paid tier. You supply the server. | CFree outright, no plan limits. The catch is that you need your own server first, so it is a B and not an A. |
| Features | BWebmail, calendar, contacts, tasks, CalDAV, CardDAV and ActiveSync. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the groupware job. | DIt does the webmail job fully: IMAP, OpenPGP, plugins. It is a smaller job though, since it sends and receives nothing without a separate mail server. |
| Ease of use | DYou install and maintain it yourself, on top of a mail server. | CNo store rating on record. It needs PHP 8.2+ and the mbstring extension, so install and upgrades fall on you. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web interface with sync to other clients over CalDAV, CardDAV and ActiveSync. No apps of its own. | CWeb only. The listing names no apps and no integrations, and Internet Explorer and Edge Legacy are not supported. |
| Best for | free webmail and groupware you host yourself | a self-hosted webmail page for your IMAP server |
The GPA is the average of the five grades: an A is 4 points, an F is none. The full reasons are on each tool's page: Horde and SnappyMail. How we grade
Price against what you get
Horde has no paid plan and scores 2.3 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. SnappyMail has no paid plan and scores 1.7.
Horde scores higher for the same starting price. Of the other email apps on the chart, none scores higher than Horde for less, and none scores higher than SnappyMail for less.
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
Where they differ
- Horde also covers notes, tasks and calendar.
In commonFree planWebOpen sourceSelf-hostableEmail client
At a glance
| Horde | SnappyMail | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | Free |
| Free plan | The whole suite is free to download and run yourself; the project sells no paid tier. | Free and open source under the AGPL-3.0 license; you run it on your own PHP server. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Horde Project | SnappyMail (open-source project) |
| Price read from | horde.org | github.com |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Horde
- You install and maintain it yourself; it is a client and groupware layer that needs your own mail server.
- Support is community-based; the project points to B1 Systems for paid hosting and support.
- The project blog describes recent releases (Horde 6, IMP 7) with rough edges and a security fix shortly after launch.
- It is community-maintained with no vendor behind it, so there is no service-level guarantee.
SnappyMail
- It is a webmail front end only; you still need a separate mail server to send and receive mail.
- Needs PHP 8.2 or newer and the mbstring extension, per the GitHub readme.
- Internet Explorer and Edge Legacy are not supported.
Key features
Horde
- Webmail client
- IMAP and POP3 mail with 3-pane and 3-column layouts, conversation view, filtering, searching and a WYSIWYG composer.
- Message security
- Encrypting and signing messages with S/MIME and PGP, plus quota support and shared IMAP folders.
- Calendars, contacts and tasks
- Shared calendars, address books, task lists and notepads, with unlimited resources per user.
- Sync with other clients
- CalDAV, CardDAV and ActiveSync support, plus responsive, basic and mobile interfaces.
- Wider app suite
- Applications for files, bookmarks, time tracking and more can be added, and the PHP libraries underneath are reusable.
- Translations
- The groupware pages say it is translated into 41 languages, including right-to-left scripts.
SnappyMail
- Light page weight
- The project site says the mobile page boots with roughly 138 KB of download using Brotli compression.
- No database needed
- The GitHub readme lists simple installation and upgrades, and says no database is required.
- OpenPGP support
- The readme says the fork ships OpenPGP.js v5 and has much better PGP support than the RainLoop code it came from.
- Plugins
- Features such as password change are built as plugins, and plugins can be loaded as .phar files.
- Broad IMAP support
- The readme lists support for many more IMAP standards than the original RainLoop client.
- Live demo
- A demo of the client is published on the project site.
Plans
Horde
Horde Groupware$0
Free LGPL and GPL software you host yourself. Paid support comes from third-party sponsors such as B1 Systems.
SnappyMail
Free$0
Open source under AGPL-3.0. You host it yourself on a server running PHP 8.2 or newer.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Horde or SnappyMail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Horde and SnappyMail are free to use.
Which has a free plan, Horde or SnappyMail?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Horde and SnappyMail have a free plan.
More comparisons
How this page was made
- The verdict at the top follows a fixed rule. When both tools are in the same category and either is in our top three for it, the verdict follows that ranking: the higher-placed tool is our pick. The top three weigh who each tool suits as well as its grades, so a pick can go against the GPA. Otherwise the page does not pick one and says which grades higher: the higher GPA first; on a tie, the one with a free plan, then the one that starts cheaper in dollars a month, counted the same way for both; if they are still level, what the choice depends on.
- The grades are our own, from each tool’s review or report card. The GPA is their average.
- Prices, plans and platforms come from each tool’s listing. The table above says where each price was read and when.
- The differences and the answers to the questions are worked out from those listings.