Horde vs SOGo (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Horde grades higher than SOGo: 2.4 against 2.2 out of 4.0.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
Horde grades higher on the free plan. They get the same grade on value for money, features, ease of use and platforms.
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 SOGo if
- Fits if you run mail for an organisation and want webmail with shared calendars
- Works for admins who already run IMAP and database servers
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you don't want to run a server, as it gives you no hosted mailbox
- Skip it if you want production builds without paying, since those need a support contract
- Watch out: support contracts are priced in euros, 500 to 7,500 a year
- Watch out: the price list is dated September 2024
How we grade them
| 2.4GPAHordeFair | 2.2GPASOGoFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CFree, but only if you host it yourself, so there's a server to pay for. | CFree only if you host it yourself, which needs a mail server and a database. Production builds need a support contract from 500 euros a year. |
| Free plan and trial | BThe whole suite is free under open-source licences, with no paid tier. You supply the server. | CThe software is free to download, but the free route is nightly builds that the project calls untested. |
| Features | BWebmail, calendar, contacts, tasks, CalDAV, CardDAV and ActiveSync. Nothing in the listing shows a gap in the groupware job. | BWebmail, calendars, contacts, ActiveSync and Outlook and Thunderbird support, and the listing shows no gap in the groupware job. |
| Ease of use | DYou install and maintain it yourself, on top of a mail server. | DYou install it and wire it to your own mail and database servers. |
| Platforms and integrations | BA web interface with sync to other clients over CalDAV, CardDAV and ActiveSync. No apps of its own. | BA web interface, plus ActiveSync, Outlook, Thunderbird and Apple Calendar connections. There's no desktop app of its own. |
| Best for | free webmail and groupware you host yourself | groupware you run yourself |
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 SOGo. 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. SOGo has no paid plan and scores 2.3.
On this chart the two sit in the same place: the same score 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 SOGo 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 and tasks.
In commonFree planWebOpen sourceSelf-hostableCalendarEmail client
At a glance
| Horde | SOGo | |
|---|---|---|
| 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. | The software is free to download and run yourself, with community support through a mailing list. |
| Free trial | None listed | None listed |
| Web | ||
| Made by | Horde Project | Alinto |
| Price read from | horde.org | sogo.nu |
| 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.
SOGo
- It is software to install: you supply the mail and database servers, and it provides no hosted mailbox.
- Production-build package repositories require a paid support contract from Alinto; free users get nightly builds.
- Nightly builds are described as untested and not recommended for production use.
- Support contracts are priced in euros per year: 500, 1,500, 5,000 or 7,500, per a price list dated September 2024.
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.
SOGo
- Web interface for mail and groupware
- An AJAX-based interface for email, shared calendars and address books across an organization.
- Standards-based sync
- Supports CalDAV, CardDAV and GroupDAV, with IMAP and SMTP for mail, so many native clients can connect.
- ActiveSync for phones
- iPhone, Android and Windows Phone devices can sync email, contacts, events and tasks through Microsoft ActiveSync.
- Outlook and Thunderbird support
- Outlook works through the free CalDAV Synchronizer plugin. Thunderbird has SOGo Connector and Integrator extensions.
- Built for large deployments
- The site says SOGo has run in production with thousands of users and focuses on scalability and open standards.
- Paid support tiers
- Yearly Alinto contracts cost 500 to 7,500 euros and add production repositories, incident tickets and response times.
Plans
Horde
Horde Groupware$0
Free LGPL and GPL software you host yourself. Paid support comes from third-party sponsors such as B1 Systems.
SOGo
Community$0
Free software you host yourself, with nightly builds, mailing-list help and documentation. No official releases or bug fixes.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Horde or SOGo?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Horde and SOGo are free to use.
Which has a free plan, Horde or SOGo?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Horde and SOGo 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.