Modoboa vs Stalwart Mail Server (2026): which should you pick?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Modoboa and Stalwart Mail Server share a 2.2 GPA, both have a free plan, and Modoboa has no paid plan to buy, against $0.20 a month when paid by the year for Stalwart Mail Server.
Checked Nov 13, 2026 · graded Nov 13, 2026 by ToolGPA
They get the same grade on all five counts.
Price, platforms and features side by side. The table says where each price was read and when.
Stalwart Mail Server
Open-source mail and collaboration server written in Rust
Which one is for you
Pick Modoboa if
- Fits if you want to run your own mail for several domains with one admin panel
- Works for admins who already look after Linux servers and DNS
Look elsewhere if
- Not for you if you don't want to run DNS, deliverability and updates yourself
- Skip it if you want paid support built in: installation starts at EUR 150 and issue help at EUR 120
- Too heavy for one person who just wants an inbox
- Watch out: parts of its development are funded by sponsoring campaigns with euro targets
Pick Stalwart Mail Server if
- Fits if you run mail for a company and want a modern single-binary server
- Works for admins who want multi-tenancy and are fine paying per mailbox
Look elsewhere if
- Skip it if you want a hosted service, as the cloud edition is listed for 2027
- Not for you if you have fewer than 25 mailboxes on Enterprise
- Skip it if you don't want to run and update a server
- Watch out: the monthly-billing rate isn't shown and prices switch between euros and dollars
How we grade them
| 2.2GPAModoboaFair | 2.2GPAStalwart Mail ServerFair | |
|---|---|---|
| Value for money | CFree and open source (ISC licence) with unlimited domains and mailboxes, but only if you host it. Self-hosted free is a C for value. | CCommunity is free if you host it. Enterprise is $2.40 a mailbox a year, but you pay for at least 25 mailboxes, which is $60 a year. |
| Free plan and trial | BFree outright. You need your own server to run it, so a B. | BThe full server is free to run under the AGPL, plus a 30-day trial of Enterprise. You need your own server. |
| Features | BA full stack in one installer: admin panel, webmail, filters, auto-responder, sender reputation tools and monitoring. We found no gap in the mail-server job in the listing. | BMail and collaboration in one server, with spam filtering, encryption at rest and clustering. The listing shows no gap in the job. |
| Ease of use | DNo store rating on record. You run the server, DNS and mail delivery yourself, which is a D whatever the quick installer promises. | DYou install, configure and update the server yourself, in either edition. |
| Platforms and integrations | CWeb admin and webmail only, on a server you run. It lists Postfix, Dovecot, Rspamd and Let's Encrypt, but no apps. | CA web admin and standard protocols, with Sieve, LDAP and OpenID Connect. No apps of its own. |
| Best for | a self-hosted mail server with an admin panel | a mail and collaboration server in Rust |
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: Modoboa and Stalwart Mail Server. How we grade
Price against what you get
Modoboa has no paid plan and scores 2.0 out of 4 on features, ease of use and platforms. Stalwart Mail Server starts at $0.20 a month when paid by the year and scores 2.0.
They score the same, and Modoboa starts $0.20 a month lower. Of the other email apps on the chart, none scores higher than Modoboa for less, and 12 score higher than Stalwart Mail Server 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
- Stalwart Mail Server also covers file sharing and dMARC.
At a glance
| Modoboa | Stalwart Mail Server | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free plan |
| Starts at | Free | $2.40 per mailbox / year, billed annually (25-mailbox minimum) |
| Free plan | The software is free and open source (ISC license on GitHub); you host it on your own server. | Community edition: the full mail server under AGPL-3.0, free to run on your own infrastructure. |
| Free trial | None listed | 30-day trial of the Enterprise edition with full access to Enterprise features. |
| Web | ||
| Made by | NGYNLABS | Stalwart Labs |
| Price read from | modoboa.org | stalw.art |
| Checked | Nov 13, 2026 | Nov 13, 2026 |
Worth knowing
Modoboa
- You run and maintain the server yourself, including DNS and deliverability.
- Paid help is offered separately: installation from EUR 150 and issue assistance from EUR 120, per the site.
- Features are funded partly through sponsoring campaigns with euro targets.
Stalwart Mail Server
- Prices are shown in euros or dollars through a toggle; billing can be annual or monthly, and the monthly rate is not shown.
- Enterprise has a 25-mailbox minimum, and deployments above 100,000 mailboxes are quoted.
- Stalwart Enterprise Cloud, the hosted service, is listed as available in 2027, with interest registration only.
- You run and update the server yourself in either edition.
Key features
Modoboa
- Admin panel
- A web panel manages domains, mailboxes, aliases and more.
- Built-in webmail
- Users can read mail in a browser through the bundled webmail, which also has calendars and address books.
- Filters and auto-responder
- Users can create filtering rules and an auto-responder.
- Sender reputation tools
- The site says DKIM, SPF and DMARC are used to protect delivery, and TLS certificates come from Let's Encrypt.
- Monitoring
- Built-in graphs show message distribution by type and average size.
- Quick installer
- The site says the installer handles most of the work and you only need to configure DNS.
Stalwart Mail Server
- Mail and collaboration in one server
- JMAP, IMAP and POP3 for mail, SMTP for delivery, plus calendars, contacts and file storage over CalDAV, CardDAV and WebDAV.
- Built-in spam and phishing filtering
- A statistical classifier, public blocklists, sender reputation and AI-driven analysis run inside the server.
- Sender authentication and transport security
- Handles DKIM, SPF, DMARC and ARC, plus DANE, MTA-STS and TLS reporting, with automatic certificate renewal over ACME.
- Encryption at rest
- Mailboxes can be encrypted with the user's own S/MIME certificate or OpenPGP key.
- Clustering
- Runs as a single node or as a cluster across regions.
- Enterprise multi-tenancy
- The Enterprise edition isolates tenants with their own accounts, domains, quotas and branding, for hosting many customers.
Plans
Modoboa
Free$0
Open-source mail server you install yourself, with unlimited domains, mailboxes and aliases.
Stalwart Mail Server
Community$0
Free AGPL-3.0 edition you host yourself, with the same protocols and core mail features as Enterprise.
Enterprise$2.40
per mailbox / year, billed annually, 25 to 499 mailboxes
Adds multi-tenancy, branding, archiving and telemetry. Rate falls to $2.04 at 500 and $1.74 at 1,000 mailboxes.
Common questions
Which is cheaper, Modoboa or Stalwart Mail Server?
As of Nov 13, 2026, Modoboa is cheaper to start with: it is free, against $0.20 a month when paid by the year for Stalwart Mail Server. Modoboa is free, and Stalwart Mail Server starts at $2.40 per mailbox / year, billed annually (25-mailbox minimum).
Which has a free plan, Modoboa or Stalwart Mail Server?
As of Nov 13, 2026, both Modoboa and Stalwart Mail Server 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.