Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Dovecot VS Mailu

Compare Dovecot VS Mailu and see what are their differences

Dovecot logo Dovecot

Dovecot is an open source IMAP and POP3 email server for Linux/UNIX-like systems, written with...

Mailu logo Mailu

Mailu is a simple yet full-featured mail server as a set of Docker images.
  • Dovecot Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-01-29
Not present

Dovecot features and specs

  • High Performance
    Dovecot is designed to handle a large number of concurrent connections efficiently, making it suitable for enterprise-level email systems.
  • Robust Security Features
    It includes strong security features such as SSL/TLS support, secure password storage mechanisms, and support for various authentication protocols.
  • Easy Configuration
    Dovecot offers a straightforward configuration with comprehensible documentation, making it easier for administrators to set up and maintain.
  • Extensive Protocol Support
    It supports a variety of email protocols, including IMAP, POP3, and managesieve, providing flexibility in email client compatibility.
  • Active Community and Regular Updates
    Dovecot has an active development community that provides continuous improvements, bug fixes, and security updates.

Possible disadvantages of Dovecot

  • Complex Advanced Configuration
    While basic setup is straightforward, advanced configurations can become complex, requiring detailed understanding of Dovecot’s architecture.
  • Resource Intensive
    For very high email loads, Dovecot can become resource-intensive, necessitating more powerful server hardware.
  • Limited Web-based Management Tools
    Compared to some commercial email servers, Dovecot lacks an integrated web-based management interface, which could complicate management for some users.
  • Dependence on External Programs
    For complete email service functionality, Dovecot often requires integration with other external programs, such as Postfix for SMTP, which might demand additional configuration and maintenance.

Mailu features and specs

  • Open Source
    Mailu is an open-source software, which means it is free to use and its source code is available for users to review, modify, and improve.
  • Lightweight
    Designed to be lightweight with minimal resources requirements, making it suitable for small to medium installations on limited hardware.
  • Modularity
    Its modular architecture allows users to enable or disable components based on their specific needs.
  • Docker-based Deployment
    Mailu uses Docker containers for deployment, simplifying the installation and maintenance process, and providing consistent environment management.
  • Self-hosting Support
    Mailu supports self-hosting, giving users complete control over their email server and data, enhancing security and privacy.

Possible disadvantages of Mailu

  • Complex Configuration
    The setup can be complex for users without Docker experience or familiarity with mail server administration.
  • Limited Out-of-the-box Features
    Compared to some commercial solutions, Mailu may lack advanced features or integrations that are available with enterprise-grade email services.
  • Community Support
    Being a community-driven project, support is primarily available through forums and community channels, which might not be as responsive as professional support services.
  • Scalability
    The lightweight design, while an advantage in small setups, might present scalability challenges for very large deployments without careful resource management.
  • Updates and Bug Fixes
    As an open-source project, timely updates and bug fixes may sometimes be dependent on community contributions and interest.

Dovecot videos

Barbara Rae Exhibition at Dovecot Studios

Mailu videos

From zero to full mail server in 20 minutes with Mailu Docker images!

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Dovecot and Mailu)
SMTP Server
56 56%
44% 44
Email
31 31%
69% 69
Self-hosted Email
24 24%
76% 76
Email Service Provider
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Dovecot and Mailu

Dovecot Reviews

We have no reviews of Dovecot yet.
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Mailu Reviews

20+ Options for hosting our own mail server
Mailu To be frank, this one I liked very much. It can be easy as to run 3 to 5 commands if you docker and docker-compose installed already. As you might have noticed, above link to mailu itself is pointing to the docs. Go get it. Github issues is a best place, if you are stuck at something Mailu Issues. From my personal experience and as per docs, atleast 2GB of RAM is...
Source: dev.to

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Mailu seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 6 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Dovecot mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Dovecot yet. Tracking of Dovecot recommendations started around Mar 2021.

Mailu mentions (6)

  • Email Hosting for 100+ mailboxes with 200GB storage
    Self hosted: I use https://mailu.io/2.0/ and it's awesome because it's easy to install and back up, it's lightweight and has all the features I need in a self hosted email solution. I don't send emails directly from my server though because of deliverability issues. Instead I use https://www.zoho.com/zeptomail/ as SMTP relay in Mailu to send emails so I never have to worry about deliverability. Mailu is free and... Source: over 1 year ago
  • Domains and Email hosting
    I just used Mailu[https://mailu.io/2.0/] to setup my email server last week for my domain configured with cloudflare too. It took a while, but I was able to configure it successfully. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • should i get 1 or 2 Homeservers
    I thought about using this docker container for email https://mailu.io/2.0/ , I think most of the work is already done there. Source: about 2 years ago
  • How to create my own SMTP Server with my own domain?
    You can use Mailu it's a FOSS and it's pretty much straightforward because it runs on docker. Source: about 2 years ago
  • Maddy: Composable all-in-one mail server
    I see no one has mentioned Mailu (https://mailu.io/1.7/). It’s a self hosted mail server made up of a couple docker images. I would recommend it based on my use and experience. I’ve been using it for my personal email and for automated no-reply messages in a few projects with no delivery issues. It handles spam with rspamd, sets you up with DMARC, DKIM, has an admin interface, web mail interface. - Source: Hacker News / almost 4 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Dovecot and Mailu, you can also consider the following products

iRedMail - A fully fledged, free email server solution, an open source project (GPL v2).

mailcow - An open source mailserver suite.

Postfix - Postfix is a mail transfer agent (MTA) that routes and delivers electronic mail.

Mail-in-a-box - Mail-in-a-Box provides webmail and an IMAP/SMTP server for use with mobile devices and desktop mail software and also includes contacts and calendar synchronization.

Zimbra - Zimbra is trusted by over 500 million users to increase productivity with a complete set of collaboration tools while maintaining total control over security and privacy.

Modoboa - Modoboa is a mail hosting and management platform including a modern and simplified Web User Interface.