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Mail-in-a-box VS qmail

Compare Mail-in-a-box VS qmail and see what are their differences

MailReach.co
The #1 email warming service to improve your deliverability by generating realistic and meaningful engagement to your emails. Easy-to-use solution to help you land in the main inbox instead of the spam folder. featured
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Mail-in-a-box logo 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.

qmail logo qmail

qmail is the name of an advanced level of mail transfer agent for the UNIX based operating systems.
  • Mail-in-a-box Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-04-21
  • qmail Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-14

Mail-in-a-box features and specs

  • Ease of Setup
    Mail-in-a-Box provides a simplified setup process with comprehensive documentation, making it accessible even for users with limited technical knowledge.
  • Full Control
    Running your own mail server gives you full control over your email, including data privacy, security, and customization options.
  • Cost-effective
    By using Mail-in-a-Box, you can avoid subscription fees associated with commercial email services, reducing long-term costs.
  • Open Source
    Mail-in-a-Box is open-source software, which means you can audit the code, contribute to the project, and ensure there are no backdoors.
  • Additional Features
    Mail-in-a-Box offers more than just email; it can also set up DNS, backups, spam filtering, and other useful features.

Possible disadvantages of Mail-in-a-box

  • Maintenance
    Running your own mail server requires ongoing maintenance, including software updates, hardware monitoring, and troubleshooting.
  • Security Risks
    Improperly configured mail servers can be susceptible to security vulnerabilities, such as hacking, spam, and data breaches.
  • Technical Knowledge
    Although the setup process is simplified, users still need a basic understanding of Linux systems, DNS, and email protocols.
  • Reliability
    Your email availability is dependent on the reliability of your server hardware and network connection, which may not match the uptime of commercial mail providers.
  • Scalability
    Mail-in-a-Box may not be suitable for very large organizations or high-volume email needs, as it is designed for small to medium-sized deployments.

qmail features and specs

  • Security
    qmail was designed with security in mind, and its architecture has been praised for its robust security features. It avoids common vulnerabilities found in other mail transfer agents by running most of its components as non-root, thus minimizing the risk of privilege escalation.
  • Performance
    qmail is known for its high performance and efficiency. It uses a modular design that allows it to handle large volumes of email with relatively low resource consumption.
  • Reliability
    qmail's design prioritizes reliability. It is built to work in a predictable, stable manner, making it a trusted solution for handling mail.
  • Modular Design
    qmail is composed of modular components, which makes it easier to troubleshoot and manage individual parts of the system without affecting the entire service.
  • Maildir Support
    qmail natively supports Maildir, which is a more efficient and safer storage format compared to mbox, as it stores each message as a separate file, helping to prevent corruption issues.

Possible disadvantages of qmail

  • Lack of Recent Updates
    qmail has not been actively maintained for many years, leading to concerns about missing out on modern features and improvements.
  • Complex Configuration
    The configuration and management of qmail can be complex compared to other modern mail transfer agents, which can make it challenging for new users to set up and maintain.
  • Limited Features
    qmail lacks many features that are now standard in other MTAs, such as built-in spam filtering and IPv6 support. Some functionalities require external patches or add-ons to implement.
  • Licensing Restrictions
    The software's licensing under the terms of the qmail license restricts modification and redistribution, which might be a concern for some users who want to customize or distribute modified versions.
  • Community Support
    Because qmail is no longer actively developed, the community support and documentation can be lacking compared to more widely adopted and actively maintained alternatives.

Analysis of Mail-in-a-box

Overall verdict

  • Mail-in-a-Box is a solid choice for individuals and small organizations looking to run their own email server with minimal hassle. However, it may not have the same level of advanced features or customization options found in more complex solutions, which can be a limitation for demanding or large scale use cases.

Why this product is good

  • Mail-in-a-Box (Mail-in-a-Box) is often lauded for its simplicity and comprehensive documentation, which make setting up a personal mail server accessible even for those with minimal technical expertise. It provides a full suite of email features such as IMAP, SMTP, spam filtering, and webmail access without requiring in-depth server management knowledge.

Recommended for

    Mail-in-a-Box is recommended for privacy-conscious individuals, small businesses, and hobbyists looking to maintain control over their own email server without the need for extensive technical resources or a steep learning curve.

Mail-in-a-box videos

+ Add

Setup and Install your Email server easily with this Free, Open Source Option - Mail-In-A-Box.

More videos:

  • Review - Mail-in-a-Box Setup Guide (v0.16 - January 2016)
  • Review - Setting up your own mail server with Mail-In-A-Box

qmail videos

+ Add

QmailAgent - A Mailroom Center for Your Private Cloud

More videos:

  • Review - QNAP QmailAgent - A mailroom center for your private cloud (EN)

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Mail-in-a-box and qmail)

Mail-in-a-box

qmail

Email
89 89%
Email
11% 11
Self-hosted Email
88 88%
Self-hosted Email
12% 12
SMTP Server
0 0%
SMTP Server
100% 100
Email Clients
100 100%
Email Clients
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Mail-in-a-box and qmail

Mail-in-a-box Reviews

15 Best Email Hosting for Small Business (2019)
Mail-in-a-Box is an open source software bundle that make it easy to turn a cloud server into your own email server for multiple domains.
Source: blog.runcloud.io

qmail Reviews

We have no reviews of qmail yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Mail-in-a-box seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 122 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.

Mail-in-a-box mentions (122)

  • Mox – modern, secure, all-in-one email server
    - You have to search for old emails through RoundCube's byzantine UI (and eventually giving up) [1] https://mailinabox.email/. - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Purelymail: Cheap Email for Everyone
    I looked into Purelymail when searching around for good email solution. Google Workspace was getting a bit costly and there were too many things I did not need. Zoho Mail provides another option - $1.95 per month I think for my use where I am (AU) and has all the features I need for my small indie business. One other option I tried was to actually run mail myself with Linode VPS - https://mailinabox.email/ I know... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Purelymail: Cheap Email for Everyone
    I installed Mailinabox [1] four years ago. There was one annoying upgrade, whose process needs to improved, but outside of that haven't touched anything. Only a couple of random domains where email delivery has failed. Otherwise, it just works for all the big providers. [1] https://mailinabox.email/. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Purelymail: Cheap Email for Everyone
    Very honest Landing Page. If anyone is interested in self hosting their own emails, I have found mailinabox to be a useful start: https://mailinabox.email/. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Tmpmail: Temporary email right from your terminal written in POSIX sh
    Sorry for the late reply. I've heard good things about Mail-in-a-Box[0], but haven't used it myself (although I have/do use(d) a bunch of the servers/tools amalgamated into the product). The setup guide[1][2] also gives a good overview of implementation requirements. Have fun! [0] https://mailinabox.email/ [1] https://mailinabox.email/guide.html [2] Annoyingly, the setup guide wants to you 'curl setup.sh | bash'.... - Source: Hacker News / 10 months ago
View more

qmail mentions (0)

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

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Mail-in-a-box and qmail, you can also consider the following products

mailcow - An open source mailserver suite.

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

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

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

Mailu - Mailu is a simple yet full-featured mail server as a set of Docker images.

ProtonMail - Secure email with absolutely no compromises. Get your free encrypted email account today.

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