Software Alternatives & Startups

Modoboa VS Alterable

Compare Modoboa VS Alterable and see what are their differences

Modoboa logo Modoboa

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

Alterable logo Alterable

Real-time, open-time content for email: countdown timers, dynamic images, live product picks, geo-targeted maps, one-click surveys, and scratch-card rewards. No code, no ESP integration, rendered fresh every time someone opens.
Visit Website
  • Modoboa Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-08-05
  • Alterable
    Image date //
    2026-08-29
  • Alterable
    Image date //
    2026-08-29
  • Alterable
    Image date //
    2026-08-29
  • Alterable
    Image date //
    2026-08-29
  • Alterable
    Image date //
    2026-08-29

Alterable adds real-time, open-time content to email campaigns, no coding, no ESP integration, no resends. Every asset is a single image URL that renders fresh the moment a subscriber opens the message, not the moment you hit send.

Countdown timers count down live in the inbox. Choose a fixed deadline for your whole list, an evergreen timer that starts when each subscriber opens, or a per-recipient deadline pulled from a merge tag. Ten visual styles, full color and font control.

Dynamic images show a different visual to every recipient based on location, device, language, weather, temperature, or time of day. A no-code rules builder stacks conditions and maps each combination to its own image variation.

Dynamic products pull live price, stock, and availability at the moment an email opens. Sold-out items hide automatically; low-stock items get a scarcity badge. Sync via CSV, REST API, or a Shopify/BigCommerce connection.

Local maps show each subscriber their nearest store, rendered around their location at open-time. Four map styles, custom markers, and deep links to native navigation apps.

Surveys put a one-click star, number, or emoji rating directly in the email body, no landing page, no login. Results populate a live dashboard as votes arrive.

Scratchers turn a discount into a game: a scratch-card reveal linking to a hosted prize page, with customizable cover art, reveal animations, and (on Pro) multiple weighted prizes.

Every asset works the same way: build it in Alterable's editor, copy one image tag, paste it into any ESP. Because it's just an image, it works in every major email client, no JavaScript or AMP required. Integrates with 50+ platforms including Klaviyo, Mailchimp, HubSpot, Brevo, ActiveCampaign, Constant Contact, GetResponse, AWeber, and Kit.

Also included: 22-language localization, timezone support, real-time analytics, CDN delivery, and REST API access. Free to start, no credit card required.

Alterable

$ Details
freemium
Platforms
Web
Startup details
Country
United States
State
Delaware
City
Claymont
Founder(s)
Matthieu Fauveau, Nicolas Ropiot
Employees
1 - 9

Modoboa features and specs

  • Open Source
    Modoboa is open source, which means it is free to use and can be customized to suit specific needs, making it a cost-effective solution for email hosting.
  • Integration
    It offers seamless integration with many tools and protocols like Postfix, Dovecot, Amavis, and Let's Encrypt, allowing for a comprehensive email system.
  • User-Friendly Interface
    Modoboa provides an intuitive web-based interface that makes it easy for administrators to manage email accounts, domains, and other settings.
  • Mail Security
    It includes security features such as spam filtering and virus protection, enhancing the security of hosted emails.
  • Scalability
    Modoboa is scalable, allowing it to handle small to medium-sized email systems effectively.

Possible disadvantages of Modoboa

  • Installation Complexity
    Setting up Modoboa can be complicated for less experienced users, requiring a good understanding of Linux systems and email protocols.
  • Limited Community Support
    The community around Modoboa is not as large as other open-source projects, which might limit quick access to help and resources.
  • Documentation
    While documentation exists, it might not be as comprehensive or detailed, potentially making troubleshooting more challenging.
  • Resource Intensive
    Modoboa can be resource-heavy, requiring a well-configured server to run optimally, particularly under heavy load.
  • Feature Limitations
    While it covers most essential features for email hosting, some advanced features found in commercial products may be lacking.

Alterable features and specs

  • Countdown Timers
    Live, ticking countdown images embedded in email via a single <img> tag. Re-rendered fresh every time an email is opened.
  • Dynamic Images
    Serves a different image per recipient based on location, device, language, weather, temperature, time of day, or custom rules, rendered at open-time.
  • Dynamic Products
    Product blocks showing live price, stock level, and availability at the moment of open; auto-hides sold-out items, auto-badges low stock.
  • Local Maps
    Geo-targeted map showing each recipient's nearest store or point of interest, rendered at open-time from a CSV-imported location list.
  • Surveys
    One-click star, number, or emoji rating widgets embedded directly in email; no landing page or login required to respond.
  • Scratchers
    Scratch-card-style gamified prize reveal; Alterable hosts the resulting prize page.

Modoboa videos

Mailserver auf Linux vServer (OpenVZ) installieren - Modoboa

More videos:

  • Review - #52 Modoboa - Eigenen Mailserver installieren
  • Tutorial - How To Set Up a Mail Server with Modoboa on Ubuntu 20.04

Alterable videos

No Alterable videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Modoboa and Alterable)
Email
100 100%
0% 0
SaaS
0 0%
100% 100
Self-hosted Email
100 100%
0% 0
Email Marketing
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Modoboa and Alterable.

What makes your product unique?

Alterable's answer:

Most tools in this space (NiftyImages, Sendtric, MotionMail, CountdownMail) do one thing well, usually just countdown timers. Alterable is a single platform for six distinct open-time content types, timers, dynamic images, live product data, geo-targeted maps, surveys, and scratch-card rewards, all rendered the same way: one image tag, no ESP integration, no JavaScript.

That "just an image" approach is also what makes it universal: it works in every major email client without exception, since there's nothing for Outlook or Gmail to selectively support or block.

The rules engine is shared across all six content types too. The same conditions (location, weather, device, time of day, stock level) that pick a dynamic image can pick a product, a map location, or a timer variant, so teams build a targeting logic once and reuse it everywhere instead of learning a separate tool per feature.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

Alterable's answer:

Against single-purpose timer tools (Sendtric, CountdownMail, MotionMail, CountingDownTo): those platforms do one thing, a countdown widget. Alterable includes countdown timers plus dynamic images, live product data, geo-targeted maps, surveys, and scratch cards, on one account, with one shared rules engine. If a team outgrows "just a timer," there's no second tool to adopt.

Against broader personalization platforms (NiftyImages, Movable Ink): Alterable is free to start with no credit card, and every asset is a plain image tag rather than requiring a native ESP integration or account connection. That keeps setup to minutes and means it works identically across Klaviyo, Mailchimp, HubSpot, GetResponse, or any of 50+ platforms, with no per-ESP configuration to maintain.

Because it's "just an image": there's no JavaScript, no AMP, no interactive-email fallback logic to write or test. It renders the same way in Outlook as it does in Gmail, which is where more elaborate interactive approaches usually break first.

User comments

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Reviews

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

Modoboa Reviews

15 Best iRedMail Alternatives 2021
You don’t have to worry about data security because Modoboa routes your mail services through secure server connections and certificates like POP3, SMTP, IMAP, TLS, and SSL. With Modoboa’s easy-to-use administration dashboard, you can manage all your mail accounts, aliases, and domains.
15 Best Email Hosting for Small Business (2019)
Modoboa is a free and open source email hosting and management platform that support SMTP, IMAP/POP. It is written in Python and released under ISC license.
3 Awesome Complete Open Source Mail Servers Solutions For Linux and UNIX servers
Modoboa is a mail hosting and management platform including a modern and simplified Web User Interface. It provides useful components such as an administration panel or a webmail. Modoboa integrates with well known software such as Postfix or Dovecot. A SQL database (MySQL, PostgreSQL or SQLite) is used as a central point of communication between all components. It is...

Alterable Reviews

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

Based on our record, Modoboa seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 7 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.

Modoboa mentions (7)

  • Ask HN: Are you aware of a sane path to selfhosted email server?
    I own domain names, but I'm not smart or techie enough to do it myself. I found Modoboa: https://modoboa.org/en/ and when I finally do it and if they are still around, I'll probably go with them. HTH. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • I don't know how I feel about email
    Setting it up from scratch is extremely annoying but there are foss solutions which manages everything mentioned and more, you only need to install & add the specified DNS records. Modoboa does a great job at this: https://modoboa.org/en/ > Also apparently there's no real way to migrate between email servers either This seems false (unless I'm misunderstanding), you can just setup a second mailserver, change DNS... - Source: Hacker News / about 3 years ago
  • Modoboa Failed
    I did ask over the Form on their website. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Alternative to free Yandex Email Hosting
    Or an open source mail server like https://modoboa.org/en/. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Just finished migrating my old tower servers to a Kubernetes cluster on my new rack!
    For receiving email, I use Modoboa, but I am planning on moving the backend to Docker Mailserver. I usually reply with a Gmail address though. Until I get the email server configured to send emails through something like Sendgrid. Source: over 3 years ago
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Alterable mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Alterable yet. Tracking of Alterable recommendations started around Feb 2022.

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Modoboa and Alterable, you can also consider the following products

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.

NiftyImages - NiftyImages is a tool to engage clients with personalized images and countdown timers for email.

mailcow - An open source mailserver suite.

OpenAlternative - Discover Open Source Alternatives to Popular Software

Postfix Admin - Postfix Admin is a web based interface used to manage mailboxes, virtual domains and aliases.

Movable Ink - Agile Email Marketing