Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Squirrelmail VS iRedMail

Compare Squirrelmail VS iRedMail and see what are their differences

Squirrelmail logo Squirrelmail

SquirrelMail is a standards-based webmail package written in PHP.

iRedMail logo iRedMail

A fully fledged, free email server solution, an open source project (GPL v2).
  • Squirrelmail Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-23
  • iRedMail Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-10-18

Squirrelmail features and specs

  • Lightweight
    SquirrelMail is extremely lightweight, making it suitable for small server environments and users with limited resources.
  • Compatibility
    The platform is compatible with any IMAP server and supports a range of popular email features, ensuring broad accessibility.
  • Security
    SquirrelMail focuses on security, providing a robust email environment with minimal vulnerabilities.
  • Simplistic Interface
    The straightforward, no-frills interface makes it easy for users to get accustomed to the platform without a steep learning curve.
  • Open Source
    Being open-source, it allows users and developers to modify and customize the software as needed, promoting a collaborative development environment.

Possible disadvantages of Squirrelmail

  • Outdated Appearance
    The user interface of SquirrelMail appears dated compared to modern webmail clients, which may be unappealing to users accustomed to more contemporary designs.
  • Limited Features
    While it covers basic email functionalities, SquirrelMail lacks many advanced features offered by other webmail clients, such as integrated calendars and task management.
  • Maintenance
    SquirrelMail's development has slowed down over the years, and it may not receive frequent updates or new features, potentially impacting long-term usability.
  • Customization Complexity
    Although it is open source, customizing SquirrelMail requires substantial technical knowledge, making it challenging for users without programming expertise.
  • No Built-in Mobile Support
    The platform lacks a native mobile interface, requiring additional steps or third-party solutions for satisfactory mobile device compatibility.

iRedMail features and specs

  • Open Source
    iRedMail is open source, which means it is free to use and its source code is available for anyone to inspect, modify, and enhance.
  • Comprehensive Features
    Includes a wide range of features such as anti-spam, anti-virus, webmail, and support for multiple domains and mailboxes, providing a complete email server solution.
  • Easy Installation
    Offers a straightforward installation process with a well-documented guide, making it accessible even for users with limited server management experience.
  • Excellent Documentation
    Comes with thorough and clear documentation that helps users set up, configure, and troubleshoot the mail server.
  • Strong Community Support
    An active community and forum that can provide support and assist with common issues and best practices.
  • Security Features
    Integrates robust security features, including SPF, DKIM, DMARC, and SSL/TLS, helping to protect against email spoofing and ensuring email privacy.

Possible disadvantages of iRedMail

  • Resource Intensive
    Can be resource-intensive, requiring significant server resources, which might not be ideal for small-scale deployments or low-power servers.
  • Learning Curve
    The complexity of the mail server can present a steep learning curve for new users, especially those unfamiliar with email server configurations.
  • Limited GUI Options
    While it includes a basic web interface, advanced configuration and management typically require command-line proficiency, which can be challenging for non-technical users.
  • Manual Upgrades
    Requires manual interventions for upgrades and updates, which can be time-consuming and risk potential downtimes if not handled correctly.
  • Support Costs
    While the software itself is free, businesses might need to invest in professional support for complex configurations or troubleshooting, which can incur additional costs.
  • Potential Compatibility Issues
    Compatibility with certain third-party software or custom configurations might require additional tweaks, posing potential challenges during integration.

Analysis of iRedMail

Overall verdict

  • iRedMail is considered a good and reliable choice for those needing a robust mail server solution. It offers excellent value for small to medium-sized businesses or individuals who need an open-source alternative. Its comprehensive features and active community support make it highly effective for managing email services at a low cost.

Why this product is good

  • iRedMail is a popular open-source mail server solution due to its comprehensive feature set, ease of installation, and strong community support. It integrates seamlessly with major Linux distributions and offers a wide range of features including anti-spam, webmail, and SSL encryption. Its all-in-one nature helps simplify the deployment and maintenance of a full-featured mail server.

Recommended for

    iRedMail is recommended for small to medium-sized businesses, educational institutions, and tech-savvy individuals seeking a cost-effective, fully-featured mail server solution. It's ideal for users who want control over their email infrastructure and prefer open-source software options.

Squirrelmail videos

How to Setup a Complete Mail Server Postfix using 'SquirrelMail' Webmail on Ubuntu/Debian

More videos:

  • Tutorial - SquirrelMail Tutorial Series - 6 of 12 - How to manage your address book

iRedMail videos

Part 1: iRedMail

More videos:

  • Tutorial - Complete Email Server iRedMail Installation Tutorial

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Squirrelmail and iRedMail)
Email
17 17%
83% 83
Enterprise Communication
100 100%
0% 0
SMTP Server
0 0%
100% 100
Self-hosted Email
18 18%
82% 82

User comments

Share your experience with using Squirrelmail and iRedMail. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

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

Squirrelmail Reviews

Top 15 Self-hosted open-source free web-based email clients
SquirrelMail supports IMAP and SMTP protocols, and does not require JavaScript to render HTML pages or HTML message. It also supports mail attachments, MIME, spam messages filter, messages highlighting, address books, and offers folders support.
Source: medevel.com
5 open source webmail clients for browser-based email
I used to use Squirrelmail, and then moved on to Roundcube. The problem I've had with these has mainly been that it uses the old folder paradigm (thus also requiring an external system for filtering rules). Sieve scripts are fine for neckbeards but definitely not the sort of experience that most users are going to want. I've not really seen anything yet that uses labels &...
Source: opensource.com

iRedMail Reviews

10 Microsoft Exchange Server Alternatives
iRedMail is a free email server solution that is a fully-fledged and open source project. This platform can use the official binary package from the distributions of Linux/BSD, having the support of both i386 and x86/64. It is easy to use with a fast deployment process in almost less than one minute. iRedMail allows the user to work on both virtualized and non-virtualized...
15 Best iRedMail Alternatives 2021
You might want a service that offers better security and protections, more features, or faster processes than what iRedMail provides. Hence, it’s important to consider other options out there that can competently replace iRedMail.
The BEST Email Hosting Providers for Small Business in 2021
There are three products offered by iRedmail. The first one is the iRedMail downloadable installer. To start with iRedMail you need to download the installer package, and after installation, you need to set up DNS records for your iRedMail server. After you have done these two steps, you will need to upgrade with additional installations. The second one is iRedMail Easy....
15 Best Email Hosting for Small Business (2019)
iRedMail is an open source mail server since 2007. It works on most Linux/BSD distributions. It offer paid version ($499/year) with professional support.

Social recommendations and mentions

Squirrelmail might be a bit more popular than iRedMail. We know about 4 links to it since March 2021 and only 3 links to iRedMail. 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.

Squirrelmail mentions (4)

  • Meet PostPilot
    Have a local mail server be part of your development environment, along with a frontend like SquirrelMail or RainLoop. - Source: dev.to / 7 months ago
  • Selfhosted Email by Maddy on Oracle Cloud
    It was removed from Debian in 2016. But there seems to be some recent activity: , . - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Goodbye HTML Gmail
    > I wonder what is the best self-hosted alternative is. For a webmail client probably [SquirrelMail](https://squirrelmail.org/). It's over 2 decades old, still maintained, and kept to its original simplicity. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Is there a way to receive emails on old computers?
    That would not be too hard and only requires a few lines of code to create a TLS proxy. An alternative would be a webmail system if you have a web browser on your old computer. Squirrel mail is extremely basic and is likely going to work in old browsers as long as they support framesets. Source: about 4 years ago

iRedMail mentions (3)

  • Ask HN: Custom domain for personal email – yay or nay?
    Yay! I use the free version of iRedMail [0] under OpenBSD since 2017 and every email I send gets through with any issues (except the first days when I screwed up my SPF/DKIM configuration). [0] https://iredmail.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Selfhosted backup solution for iCloud Backup
    For photo I use Immich. For contact and calendar I use my own mail server (iRedMail). For Cloud I have my own nextcloud server. With nextcloud you can sync contact and calendar of uou don't have a mail server likes iRedMail. Source: almost 2 years ago
  • I am highly excited and overjoyed to share this post.
    I used to spend all my time maintaining e-mail quirks for my server. Adjust this, updated that, fix this breakage, yada yada. But then I decided to setup iRedMail which uses postfix, dovecot, certbot, roundcube, spamassasin, mariadb, ldap and all the bells and whistles. All I have to do now is make sure I don’t break it doing any software upgrades on freebsd. 10/10 scores after configuring and blacklist free. Source: about 3 years ago

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Squirrelmail and iRedMail, you can also consider the following products

Roundcube - Web-based IMAP email client

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.

Rainloop - RainLoop is a web based email client.

mailcow - An open source mailserver suite.

Mailpile - Mailpile is a modern, fast web-mail client with user-friendly encryption and privacy features.

Horde - Horde Groupware is a free, enterprise ready, browser based collaboration suite.