Mail in a box Mailinabox by mail-in-a-box
Mail-in-a-Box helps individuals take back control of their email by defining a one-click, easy-to-deploy SMTP+everything else server: a mail server in a box.
About Mail in a box Mailinabox
From the project's README at github.com/mail-in-a-box/mailinabox. Lightly cleaned for readability; for the full source see the upstream repo.
Mail-in-a-Box helps individuals take back control of their email by defining a one-click, easy-to-deploy SMTP+everything else server: a mail server in a box.
Please see https://mailinabox.email for the project's website and setup guide!
Make deploying a good mail server easy. Promote decentralization, innovation, and privacy on the web. Have automated, auditable, and idempotent configuration. Not make a totally unhackable, NSA-proof server. Not make something customizable by power users.
Additionally, this project has a Code of Conduct, which supersedes the goals above. Please review it when joining our community.
Health score breakdown
6-dimension composite. See methodology for formula and weights.
Adoption signals
Real-world usage data, pulled from each registry. The bigger the numbers, the more battle-tested the project.
| Signal | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | 15k | github.com/mail-in-a-box/mailinabox |
| GitHub forks | 1.5k | github.com/mail-in-a-box/mailinabox |
Release & maintenance
Is this project actively maintained, or about to die? Check the recency of last commit and last release.
| Project age | 12.7 years | since Aug 2013 |
| Last commit | 16 days ago | Apr 21, 2026 |
| Releases shipped | 37 | last: 16 days ago |
| Security policy | SECURITY.md | declared by maintainers |
Self-hosting cost across providers
Detected requirements: 4GB RAM, 40GB disk minimum. Cheapest plan per provider that meets the requirement.
| Provider | Plan | Specs | Monthly | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| hetzner | CAX11 | 2c · 4GB · 40GB | $4.13 USD | Deploy → |
| vultr | VC2 | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $5 USD | Deploy → |
| linode | Nanode 1GB | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $5.12 USD | Deploy → |
| digitalocean | Basic Regular 1GB | 1c · 1GB · 25GB | $6 USD | Deploy → |
What people say on Hacker News
Ready to self-host Mail in a box Mailinabox?
Spin up a hetzner CAX11 (4GB RAM, 40GB disk) for $4.13/mo and follow the project's official install docs.
Data last refreshed May 7, 2026.
Similar open-source projects
Projects in our directory that replace the same SaaS or share topics with Mail in a box Mailinabox.