Postal
Run your own mail server, properly — MIT, and complete.
94
sovereigntyPostal is a full self-hosted mail platform: sending, receiving, bounce handling, click and open tracking, DKIM signing and a web interface — the parts you would otherwise assemble from Postfix, OpenDKIM and a database. MIT, around 17k stars. It is the only option here where addresses never leave your infrastructure, which for GDPR-sensitive senders is not a preference but a requirement. The honest warning: running a mail server well is a real discipline, and reputation is unforgiving of mistakes.
OPEN SOURCEMITSELF-HOSTLOCAL-FIRST
LicenseMIT
PricingFree and open source. You supply the server and the IP reputation.
Open sourceYes
Self-hostableYes
Local-first dataYes
What it does well
- +MIT with no enterprise carve-out
- +Recipient addresses never leave your infrastructure
- +Full platform — sending, receiving, bounces, tracking, DKIM
- +No per-email cost at any volume
Where it falls short
- −You own IP reputation, and warming takes weeks of care
- −Running mail well is a genuine specialism
- −Blocklists are unforgiving of configuration mistakes
- −No shared warmed pool to fall back on
Postal as an alternative to
Where Postal shows up in our comparisons, and how it ranked.
Postal head-to-head
Straight comparisons against the tools people weigh it against.