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Stalw vs Mailcow

Stalw and Mailcow both land on Depends.

Stalw

stalw.art

Depends
Confidence: Medium

Strong fit if you have ops skills and want a free, all-in-one self-hosted mail stack.

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Mailcow

mailcow.email

Depends
Confidence: Medium

Buy if you're a self-hoster or small org that wants mail sovereignty, can run Docker, and will patch regularly.

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Stalw versus Mailcow
CompareStalwMailcow
VerdictDependsDepends
Best forSelf-hostersSelf-hosters and homelab users
Who it's not forNon-technical teams without a sysadminTeams with no Linux/Docker admin capacity
PrivacyKnown 2026 denial-of-service vulnerabilities; advisories disclosed openly and a public security page exists.⁷Pattern of CVEs 2024-2026 including RCE, SSTI, XSS, and auth bypass; fine if patched fast, risky if neglected.
Support qualityNo evidence reviewedCommunity forum and docs only; quality unverified
Public sentimentSelf-hosting communities praise it warmly, but large-scale review data is essentially absent.10Users praise its completeness but warn it is resource-hungry and overkill for simple needs.15
Biggest gotchaGuess: email migration and IP reputation take weeks; plan deliverability warm-up.12"Free" isn't free: expect $170-400/yr VPS plus hours of admin time16

Pick Stalw when

  • Self-hosters
  • Privacy-focused small orgs
  • Teams replacing hosted Gmail with owned infra
  • Open-source-first shops

When Stalw is not a fit

  • Non-technical teams without a sysadmin
  • Anyone wanting hosted Gmail simplicity
  • Businesses that can't manage IP reputation and deliverability
  • One-person shops that just need working email

Pick Mailcow when

  • Self-hosters and homelab users
  • Privacy- and sovereignty-focused small orgs
  • Admins comfortable with Docker
  • Teams escaping Google Workspace

When Mailcow is not a fit

  • Teams with no Linux/Docker admin capacity
  • Businesses where email downtime is unacceptable
  • Solo users who just need an inbox
  • Anyone unwilling to manage IP reputation and patching

Sources

  1. Stalwart Mail & Collaboration Serverstalw.art
    official
  2. Pricing | Stalwart Labsstalw.art
    official
  3. Compare editions | Stalwart Labsstalw.art
    official
  4. Product security pagestalw.art
    official
  5. stalwartlabs/stalwart on GitHubgithub.com
    official
  6. Deploy & Host Stalwart Mail Server . Railwayrailway.com
    official
  7. Out-of-Memory Denial of Service advisory (GHSA-jm95-876q-c9gw)github.com
    security
  8. CVE-2026-26312 . stalw / stalwartopencve.alliance.unm.edu
    security
  9. Vulnerability report for Stalwart Binarysupport.stalw.art
    security
  10. Just a shout-out to self-hosting email server StalWartreddit.com
    review
  11. Calendars, Contacts and Files in Stalwartnews.ycombinator.com
    review
  12. Mailcow vs Postal vs Stalwart: Which Self-Hosted Emailmailflowauthority.com
    review
  13. r/stalwartlabsreddit.com
    review
  14. Do you run MailCow now? : r/selfhostedreddit.com
    review
  15. selfhosted mailservers: mailcow, mailinabox, mailureddit.com
    review
  16. Mailcow TCO vs $49 Managed (2026)justemails.app
    news