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Stalw vs Google Workspace

Stalw lands on Depends, and Google Workspace lands on Worth it.

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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Stalw versus Google Workspace
CompareStalwGoogle Workspace
VerdictDependsWorth it
Best forSelf-hostersSmall businesses and solo founders
Who it's not forNon-technical teams without a sysadminOrgs already standardized on Microsoft 365
PrivacyKnown 2026 denial-of-service vulnerabilities; advisories disclosed openly and a public security page exists.⁷Platform security is strong; public findings center on misconfiguration, phishing/OAuth abuse, and third-party tools . not core Workspace CVEs.
Support qualityNo evidence reviewedTrustpilot 1.3/5; 'ghost company' complaints
Public sentimentSelf-hosting communities praise it warmly, but large-scale review data is essentially absent.10Users rate the tools highly but consistently knock the support experience.16
Biggest gotchaGuess: email migration and IP reputation take weeks; plan deliverability warm-up.12Existing customers reported 29% price increases . budget for hikes at renewal.

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 Google Workspace when

  • Small businesses and solo founders
  • Docs-heavy collaborative teams
  • Startups (discounted via Google for Startups)
  • Nonprofits and schools

When Google Workspace is not a fit

  • Orgs already standardized on Microsoft 365
  • Buyers who need hands-on support without paying extra
  • Solo users who just need custom email . a cheap host is enough
  • Privacy-first teams avoiding Google's ecosystem

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. Google Workspace official siteworkspace.google.com
    official
  15. Google Workspace pricing pageworkspace.google.com
    official
  16. Gartner Peer Insights reviewsgartner.com
    review