Comparison of mail servers

Last updated

The comparison of mail servers covers mail transfer agents (MTAs), mail delivery agents, and other computer software that provide e-mail services.

Contents

Unix-based mail servers are built using a number of components because a Unix-style environment is, by default, a toolbox [1] operating system. A stock Unix-like server already has internal mail; more traditional ones also come with a full MTA already part of the standard installation. To allow the server to send external emails, an MTA such as Sendmail, Postfix, or Exim is required. Mail is read either through direct access (shell login) or mailbox protocols like POP and IMAP. Unix-based MTA software largely acts to enhance or replace the respective system's native MTA.

Microsoft Windows servers do not natively implement e-mail, thus Windows-based MTAs have to supply all the necessary aspects of e-mail-related functionality.

Feature comparison

OS supportProtocol supportFeaturesStorage License
Mail server Linux/Unix Windows macOS SMTP POP3 IMAP JMAP IDLE SMTPS POP3S IPv6 SSL DANE Webmail ActiveSync Sieve IDN/UTF8 Database File-based
agorum core YesYesNoYesNoYesNoNoNoNoNoYesNoYesNoNo ?YesNo GPLv2
Apache James YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes ?Yes ?NoNoYes ?YesYes ASLv2
Axigen YesYesNoYesYesYes ?YesYesYesYesYes ?Ajax, Basic & MobileYesYesYesEmbedded, Optimized for Email & GroupwareYes Proprietary (free version: 5 domains, 5 users, 5 groups)
Citadel YesNoYesYesYesYes ?NoYesYesYesYes ?YesNoYes ?YesNo GPLv3
CommuniGate Pro YesYesYesYesYesYes ?YesYesYesYesYes ?YesYes ?YesYesYes Proprietary (Free for up to 5 users)
Courier Mail Server YesNoYesYesYesYes ?YesYesYesYesYesNoYesNo maildrop YesNo maildir GPLv3+ [2]
Cyrus IMAP YesNoYesNoYesYesYesYesNoYesYesYesNoNoNoYesNo [3] Indexes onlyYes BSD 4-clause [4]
DBMailYesNoYesNoYesYesNoYesNoYesYesYesNoNoNoNoYesYesNo GPLv2
Dovecot Yes [5] NoYesYes [6] YesYesNoYesYesYesYesYesNoNoNoYesNoYes maildir, mbox, dbox, mdbox, obox [7] Mixed: MIT and LGPL-2.1 [8]
Eudora Internet Mail Server NoNoYesYesYesYes ? ?NoNo ?No ?NoNo ? ?NoNo Proprietary
Exim YesYes (via Cygwin)YesYesNoNo ?NoYesNoYesYesYes [9] NoNoYesYesYesYes GPLv2+ [10]
FirstClass YesYesYesYesYesYes ? ?YesYes ?Yes ?YesYes ? ?YesYes Proprietary
Gordano Messaging Suite YesYesNoYesYesYes ?YesYesYes ?Yes ?YesYesNo ?YesYes Proprietary
GroupWise YesYesNoYesYesYes ? ?YesYes ?Yes ?YesYes ? ?YesNo Proprietary
HalonYesNoNoYesNoNo ?NoYesNoYesYesYes [11] NoNo ?YesYesYes Proprietary
Haraka YesYesYesYesNoNo ?NoYesNoYesYes ?NoNo ?YesYesYes MIT
hMailServer NoYesNoYesYesYes ?YesYesYesYesYes ?YesNo ?NoYesYes GNU AGPL
HCL Domino YesYesNoYesYesYesNoNoYesYesYesYesNoYesYes [12] NoYesYesNo Proprietary
IceWarp Mail Server YesYesYesYesYesYes ?YesYesYesYesYesNoYesYesNo ?YesYes Proprietary
Ipswitch IMail Server NoYesNoYesYesYes ?Yes (since v12.2) [13] YesYes ?Yes ?YesYes ? ?NoYes Proprietary
Kerio Connect YesYesYesYesYesYes ?YesYesYesYesYes ?YesYesYes ?NoYes Proprietary
Kolab YesNoNoYesYesYes ?YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYes ?YesYes GPLv3
Kopano YesNoNopostfix, etc. [14] YesYesNoYespostfixYesYesYespostfixYesz-pushNoYesSQLYes AGPLv3, paid [15]
KumoMTAYesNoNoYesNoNo ?NoYesNoYesYesYesNoNo Lua YesYesYes ASLv2
Mailsite NoYesNoYesYesYes ? ?YesYes ?Yes ?YesYesYes ?YesYes Proprietary
MailtraqNoYesNoYesYesYes ?YesYesYes ?Yes ?YesNo ? ?YesYes Proprietary
MDaemon NoYesNoYesYesYes ?YesYesYesYesYesNoYesYesNoNot IMAPNoYes Proprietary
Mercury Mail Transport System NoYesNoYesYesYes ?YesYesYesNoYesNoYesNoNoNoNoYesProprietary donationware
Microsoft Exchange Server NoYesNoYesYesYesNoYes [16] [17] YesYesYes [18] YesNoYesYes3rd Party supportNot IMAPYesYes Proprietary
NetMail YesYesNoYesYesYes ? ?YesYes ?Yes ?YesNo ? ?YesNo Proprietary
OpenSMTPD YesNoYesYesNoNoNoNoYesNoYesYesNo [19] NoNoNoNovia custom backendsYes ISC
Open-Xchange YesNoNoYesYesYes ? ?YesYes ?Yes ?YesYes ? ?YesNoProprietary/SaaS,
with open-source parts [20]
Oracle Communications Messaging Server YesNoNoYesYesYes ? ?YesYes ?Yes ?YesNo ?YesYesYes Proprietary
Postfix YesNoYesYesNoNo ?NoYesNoYesYesYesNoNoNoYesYesYes IBM Public License
qmail YesNoYesYesYesNoNoNowith ucspi-ssl, with patchwith ucspi-ssls/qmail, via Qsmtpwith ucspi-ssl, with patchs/qmailNoNoNos/qmail(cdb)Yes Public domain
Qpopper YesYes (via Cygwin)YesNoYesNo ?NoNoYes ?Yes ?NoNo ? ?NoYes BSD-style
(GPL-incompatible) [21]
Scalix YesNoNoYesYesYes ?YesYes (via Stunnel)Yes (via Stunnel) ?Yes (via Stunnel) ?YesYes ? ?YesYes Proprietary with OSS parts,
a community (Freeware)
and 3 paid editions
(SMB, Enterprise, Hosting)
Sendmail YesNoYesYesNoNo ?NoYesNoYesYesYes (since 8.16) [22] NoNoNoYes ?Yes Sendmail License
SparkEngine YesYesYesYesNoNo ?NoYesNo ?Yes ?NoNo ? ?YesYes Proprietary
UW IMAP YesYesYesNoYesYes ?YesNoYesYesYesNo WebPine NoNo ?Yes (Indexes)Yes Apache License 2.0 [23]
WinGate NoYesNoYesYesYes ?YesYesYesNoYes ?YesNo ? ?NoYes Proprietary
Zarafa YesNoNopostfix etc. [14] YesYesNoYespostfixYesYesYespostfixYesz-pushNoNoSQLYes AGPLv3, paid [15]
Zentyal YesNoNoYesYesYes ?YesYesYesNoYes ?YesYes ? ?YesYesProprietary, 45-day trial
Zimbra YesNoYesYesYesYes ?YesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesYes ZPL and proprietary editions [24]
Mail server Linux/Unix Windows macOS SMTP POP3 IMAP JMAP IDLE SMTPS POP3S IPv6 SSL DANE Webmail ActiveSync Sieve IDN/UTF8 Database File-based License

Authentication

Mail server
SMTP AUTH
Native
Anti Hammer-Brute-force attack
protection
Other
agorum core YesNoNoNoYesYes ?PLAIN, LOGIN, CRAM-MD5, [25] NTLM
Apache James Yes ? ? ?YesYes ?PLAIN, LOGIN
Axigen YesNoYesYesNoYesNoGSSAPI, CRAM-MD5, [25] DIGEST-MD5, [26] APOP, CLRTXT, LOGIN, PLAIN, LDAP, Internal
CommuniGate Pro YesYesYesYesYesYes ?Active Directory (LDAP), CLRTXT, CRAM-MD5, [25] DIGEST-MD5, [26] APOP, GSSAPI, NTLM, MSN, SESSIONID, External Authentication Plug-in. Also supports X.509 PKI auth via STARTTLS/SSL
Courier Mail Server YesYesYesYesYesYes ?Managed by Courier authentication library which can use PAM, Userdb, PostgreSQL(beta), MySQL, LDAP, and EXTERNAL.
Cyrus IMAP YesYesYesYesYesYes ?Supports X.509 PKI auth via STARTTLS and EXTERNAL. Uses Cyrus SASL authentication library for support for other mechanisms: Berkeley DB, GDBM, or NDBM (sasldb), PAM, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, LDAP, Active Directory(LDAP), DCE, Kerberos 4 and 5, proxied IMAP auth, getpwent, shadow, SIA, Courier Authdaemon, httpform, APOP and SASL mechanisms: ANONYMOUS, CRAM-MD5, [25] DIGEST-MD5, [26] SCRAM-SHA-1(-PLUS), SCRAM-SHA-224(-PLUS), SCRAM-SHA-256(-PLUS), SCRAM-SHA-384(-PLUS), SCRAM-SHA-512(-PLUS), EXTERNAL, GSSAPI, LOGIN, NTLM, OTP, PASSDSS, PLAIN, SRP
DBMailNoNoNoNoYesYesNoLOGIN, Active Directory, OpenLDAP
Dovecot YesYesYesYesYesYes ?Submission service supports SMTP AUTH. [6] Offers SASL to MTAs. [27] [28] POP-before-SMTP via DRAC plugin. PAM, MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, LDAP, Active Directory(LDAP), Kerberos 5, proxied IMAP auth, getpwent, shadow, SIA, BSDauth, Vpopmail. APOP and SASL mechanisms: ANONYMOUS, PLAIN, LOGIN, CRAM-MD5, [25] DIGEST-MD5, [26] SCRAM-SHA-1, EXTERNAL, GSSAPI, NTLM, OTP, SKEY, RPA.
Eudora Internet Mail Server YesNoYesYesNoNoYes CRAM-MD5, [25] DIGEST-MD5, [26] PLAIN, LOGIN
Exim YesYesYesYesYesYes ?Cyrus SASL, Dovecot SASL, GNU SASL, CRAM-MD5, [25] Heimdal GSSAPI, PLAIN, LOGIN, SPA
FirstClass Yes ? ?YesYesYes ?
Gordano Messaging Suite YesYesYesNoYesYes ?PLAIN, LOGIN, CRAM-MD5, [25] DIGEST-MD5, [26] APOP, ODBC, Active Directory, NT Domain
GroupWise YesYesYesYesYesYes ? eDirectory, Any LDAPv3-compliant source
HalonYesNoNoYesYesYes ?Many mechanism (SMTP callout, Dovecot SASL, REST, etc.) via script. [29]
Haraka YesNoNoYesYesYes ?Proxy to other server, any other mechanism via AUTH plugins.
HCL Domino YesNoNoNoYesYesYes [30] Passkeys, Time-based one-time password
IceWarp Mail Server YesYesYesYesYesYes ?PLAIN, LOGIN, CRAM-MD5, [25] NTLM
Ipswitch IMail Server YesNoYesYesYesYesYesActive Directory, Windows authentication, CRAM-MD5, [25] PLAIN, LOGIN
Kolab YesYesYesYesYesYes ?Kolab employs Cyrus and Postfix and thus supports all Cyrus SASL authentication methods and X.509 PKI auth via STARTTLS and EXTERNAL.
Mailsite YesNoYesYesYesYes ?NT Domain, Active Directory, PLAIN, LOGIN, NTLM, SCRAM-MD5, CRAM-MD5 [25]
MailtraqYesYesYesYesYesYes ?NT Domain, Active Directory, Local Directory
MDaemon YesNoYesNoNoYesYes
Mercury Mail Transport System YesYesYesYesNo ? ?Internal, LOGIN, PLAIN, CRAM-MD5, [25] Netware, LDAP?, partial NT Domain
Microsoft Exchange Server Yes ?YesNoNoYesYesActive Directory, LOGIN, [31] NTLM
NetMail YesYesYesYesYesYes ?eDirectory, LDAP
Oracle Communications Messaging Server YesYesYesYesYesYes ?Plain, Login, CRAM-MD5, [25] DIGEST-MD5, [26] Certificate
OpenSMTPD YesNoNoYesYesYesNoBy default PLAIN and LOGIN over SSL only, Certificates, bsd_auth and PAM. Supports adding new authentication mechanisms through custom backends.
Postfix YesNoNoYesYesYesYesSupports all Cyrus SASL authentication methods except for APOP.
Qpopper NoYesYesYesYesYes ? Pluggable Authentication Modules, GSSAPI, CRAM-MD5, [25] DIGEST-MD5, [26] APOP, PLAIN, LDAP, CMU SASL library, Kerberos
qmail with patch, s/qmailwith vpopmailYesYesYesYes ?Works with any checkpassword utility. The original supports only LOGIN and PLAIN. Alternate checkpassword utilities support authentication against PAM, LDAP, and databases.
Scalix Yes ?YesYesYesYes ?Internal, LOGIN, PLAIN, X.500 (DAP), LDAP, OpenLDAP, Active Directory, eDirectory, Kerberos, etc.
Sendmail YesYesNoYesYesYes ?Supports all Cyrus SASL authentication methods except for APOP. Also supports X.509 PKI auth via STARTTLS and EXTERNAL.
WinGate YesYesYesYesYesNo ?NT Domain, Active Directory, CRAM-MD5, [25] SASL PLAIN, SASL LOGIN
Zarafa YesNoNoYesYesYes ?PLAIN, LOGIN using internal backends: Internal, Active Directory, any LDAP-compatible source, Unix
Zentyal YesYesYesYesYesYes ?Active Directory using Dovecot SASL mechanisms
Zimbra YesNoYesYesYesYes ?Internal, LDAP, Open LDAP, Active Directory
Mail server
Native
Anti Hammer-Brute-force attack
protection
Other Authentication possibilites

Antispam features

Mail Server DNSBL SURBL Spamtraps Greylisting SPF DKIM DMARC Tarpit Bayesian filters Regular expressions Embedded Antivirus Embedded Antispam
agorum core NoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoNoYesNoNo
Apache James  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?Yes ?Yes ClamAV [32] Optional (Apache SpamAssassin)
Axigen YesNoYesYesYesYesNoNoYes, in SpamAssassin YesYes CYREN Yes CYREN
Citadel YesYesNoNoOptional (via SpamAssassin) ? ?NoOptional (via SpamAssassin)NoOptional (ClamAV)Optional (SpamAssassin)
Courier Mail Server Yes ?YesYes [33] YesOptional [34] Optional [35] YesYes [33] Yes [33] Yes Clamav Yes [33]
Dovecot No [36] No ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Eudora Internet Mail Server Yes ?YesYes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Exim YesYesYesYesOptional (at build time, most distributions do)Optional (at build time, most distributions do)Optional (at build time, most distributions do)YesOptional with spamassassin etc.YesOptional anyOptional any
FirstClass YesYesNo ?Yes ? ?YesYesYesYes Symantec  ?
Gordano Messaging Suite YesYesYesYesYes ? ?YesYesYesYes CYREN, Authentium Yes CYREN
GroupWise Yes ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
HalonYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesOptional (via SpamAssassin)YesOptional (Sophos, ClamAV)Optional (CYREN, SpamAssassin, Eleven eXpurgate [37] )
Haraka YesYesYesYesYesYes ?YesOptional with spamassassin etc.YesOptional ClamAV, AVG, any via pluginsOptional SpamAssassin, MessageSniffer
HCL Domino Yes [38]  ? ? ?Yes [39] Yes [40]  ? ? ? ?Optional with ICAP ?
hMailServer YesYesNoYesYesYes ?NoNoYesYes ClamAV Yes SpamAssassin
IceWarp Mail Server YesYesYesYesYes ? ?YesYesYesYesYes
Ipswitch IMail Server YesYesNoNoYesYes [41] Yes [42] NoYesYesYes Symantec, BitDefender Yes CYREN
Kolab Yes ? ?YesYes ? ? ?Optional with spamassassin etc.YesOptional (via content filter interface)Optional (via content filter interface)
Mailsite YesYesYesYesYes ? ?NoYesYesYesYes
Mailtraq ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
MDaemon YesYes (via SpamAssassin)YesYesYesYesYesYesYes (via SpamAssassin)Yes (via Content Filter)Optional Cyren, ClamAVYes SpamAssassin
Mercury Mail Transport System Yes ? ?Yes (GreyWall extension) ? ? ? ?Yes (SpamHalter extension) ?Yes (ClamWall extension) ?
Microsoft Exchange Server Yes (2003 & later) ? ?YesYesOptional (Signing only via 3rd Party Extensions) ?Yes (2003 & later) ? ? ? ?
NetMail  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
OpenSMTPD  ? ? ? ?YesOptional [43] Optional [44]  ? ? ? ? ?
Oracle Communications Messaging Server YesYesYesYesYes ? ?YesOptional with spamassassin etc.YesOptional anyOptional any
Postfix YesYes (via milter-link) ?YesYesOptional [45] Optional [46] YesOptional with spamassassin etc.YesOptional (via content filter interface)Optional (via content filter interface)
qmail Yeswith patch ?Yeswith patch, s/qmailwith patch, s/qmail ?with patch, s/qmailNo ?NoNo
Scalix YesYes (via Scalix AntiSpam powered by Cyren or SpamAssassin)Yes (via Scalix AntiSpam powered by Cyren or SpamAssassin)YesYes (via Scalix AntiSpam powered by Cyren or SpamAssassin)Yes (via Scalix AntiSpam powered by Cyren or SpamAssassin)Yes (via Scalix AntiSpam powered by Cyren or SpamAssassin)YesYesYesYes (via Scalix ZeroHour AntiVirus powered by Cyren or ClamAV)Yes
Sendmail YesYes (via milter/SA) ?YesOptionalOptional [45] Optional [46]  ?Optional with spamassassin etc.YesYes ClamAV Yes SpamAssassin
SparkEngine  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
UW IMAP  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
WinGate  ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Zarafa External [14] External [14] External [14] External [14] External [14] External [14] External [14] External [14] External [14] External [14] External [14] External [14]
Zimbra YesYes (via SpamAssassin) ?Yes (via Cluebringer Policy Daemon)YesYes ?YesYesYes (partially)Yes (via ClamAV, optionally any via Amavisd)Yes (via SpamAssassin)
Mail Server DNSBL SURBL Spamtraps Greylisting SPF DKIM DMARC Tarpit Bayesian filters Regular expressions Embedded Antivirus Embedded Antispam

See also

References

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  3. "RFCs Supported by Cyrus IMAP". Cyrus IMAP 3.4.3 (stable) documentation. Retrieved 2021-04-27.
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  21. Contains jurisdiction selection and IPL-style indemnification clause.
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  33. 1 2 3 4 "Index of /~gordon/courier-pythonfilter". phantom.dragonsdawn.net.
  34. Two DKIM filters can be found in Courier-MTA's links page
  35. With "zdkimfilter".
  36. Considered and rejected by developers in 2013. Fawcett, John (July 3, 2013). "[Dovecot] dnsbl feature for dovecot". dovecot.org. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved February 25, 2022.
  37. "eXpurgate anti-spam — eXpurgate Anti-Spam documentation". docs.halon.io. 28 March 2025.
  38. "HCL Domino Documentation - Restricting SMTP inbound routing". help.hcl-software.com. 30 June 2024.
  39. "Configuring the Domino SMTP server to reduce spam". help.hcl-software.com. 5 June 2024.
  40. "Configuring DKIM signing for messages routed to external Internet domains". help.hcl-software.com. 5 June 2024.
  41. Inc., Ipswitch. "IMail Secure Mail Server - Ipswitch". www.imailserver.com.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  42. Inc., Ipswitch. "Your IMail Software Upgrades and Patches - Ipswitch IMail Server". www.imailserver.com.{{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  43. With "filter-dkimsign". or "filter-rspamd". GitHub . 15 October 2022.
  44. With "filter-rspamd". GitHub . 15 October 2022.
  45. 1 2 "OpenDKIM". www.opendkim.org.
  46. 1 2 "Trusted Domain Project - About Us". www.trusteddomain.org.