Mail-in-a-Box vs poste.io
It does not need its own machine
Mail-in-a-Box turns a machine into a mail server. poste.io is one container on a machine that is already doing something else.
- 10M+ Docker pulls
- 2014 shipping since
- 1 container to upgrade
Where they differ
| poste.io | Mail-in-a-Box | |
|---|---|---|
| The machine | Shared with your other services | Expected to be dedicated |
| DNS | Use the DNS you already have | Runs its own |
| Upgrade | Replace one image | Re-run setup for each release |
| Administration | Domain admins and mailbox owners | A single administrator |
The same on both: Dovecot IMAP/POP3, Roundcube webmail, Web administration, REST API, Unlimited domains and mailboxes.
Being fair about it
Mail-in-a-Box is a great project and the fastest way to turn a fresh VPS into a complete mail server. Mail-in-a-Box also runs your DNS, which is one less thing to arrange.
If the mail server has to share a host with everything else you run, poste.io may be a better fit.
What you get either way
- Tested as one unit SMTP, IMAP, spam filtering, antivirus, webmail and administration are exercised together against real servers before an image ships. A version bump in one part cannot quietly break another.
- Backward compatible Your data and your configuration survive upgrades. We have not asked anyone to reinstall since 2014.
- No babysitting Upgrading is always the same thing: replace the container. No procedure, no migration script, seconds of downtime. We can do it for you.
- Monitoring included The server watches itself. If you want somebody else to be the one who notices, we can watch it from the outside and step in.
- Custom work is possible The whole thing is ours, so we are not waiting for an upstream project to accept a feature. Tell us what you need.
- Not a weekend project Shipping since 2014, 10M+ Docker pulls, and paying customers who have been with us for years.