Tag
#self-hosting
12 posts tagged “self-hosting”.
- 16 min read
Multi-provider email servers: one MX, many backends
One port 25 can front several mailbox backends at once — a cloud product, a self-hosted store, a staging box — each owning its own domains. How per-domain routing works in MailKite Server, what Postfix, Exim, Haraka, maddy and ZoneMTA do instead, and how the same split looks on a hosted ESP.
- 12 min read
Open-source email clients and webmail on Linux: what to pair
For Linux developers and small teams, Thunderbird, Evolution, KMail and NeoMutt are ways to use a mailbox; Roundcube and SnappyMail put that workflow in a browser; SOGo adds groupware. Choose the interface and backend together, and distinguish full webmail from MailKite Server's application-mail console.
- 14 min read
Automate email replies on Linux with AI agents
For backend developers automating email replies on Linux, keep mail acceptance separate from AI decisions. Compare IMAP, Sieve, SMTP hooks, REST, JMAP and webhooks, then run a local worker that persists requests, suppresses reply loops and holds approval drafts.
- 12 min read
Linux email servers with Node.js: SMTP, IMAP, and APIs
Connect Node.js to Linux email servers through SMTP, IMAP, or HTTP. Compare the integration boundaries, then run a local MIME round trip with an attachment and envelope-based ticket routing.
- 12 min read
Linux email servers with Python: SMTP, IMAP, and APIs
For Python backend developers, open-source Linux email servers integrate through protocols, not shared implementation languages. This tutorial compares SMTP, IMAP, REST, and JMAP, then runs a local send-and-receive pipeline with durable cursors and a hosted MailKite SDK alternative.
- 13 min read
Programmatic Linux email servers: where your code runs
For backend developers choosing a programmatic Linux email server, Haraka exposes SMTP hooks, Postfix and Exim expose policy and delivery seams, Postal exposes application APIs, WildDuck/ZoneMTA split mailbox and outbound control, and Stalwart exposes JMAP. Compare those boundaries with MailKite Server, then run a local SMTP acceptance demo.
- 12 min read
Open-source SMTP servers and MTAs for Linux: choose the layer
For Linux developers choosing email infrastructure, Postfix, Exim and OpenSMTPD handle transfer and queues; Haraka exposes SMTP plugins; Postal adds application APIs. Compare their responsibilities, direct delivery versus smarthosts, and MailKite Server's narrower backend-led model before choosing what to operate.
- 12 min read
Linux IMAP mail servers: choose by mailbox behavior
Dovecot and Cyrus fit conventional Linux mailbox services, Stalwart combines IMAP with SMTP and JMAP, and WildDuck exposes mailbox management through an HTTP API. MailKite Server offers a narrower application-address view. For developers choosing or migrating an IMAP server, the useful comparison is folder behavior, identity, filtering, storage ownership, and the workflows clients actually need.
- 12 min read
Docker open-source email servers: Linux options compared in 2026
For Linux teams choosing a Docker email server, mailcow and Mailu bundle human mailboxes, docker-mailserver favors file-based administration, and Stalwart integrates mail protocols. Application-address workflows need a different comparison. This guide separates those jobs, explains each deployment boundary, and gives you a shortlist based on the service you actually need to operate.
- 9 min read
Announcing the MailKite Server developer API: use the client against your own server
MailKite Server now exposes a Cloud-compatible send and receive API. Point the MailKite client at your own server, keep your application code, and choose self-hosted, Cloud, or a hybrid deployment.
- 24 min read
23 open source email servers for Linux, sorted by the job each one does
Most "best open source mail server" lists put a full-stack Docker bundle and a single SMTP daemon in the same ranked table, as if you'd choose between them. You wouldn't. This is 23 Linux mail projects grouped by the slot they fill in the mail path, with licenses, languages, and activity verified on 2026-08-05, plus the part every roundup skips: what self-hosting still costs you after the install script says done.
- 3 min read
MailKite Server: our SMTP + IMAP edges are now open source
The Haraka-based MX and submission edges and the IMAP server that power MailKite are now AGPL on GitHub — self-host the whole stack, point our hosted MX at your box, or connect the same web console to MailKite Cloud.