# checkmate vs Postal

> Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.

| | checkmate | Postal |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 72/100 | 72/100 |
| Rank in category | #15 of 104 in Monitoring & observability | #3 of 16 in Mail Server |
| GitHub stars | 11 006 | 16 899 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +119 ✓ | +72 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 15 ✓ | 3 |
| Latest release | v3.13.1 · 22 Oct 2026 ✓ | 3.3.7 · 3 Jun 2026 |
| Setup | Easy ✓ | Advanced |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Typescript | Ruby |

## Which one should you pick?

checkmate and Postal score the same (72/100), so the choice comes down to the details below.

checkmate ships more often: 15 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Postal.

If you want the quickest setup, checkmate is easier to run; Postal needs more configuration.

## Details

- [checkmate](https://selfhost.directory/project/checkmate) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/checkmate.md)
- [Postal](https://selfhost.directory/project/postal) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/postal.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/checkmate-vs-postal