# Flarum vs Stalwart Mail Server

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

| | Flarum | Stalwart Mail Server |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 69/100 | 79/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #6 of 69 in Social Networks & Forums | #2 of 16 in Mail Server |
| GitHub stars | 6 764 | 15 479 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +12 | +676 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 12 | 31 ✓ |
| Latest release | v1.8.21 · 23 Oct 2026 | v1.0.1 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0-only AND LicenseRef-SEL |
| Main language | PHP | Rust |

## Which one should you pick?

Stalwart Mail Server scores 79/100 against 69/100 for Flarum, so it is the safer default.

Stalwart Mail Server ships more often: 31 stable releases in the past year, against 12 for Flarum.

Stalwart Mail Server is growing faster right now (+676 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Flarum](https://selfhost.directory/project/flarum) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/flarum.md)
- [Stalwart Mail Server](https://selfhost.directory/project/stalwart-mail-server) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/stalwart-mail-server.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/flarum-vs-stalwart-mail-server