# hanko vs Mail-in-a-Box

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

| | hanko | Mail-in-a-Box |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 68/100 | 72/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #7 of 40 in Authentication | #3 of 16 in Mail Server |
| GitHub stars | 9 052 | 15 446 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +17 | +27 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 2 | 4 ✓ |
| Latest release | backend/v3.1.0 · 1 Oct 2026 ✓ | v77 · 26 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate ✓ | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes ✓ | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | CC0-1.0 |
| Main language | Go | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

Mail-in-a-Box scores 72/100 against 68/100 for hanko, so it is the safer default.

Mail-in-a-Box ships more often: 4 stable releases in the past year, against 2 for hanko.

## Details

- [hanko](https://selfhost.directory/project/hanko) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/hanko.md)
- [Mail-in-a-Box](https://selfhost.directory/project/mail-in-a-box) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/mail-in-a-box.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/hanko-vs-mail-in-a-box