HQBasevsMail-in-a-Box
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| HQBase | Mail-in-a-Box | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 50/100 | 72/100 |
| Rank in category | #56 of 106 in Email | #3 of 16 in Mail Server |
| GitHub stars | 351 | 15 447 |
| Stars, last 30 days | — | +29 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 9 | 4 |
| Latest release | v1.4.5 · 12 Oct 2026 | v77 · 26 Sept 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | CC0-1.0 |
| Main language | Typescript | Python |
Which one should you pick?
Mail-in-a-Box scores 72/100 against 50/100 for HQBase, so it is the safer default.
HQBase ships more often: 9 stable releases in the past year, against 4 for Mail-in-a-Box.
If you want the quickest setup, Mail-in-a-Box is easier to run; HQBase needs more configuration.
Mail-in-a-Box is growing faster right now (+29 stars in 30 days).
HQBase details →Mail-in-a-Box details →
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