Mail-in-a-BoxvsPayload CMS
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Mail-in-a-Box | Payload CMS | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 72/100 | 83/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 16 in Mail Server | #2 of 13 in Headless CMS |
| GitHub stars | 15 446 | 45 570 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +27 | +638 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 4 | 20 |
| Latest release | v77 · 26 Sept 2026 | v3.92.1 · 27 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | CC0-1.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Python | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Payload CMS scores 83/100 against 72/100 for Mail-in-a-Box, so it is the safer default.
Payload CMS ships more often: 20 stable releases in the past year, against 4 for Mail-in-a-Box.
Payload CMS is growing faster right now (+638 stars in 30 days).
Mail-in-a-Box details →Payload CMS details →
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