# Mail-in-a-Box vs YOURLS

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

| | Mail-in-a-Box | YOURLS |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 72/100 | 74/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #3 of 16 in Mail Server | #1 of 23 in URL Shortener |
| GitHub stars | 15 446 ✓ | 12 292 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +27 | +49 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 4 | 4 |
| Latest release | v77 · 26 Sept 2026 ✓ | 1.10.6 · 30 Aug 2026 |
| Setup | Moderate | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | No |
| License | CC0-1.0 | MIT |
| Main language | Python | PHP |

## Which one should you pick?

YOURLS scores 74/100 against 72/100 for Mail-in-a-Box, so it is the safer default.

## Details

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

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