# Mailcow vs Restic

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

| | Mailcow | Restic |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 77/100 | 82/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #2 of 106 in Email | #1 of 46 in Backup |
| GitHub stars | 13 715 | 36 871 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +205 | +633 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 16 ✓ | 2 |
| Latest release | 2026-10 · 21 Oct 2026 ✓ | v0.19.1 · 5 Jul 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | GPL-3.0 | BSD-2-Clause |
| Main language | JavaScript | Go |

## Which one should you pick?

Restic scores 82/100 against 77/100 for Mailcow, so it is the safer default.

Mailcow ships more often: 16 stable releases in the past year, against 2 for Restic.

If you want the quickest setup, Restic is easier to run; Mailcow needs more configuration.

Restic is growing faster right now (+633 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Mailcow](https://selfhost.directory/project/mailcow) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/mailcow.md)
- [Restic](https://selfhost.directory/project/restic) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/restic.md)

---
Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/mailcow-vs-restic