# Mailcow vs Sunshine

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

| | Mailcow | Sunshine |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 77/100 | 84/100 ✓ |
| Rank in category | #2 of 106 in Email | #2 of 22 in Remote Desktop |
| GitHub stars | 13 713 | 42 735 ✓ |
| Stars, last 30 days | +215 | +1 259 ✓ |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 16 | 85 ✓ |
| Latest release | 2026-10 · 21 Oct 2026 | v2026.1028.25602 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Advanced | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | JavaScript | C |

## Which one should you pick?

Sunshine scores 84/100 against 77/100 for Mailcow, so it is the safer default.

Sunshine ships more often: 85 stable releases in the past year, against 16 for Mailcow.

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

Sunshine is growing faster right now (+1 259 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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