# Mailcow vs vanilla-cookbook

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

| | Mailcow | vanilla-cookbook |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 77/100 ✓ | 46/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 106 in Email | #13 of 18 in Recipe Management |
| GitHub stars | 13 715 ✓ | 158 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +205 ✓ | +0 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 16 ✓ | 13 |
| Latest release | 2026-10 · 21 Oct 2026 | v1.6.1 · 28 Oct 2026 ✓ |
| Setup | Advanced | Easy ✓ |
| Official Docker image | No | Yes ✓ |
| License | GPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | JavaScript | JavaScript |

## Which one should you pick?

Mailcow scores 77/100 against 46/100 for vanilla-cookbook, so it is the safer default.

Mailcow ships more often: 16 stable releases in the past year, against 13 for vanilla-cookbook.

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

Mailcow is growing faster right now (+205 stars in 30 days).

## Details

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

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/mailcow-vs-vanilla-cookbook