# Postal vs telescope

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

| | Postal | telescope |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 72/100 ✓ | 49/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 16 in Mail Server | #6 of 13 in Log Management |
| GitHub stars | 16 900 ✓ | 712 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +73 ✓ | +0 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 5 ✓ |
| Latest release | 3.3.7 · 3 Jun 2026 ✓ | v0.0.27 · 8 May 2026 |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate ✓ |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Main language | Ruby | Python |

## Which one should you pick?

Postal scores 72/100 against 49/100 for telescope, so it is the safer default.

telescope ships more often: 5 stable releases in the past year, against 3 for Postal.

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

Postal is growing faster right now (+73 stars in 30 days).

## Details

- [Postal](https://selfhost.directory/project/postal) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/postal.md)
- [telescope](https://selfhost.directory/project/telescope) (markdown: https://selfhost.directory/project/telescope.md)

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Source: https://selfhost.directory/compare/postal-vs-telescope