PostalvsTerraforming Mars
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Postal | Terraforming Mars | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 72/100 | 62/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 16 in Mail Server | #4 of 14 in Gaming |
| GitHub stars | 16 899 | 961 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +72 | +9 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 0 |
| Latest release | 3.3.7 · 3 Jun 2026 | — |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Main language | Ruby | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Postal scores 72/100 against 62/100 for Terraforming Mars, so it is the safer default.
Postal ships more often: 3 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Terraforming Mars.
If you want the quickest setup, Terraforming Mars is easier to run; Postal needs more configuration.
Postal is growing faster right now (+72 stars in 30 days).
Postal details →Terraforming Mars details →
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