PostalvsUnderstudy
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Postal | Understudy | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 72/100 | 48/100 |
| Rank in category | #3 of 16 in Mail Server | #110 of 209 in AI Agents |
| GitHub stars | 16 899 | 465 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +75 | — |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 3 | 0 |
| Latest release | 3.3.7 · 3 Jun 2026 | — |
| Setup | Advanced | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | No |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Main language | Ruby | Typescript |
Which one should you pick?
Postal scores 72/100 against 48/100 for Understudy, so it is the safer default.
Postal ships more often: 3 stable releases in the past year, against 0 for Understudy.
If you want the quickest setup, Understudy is easier to run; Postal needs more configuration.
Postal is growing faster right now (+75 stars in 30 days).
Postal details →Understudy details →
Swap a project
Keep Postal, compare it with
Keep Understudy, compare it with