PulsevsStalwart Mail Server
Two self-hosted projects, compared on the numbers selfhost.directory tracks live: score, popularity, release cadence and setup effort.
| Pulse | Stalwart Mail Server | |
|---|---|---|
| Score | 71/100 | 78/100 |
| Rank in category | #2 of 19 in Infrastructure Monitoring | #2 of 16 in Mail Server |
| GitHub stars | 6 970 | 15 462 |
| Stars, last 30 days | +229 | +678 |
| Stable releases, 12 months | 43 | 31 |
| Latest release | helm-chart-6.6.0 · 25 Oct 2026 | v1.0.1 · 28 Oct 2026 |
| Setup | Easy | Moderate |
| Official Docker image | Yes | Yes |
| License | MIT | AGPL-3.0-only AND LicenseRef-SEL |
| Main language | Go | Rust |
Which one should you pick?
Stalwart Mail Server scores 78/100 against 71/100 for Pulse, so it is the safer default.
Pulse ships more often: 43 stable releases in the past year, against 31 for Stalwart Mail Server.
If you want the quickest setup, Pulse is easier to run; Stalwart Mail Server needs more configuration.
Stalwart Mail Server is growing faster right now (+678 stars in 30 days).
Pulse details →Stalwart Mail Server details →
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