This page is mainly to compare all active and mature Open Source (thus self-hostable) webmail solutions that you can install and manage email from any server with standard email protocols (IMAP, SMTP, JMAP). The assumption is that you already have at least one mail server (and often more than one) and you just want to install a webmail, and perhaps replace a desktop email solution like Thunderbird.

This page is a wiki page, so please join us to make it better.

Here are the main active and mature Open Source standalone webmail options:


Special cases:


Some related solutions are added because they have a close connection with one of the solutions above

Roundcube Kolab SnappyMail (RainLoop fork) Nextcloud Cypht Tiki Wiki CMS Groupware Virtualmin
Type Webmail in PHP Full mail server stack (server and webmail) Webmail in PHP and Node.JS Multi-feature system which offers plugins/modules, and some of those are webmail clients Pluggable Webmail in PHP with aggregator mindset Multi-feature system which offers all the functionality in one app (bundles Cypht Webmail) Admin panel for shared hosting which includes mail accounts and its own webmail (You can also install Cypht, Roundcube, etc.)
Mail server NoneIt's an email client, and you can connect to any mail server via standard protocols (IMAP, etc.) Cyrus IMAP NoneIt's an email client, and you can connect to any mail server via standard protocols (IMAP, etc.) NoneIt's an email client, and you can connect to any mail server via standard protocols (IMAP, etc.) NoneIt's an email client, and you can connect to any mail server via standard protocols (IMAP, etc.) NoneIt's an email client, and you can connect to any mail server via standard protocols (IMAP, etc.) Dovecot
License GPLv3+ with exceptions for skins and plugins Various components use various Open Source licenses AGPLv3 AGPLv3 LGPL v2.1 LGPL v2.1 GPL
Available via Packagist.org No No No No Yes No No
Available via Docker yes This image does not provide persistence, and is intended for testing and demo purposes ? Yes Yes Yes No
Uses Bootstrap Yes yes, via Roundcube Yes? No Yes Yes Yes
External authentication ? ? ? Yes, via Nextcloud (social logins, oidc, ldap, others) API, LDAP and others LDAP (Active Directory), OpenID Connect, SAML, Hybridauth Social Sign On Library, CAS, Shibboleth, etc. ?
Webmail client Yes Yes, via Roundcube Yes Nextcloud mail Yes Yes, via Cypht Usermin Webmail.
How does it deal with mail accounts? Only 1 external account at a time Only own accounts? Multiple external accounts but messages are not in a unified view Multiple external accounts in a unified view Multiple external accounts in one view Multiple external accounts (via Cypht) Only own accounts?
Possible to copy/move an email between IMAP accounts? No No No ? Yes Yes, via Cypht ?
Manage Sieve via a plugin Yes? yes but no GUI in demo Yes, but very basic Yes, with a GUI
A modern Sieve library in PHP was developer for this 		Via Cypht, and available even if server doesn't support Sieve No (uses Procmail instead)
Mail: Search throughout all folders Yes Yes, via Roundcube Yes Yes assigned to a developer Missing (via Cypht) ?
JMAP support No No No No Yes, in version 2+ Yes, via Cypht No. See related discussion about JMAP and Virtualmin
Exchange Web Services (EWS) support No No No No In development In development, via Cypht No
Calendar invitations by email ? Yes ? Yes? No Yes No
Calendar ? Yes ? Nextcloud calendar very basic Tiki Calendar No?
CalDAV ? Yes ? yes No yes ?
Contacts Yes Yes, via Roundcube Yes Yes Yes Tiki Contacts with interop with Cypht contacts Yes
CardDAV ? Yes ? yes read-only yes ?


Should be analyzed:


Not included (yet), and why?

Wishlists

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More comparison

https://openhub.net/p/_compare?project_0=SnappyMail&project_1=Roundcube+Webmail&project_2=Cypht+Webmail&submit_2=Go

More comparison:

  • SnappyMail is the most active (in terms of code commits)
  • Roundcube is the most popular
  • Cypht has the smallest code base.