Updated August 2026
    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    14k

    Stalwart Mail Server: Maintenance, Licence and Alternatives

    All-in-one mail server with JMAP, IMAP4, and SMTP support and a wide range of modern features.

    TL;DR • Stalwart Mail Server • as of August 2026

    Stalwart Mail Server is an open-source communication project, with 14k GitHub stars and a health score of 91/100. It committed 638 times in the last twelve months across 12 of those months, and its status is actively maintained. Licence: AGPL-3.0. It has real momentum, so treat it as a live competitor rather than a stale repository.

    14k
    GitHub stars
    91/100
    Health score
    638
    Commits (12 mo)
    12/12
    Active months

    Maintenance health

    Status Actively maintained — Committed within the last 45 days.
    Last commit 2026-08-15
    Days since last commit 2
    Commits, last 3 months 201
    Commits, last 12 months 638
    Months with activity 12 of 12
    Last release 2026-08-10
    Archived No
    Licence AGPL-3.0
    Category Communication

    Health score combines commit recency, twelve-month commit volume, months with activity, release recency and archive state. Metadata refreshed August 2026.

    What the licence lets you do

    AGPL-3.0

    Copyleft (GPL, AGPL, MPL): derivative work must stay open. AGPL also covers software offered over a network, which blocks most closed SaaS wrappers.

    This matters most when you plan to sell a hosted version. A permissive licence means anyone — including a competitor with more capital — can do the same, so your defensibility has to come from distribution, support or data, not from the code.

    What Stalwart Mail Server means for your idea

    Crowded · 77/100
    Communication category →

    Stalwart Mail Server is shipping code consistently, so a buyer comparing your product will find a maintained free option. Price and position against the total cost of self-hosting it, not against the paid incumbent's list price.

    Assume every prospect can find a free version in five minutes. Your wedge has to be something open source structurally cannot deliver: compliance, support SLAs, managed hosting at scale, or a workflow the maintainers refuse to build.

    Stalwart Mail Server: common questions

    Is Stalwart Mail Server still maintained in 2026?

    Actively maintained. Stalwart Mail Server recorded 638 commits over the last twelve months, with activity in 12 of those months and 201 commits in the last quarter. Last commit: 2026-08-15. Last release: 2026-08-10. Committed within the last 45 days.

    Can I use Stalwart Mail Server commercially?

    Stalwart Mail Server is published under AGPL-3.0. Copyleft (GPL, AGPL, MPL): derivative work must stay open. AGPL also covers software offered over a network, which blocks most closed SaaS wrappers.

    How crowded is the Communication category?

    177 open-source implementations, 100 of them actively maintained, led by Mastodon at 50k stars. Saturation score 77/100 — Crowded. Free, maintained alternatives already dominate this category.

    Stalwart Mail Server alternatives in Communication

    Mastodon

    Alternative to Social network/ Micro-blogging

    50k

    Federated microblogging server.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    AGPL-3.0

    Discourse

    Alternative to Tribe, Circle, Community management

    48k

    Advanced forum / community solution based on Ruby and JS.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    GPL-2.0

    Rocket.Chat

    Alternative to Slack, Team communication, Chat & Team Communication

    46k

    Communications platform that puts data protection first (alternative to Gitter.im and Slack).

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    MIT

    Novu

    Alternative to Courier, MagicBell, Knock, Notification infrastructure, Push notifications

    40k

    Notification infrastructure for developers.

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    MIT

    Mattermost

    Communication

    39k

    Platform for secure collaboration across the entire software development lifecycle, can be integrated with Gitlab (alternative to Slack).

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    ⊘ Proprietary

    Chatwoot

    Alternative to Intercom, Zendesk, Live chat

    36k

    Customer communication platform (alternative to Intercom and Zendesk).

    Actively maintained
    Real momentum
    ⊘ Proprietary

    Competing with free? Check the market first.

    IdeaProof scores your idea against live competitors, market size and 1,000+ documented startup failures in about two minutes.