mailcow: dockerized - Blog
The mailserver suite with the 'moo' – 🐮 + 🐋 = 💕 | Official Blog Page
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mailcow: dockerized is a fully featured open-source mail server suite that runs in Docker containers, providing everything needed for professional email hosting with a modern web UI.
🚀 Overview
mailcow: dockerized is a comprehensive mail server solution that bundles all essential email services into easy-to-deploy Docker containers using docker-compose, making self-hosted email accessible without deep expertise.
It solves the longstanding problem of mail server complexity—configuring Postfix, Dovecot, spam filters, antivirus, and groupware separately—which often leads to security issues or abandonment. mailcow provides an integrated stack with automatic updates, web-based admin, and modern features like 2FA.
It's built for self-hosting users, from homelab enthusiasts to sysadmins and small businesses tired of cloud email limitations and privacy concerns.
Originated by developer @andryyy and maintained by The Infrastructure Company GmbH, it was created to combine the reliability of proven open-source mail tools with Docker's simplicity for hassle-free deployment and maintenance.
✨ Key Features
- Complete mail stack: Postfix (SMTP), Dovecot (IMAP/POP3/LMTP), Nginx reverse proxy
- Webmail and groupware via SOGo with ActiveSync support
- Spam filtering (Rspamd), antivirus (ClamAV), and greylisting
- Modern web UI for domain/user management, aliases, quotas, and monitoring
- Automatic Let's Encrypt SSL via ACME, including DNS-01 challenges
- Security: forced 2FA, rate limiting, DKIM/DMARC/SPF, MTA-STS validation, IPv6 support
- Optional: Sieve filters, fetchmail, SOGo ActiveSync, and cold standby replication
🛠 Tech Stack
- Orchestration: Docker, Docker Compose
- Mail Core: Postfix, Dovecot, Nginx
- Groupware: SOGo
- Security: Rspamd, ClamAV, Netfilter/iptables
- Database: MariaDB
- Cache: Redis
- Auth: Built-in with 2FA (OTP), LDAP/Keycloak support
- Web UI: PHP, JavaScript, Twig templates
- Hosting: Self-hosted on Linux servers (Debian recommended)
👥 Who Is This For?
This project is useful for:
- Self-hosters and homelabbers wanting full control over their email
- System administrators managing mail for organizations or domains
- Businesses and indie makers seeking private, customizable email without SaaS dependencies
📸 Screenshots / Demo
- Live demo: N/A (self-hosted by design)
- GitHub: https://github.com/mailcow/mailcow-dockerized
- Documentation (with UI screenshots): https://docs.mailcow.email/
🔥 Project Status
- 🟢 Actively building
Last updated: 2026-03-24
❓ FAQ
Is this project free?
Yes / Open Source (Free community edition; paid support/SLA available via Servercow.)
Is the source code available?
Yes — https://github.com/mailcow/mailcow-dockerized
Can I contribute?
Yes — Follow CONTRIBUTING.md on GitHub for issues, PRs, translations (Weblate), or sponsorships. Report security issues privately to info@servercow.de.
📬 Contact & Links
- Website: https://mailcow.email
- GitHub: https://github.com/mailcow/mailcow-dockerized
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/mailcow_email
- Email: info@servercow.de
Built with ❤️ and kept warm on WarmIndex.
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