# Stalwart

> An all in one mail server in Rust with SMTP, IMAP, JMAP and spam filtering

Category: Self hosted apps (https://aiarabicdev.com/self-hosted)
Canonical page: https://aiarabicdev.com/self-hosted/stalwart
Tags: email, mail-server, smtp, imap, rust

Stalwart is a complete mail server in one binary: it sends and receives mail, serves it over IMAP, JMAP and POP3, filters spam and includes a web admin. It also handles calendars and contacts. It is dual licensed under AGPL-3.0 and a commercial enterprise license.

## Facts

- Licence: AGPL-3.0, or the Stalwart Enterprise License
- Language: Rust
- Cost: Free core, paid tiers exist
- Self hostable: yes
- Added: 2026-10-25
- Last checked: 2026-10-25

## Links

- Website: https://stalw.art
- Source: https://github.com/stalwartlabs/stalwart
- Docs: https://stalw.art/docs/

## One binary instead of a mail stack

A traditional mail server is a handful of programs glued together: Postfix, Dovecot, a spam filter, DKIM signing, and their configuration files. Stalwart puts all of it in one process with one web interface, including DKIM, SPF, DMARC, spam and phishing filters, Sieve rules and storage backends from local disk to PostgreSQL or S3.

It suits people who want to own their email domain and understand how mail works, and small organisations that want calendars and contacts over standard protocols alongside mail. Some advanced features, such as multi tenancy controls, sit under the enterprise license.

## What running it involves

The software is efficient and runs on a small VPS. The hard part of self hosted email is everything around it: a static public IP with a reverse DNS record, port 25 open in both directions, correct DNS records, and a clean IP reputation. Most home connections block port 25 and large providers reject residential IPs, so a VPS is the usual host.

Mail is critical and unforgiving. Lost messages and spam folder delivery are real risks, and you are responsible for backups, updates and watching blocklists. Start with a secondary domain, test delivery to Gmail and Outlook, and move your main address only once it is stable.

## Reach for it when

- you want to run email for your own domain with one piece of software
- you want modern protocols such as JMAP alongside IMAP
- you have a VPS with a clean IP and control over reverse DNS

## Watch out for

- deliverability depends on IP reputation and DNS, not on the software, and home IPs are usually blocked
- email is critical, so mistakes mean lost or rejected messages
- some enterprise features require the commercial license

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