Postfix
A widely used open-source mail transfer agent for routing and delivering email.
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About Postfix
Postfix is Wietse Venema's mail server, started at IBM Research as an alternative to Sendmail. It aims to be fast, easy to administer and secure, with a Sendmail-like outside and a completely different internal design.
It builds from source on Unix-like systems including Linux, BSD, macOS, AIX and Solaris, and most operating systems also ship ready-made packages. It handles sending and routing mail, so it is usually paired with an IMAP server such as Dovecot.
Strengths
- Security-focused design
- Runs on many Unix-like systems
- Packaged by most operating systems
- Extensive documentation
Limitations
- Transfer agent only; needs a separate IMAP server for mailboxes
- Configuration requires mail server knowledge
Details
- Pricing
- FreeFree and open source.
- License
- Open source, license not stated
- Developer
- Wietse Venema
- Platforms
- macOS, Linux, Self-hosted
- How it runs
- Self-hosted
- Account
- Not required
- Best suited for
- Administrators who need a dependable MTA for sending and routing mail
- Categories
- Email clients, IT administration
- Last verified
- Added
- Provenance
- Facts checked against the developer's own pages and store listings, 1 sources on file.
Alternatives to Postfix
Compare allSoftware that can replace Postfix for an important use case, and what changes if you switch.
Exim
An open-source mail transfer agent for Unix systems with flexible routing and mail checking.
Exim is a GPL-licensed MTA offering very flexible routing and extensive checks on incoming mail, acting as a drop-in Sendmail replacement with a more complex configuration.
OpenSMTPD
A free SMTP server from the OpenBSD project for sending and receiving email.
OpenSMTPD comes from the OpenBSD project under the permissive ISC license and is simpler to configure than many SMTP servers, with a portable version for Linux.
Mox
An all-in-one open-source mail server for low-maintenance self-hosted email.
Mox replaces Postfix with one program that also covers IMAP and webmail, with built-in DKIM, SPF, DMARC and automatic TLS, though it is less widely deployed.
Similar software
Related functionality, not necessarily a direct replacement.
Dovecot
An open-source IMAP and POP3 server that stores mailboxes and serves them to mail clients.
Cyrus IMAP
An open-source email, contacts and calendar server with IMAP, JMAP, CalDAV and CardDAV support.
Mailu
A full-featured self-hosted mail server delivered as a set of Docker images.
docker-mailserver
A complete mail server with SMTP, IMAP, antispam and antivirus, packaged as a single container.
Google Postmaster Tools
Google's web dashboard for checking a sending domain's reputation and mail deliverability to Gmail.
