Best self-hosted communication - email - mail delivery agents
[Mail Delivery Agents](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Message_delivery_agent) (MDAs) - [IMAP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet_Message_Access_Protocol)/[POP3](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Post_Office_Protocol) server software.
We track 3 self-hosted communication - email - mail delivery agents projects. The median health score in this category is 81, against 2 projects rated healthy or better and none currently flagged as at risk. The table below is ordered by health score, not popularity — the most starred project in a category is frequently not the best maintained one.
| # | Project | Health | Activity | Stars | Built with | Last release |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dovecot IMAP and POP3 server written primarily with security in mind. | Thriving · 83 | 1.3k | C, deb | 28 Aug 2026 | |
| 2 | Cyrus IMAP Email (IMAP/POP3), contacts and calendar server. | Healthy · 81 | 649 | C | 9 Sept 2026 | |
| 3 | DavMail POP/IMAP/SMTP/Caldav/Carddav/LDAP exchange gateway allowing users to use any mail/calendar client with an Exchange serve | Steady · 58 | 761 | Java | — |
Which one should you run?
If you want the safest bet on longevity, Dovecot is the best-maintained project in this category right now at 83/100. Cyrus IMAP is the closest runner-up (81/100) — see the side-by-side comparison.
A health score measures whether a project is alive and shipping. It does not measure whether it has the feature you need. Use it to rule options out, then compare on features.