Dovecot
IMAP and POP3 server written primarily with security in mind.
High commit volume, frequent releases and growing activity.
Commit activity more than 87% of tracked projects; popularity more than 39%. How this is calculated.
Is Dovecot actively maintained?
Over the last 11 months the project absorbed 1653 commits, of which 518 arrived in the most recent quarter — roughly 173 commits a month.
The most recent tagged release, 2.4.5, shipped within the last month — a current, installable version exists today.
Among the 3 communication - email - mail delivery agents projects we track, Dovecot currently has the highest health score.
What Dovecot actually does
Dovecot is a mail delivery agent providing IMAP and POP3 server functionality. It handles message retrieval for email clients, with a primary focus on security implementation. Written in C, it serves as a core component for self-hosted mail infrastructures.
Best fit: It suits administrators building a custom mail server from scratch who require a standard-compliant IMAP and POP3 daemon. It fits environments prioritising established mail delivery agents with active maintenance.
Worth knowing: Configuring a mail server securely involves significant operational complexity and careful handling of encryption certificates. Misconfiguration can easily lead to open relay vulnerabilities or delivery failures.
Deployment notes
As a compiled C application packaged via debian binaries, it typically runs directly on the host operating system with persistent storage required for mail directories. You will usually need to manage system service files and configure a separate TLS termination layer.
Links
Alternatives to Dovecot
Projects in the same categories, ordered by health score.
Email (IMAP/POP3), contacts and calendar server.
POP/IMAP/SMTP/Caldav/Carddav/LDAP exchange gateway allowing users to use any mail/calendar client with an Exchange server, even from the internet or behind a firewall through Outlook Web Access.