Modoboa

Mail hosting platform that runs on top of Postfix and Dovecot and adds an admin panel, webmail, calendar and contacts in one web interface.

3.5k stars, 491 forks Python On GitHub since April 2013

Visit website View on GitHub How to run it

Modoboa at a glance

Open sourceYes, ISCNo paid parts in the repository
Health71 of 100Actively developed
Self-hostingDockerCompose file, 12 services
Interface24 languagesIncluding English, German and French
Issue repliesWithin ~25 hoursMedian first reply; 30% of recent issues answered

What is Modoboa?

Modoboa turns a Postfix and Dovecot server into a managed mail platform. Administrators get a web panel, and users get webmail, a calendar, an address book, per-user Sieve filters and auto-reply messages. The components share one SQL database, which can be MySQL, MariaDB, PostgreSQL or SQLite. It also works as a front end for the Amavis content filter, protects sending reputation with DNSBL checks and DMARC reports, and draws graphs of email traffic. The back end is Python with Django and the interface is built with Vue. Every feature is written as an extension. Modoboa's interface comes in 24 languages.

Good fit if

  • You want to move mailboxes off a paid hosted email service and manage them from a browser.
  • You already know Postfix and Dovecot and want a management layer over them rather than a sealed appliance.
  • Your users expect a calendar and contacts next to their webmail.

Look elsewhere if

  • You prefer a mail stack packaged entirely as containers: Mailcow or Mailu.
  • You only need a webmail client for a mail server you already run: Roundcube.

Before you adopt it

Modoboa uses the permissive ISC license, and the repository has no paid parts. A separate commercial edition, Modoboa Pro, adds advanced features and dedicated support, and the team also sells support plans and professional services. Development is essentially a single developer's work: two authors committed in the last 90 days, one of them almost all of it. The official installer is the recommended route, and the repository also holds a Docker Compose setup with Redis and MySQL. Version 2.12.0 came out in October 2026.

Drafted with AI from the project's README and repository data, then checked against that data on 7 November 2026. Report a correction

How to run Modoboa yourself

One-click install

Not listed in the app catalogs of Umbrel, YunoHost, TrueNAS, Unraid, CasaOS, Runtipi, Proxmox VE Helper-Scripts and Coolify.

Ways to install

Docker files
Dockerfile or compose file in the repository
Compose file
docker-compose.yml: 12 services (redis, mysql)
Setup effort
4 of 5, judged from the compose file
Kubernetes
No Helm chart in the repository
Desktop and mobile
No app builds in GitHub releases
Interface languages
24 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish, Russian, Ukrainian and Turkish
Show all 24

Breton, Chinese, Czech, Dutch, English, Finnish, French, Georgian, German, Greek, Hungarian, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Russian, Sinhala, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish, Ukrainian

Install instructions: modoboa.org or the README on GitHub.

Modoboa health: is it still maintained?

71 of 100, actively developed

Release rhythmEvery ~15 daysLatest: 2.12.0, 26 October 2026
Issue repliesWithin ~25 hoursMedian first reply; 30% of recent issues answered
Bus factorHigh riskThe most active of 2 authors wrote 99% of recent commits
  • Activity
    423 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 11 November 2026.
    30 / 30
  • Contributors
    2 people wrote the latest 100 commits; the most active wrote 99% of them.
    4 / 20
  • Releases
    15+ releases in the last 12 months; the latest, 2.12.0, on 26 October 2026.
    19 / 20
  • Replies to issues
    Maintainers answered 30% of recent issues, with a median first reply after 25 hours.
    12 / 20
  • Security practices
    OpenSSF Scorecard 5.6 of 10.
    6 / 10

Read from GitHub on 12 November 2026. How the score works

Modoboa security

Security advisories are the vulnerabilities the maintainers disclosed on GitHub, with the versions that fix them; many advisories can mean careful disclosure as much as weak code. OpenSSF Scorecard checks how a project is developed and released: reviews, protected branches, pinned dependencies, signed releases. It does not audit the code itself.

Security advisories4 published2 high; all list a fixed version
OpenSSF Scorecard5.6 of 10How the project is built and released
Security policyYesExplains how to report a vulnerability

Latest advisories

All 4 advisories on GitHub

What each Scorecard check found

  • Binary files10 / 10No compiled binaries checked into the repository
  • Dangerous workflows10 / 10No risky patterns in GitHub Actions
  • License file10 / 10A license file is present
  • Maintained10 / 10Steady commits and issue activity in the last 90 days
  • Packaging10 / 10Releases are published as packages from CI
  • Security policy10 / 10Explains how to report a vulnerability
  • Code review2 / 10Some changes are merged without review
  • Best-practices badge0 / 10No OpenSSF Best Practices badge
  • Fuzzing0 / 10No fuzz testing found
  • Pinned dependencies0 / 10Dependencies are not pinned to fixed versions
  • Static analysis0 / 10No static analysis found
  • Token permissions0 / 10CI tokens have broad write rights

Advisories read from GitHub on 12 November 2026. From the OpenSSF Scorecard of 2 November 2026; checks that do not apply to Modoboa are left out.

Modoboa license: is it open source?

Modoboa uses ISC, an open-source license approved by the OSI.

  1. April 2013First published on GitHub.
  2. TodayISC.

Modoboa for developers

Written in

  • Python 77%
  • Vue 18%
  • JavaScript 3%
  • HTML <1%
  • SCSS <1%
  • Other <1%

Getting involved

Good first issues12Open, labelled “good-first-issue”Contributing guideYesCONTRIBUTING.mdOpen issues35On GitHub
Authors, 90 days2Of the latest 100 commits
DonationsGitHub SponsorsListed on GitHub

Language shares are GitHub’s count of the code in the repository.

Alternatives to Modoboa

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Questions about Modoboa

Is Modoboa open source?

Yes. Modoboa is published under ISC, an OSI-approved open-source license.

Is Modoboa still maintained?

Its health score is 71 of 100 (actively developed). It had 423 commits in the last 90 days, the latest on 11 November 2026, and its latest release came out on 26 October 2026.

How do I run Modoboa?

You can run it with Docker. The README on GitHub has the exact steps.

What is Modoboa written in?

Modoboa is written mainly in Python (77% of the code), with Vue (18%), by GitHub’s count of the repository.

What languages is Modoboa available in?

The repository has interface translations for 24 languages, including English, German, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, Polish and Russian.

What are the alternatives to Modoboa?

Close alternatives in the Email servers & webmail category include docker-mailserver, Mailcow, Mailu.