Dovecot
The secure, high-performance email server.
Dovecot is an open-source IMAP and POP3 email server distributed under the LGPLv2.1 license, with a commercial Dovecot Pro variant aimed at service providers. It addresses the need for a secure, standards-compliant mail server that can handle indexing, caching, and mailbox storage without extensive manual tuning.
Key capabilities include advanced indexing and caching for performance, self-optimizing metadata and indexes, self-healing repair of issues such as corrupted index files, and a multi-process architecture for security isolation. A plugin system supports custom extensions and mailbox formats. Server-side mail filtering is provided through the integrated Pigeonhole project using the Sieve language, alongside integrated full-text search for message body and substring queries. Logging and real-time event emission support monitoring and diagnostics.
Dovecot Community Edition is the open-source edition, while Dovecot Pro is the commercial product offering a supported, high-availability platform for service providers. Security advisories are published for both editions, and vulnerabilities can be reported through a confidential GPG-encrypted mailbox or a bug bounty program.
12 alternatives to Dovecot
Ranked by how well each tool replaces Dovecot: shared features, audience, price and popularity.
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Open source55 out of 100 matchContact salesFree PC email system with a modestly priced Internet mail server.
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Free plan55 out of 100 matchContact salesSelf-hosted SMTP/IMAP/POP/Webmail server for Linux and Windows
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Free plan55 out of 100 matchFreeA free email server with privacy and security focus
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Free plan55 out of 100 matchFree