Gmail (Google Workspace) vs Mailcow-dockerized
Gmail (Google Workspace) and Mailcow-dockerized are both email server software. Gmail (Google Workspace) is a commercial product from Google. Mailcow-dockerized is open source under GPL-3.0, with 14k GitHub stars.
Which to pick
- Pick Gmail (Google Workspace) when
- A business wants reliable hosted email with strong spam filtering and works mostly in the browser.
- Pick Mailcow-dockerized when
- You want to host email for several domains yourself with a full admin interface.
Side by side
Business email on your own domain using Gmail, with spam filtering, shared calendars and admin controls through Google Workspace.
A Docker Compose mail server suite with Postfix, Dovecot, Rspamd, SOGo webmail and groupware, and an admin UI for domains and mailboxes.
Moving away later is a chore, and shared mailboxes and delegation are weaker than in Exchange.
Running your own mail means handling deliverability, IP reputation and security updates yourself.
Production-ready (both)
Cloud service and mobile app
Self-hosted server
Not published
Docker, Postfix, Dovecot, Rspamd, PHP and MariaDB
Closed source, sold by Google
Open source, GPL-3.0 (strong copyleft)
Closed source: you use it under the maker's terms and cannot change or resell the code.
Use inside your business is unrestricted, but anything you distribute that includes it must be released under the same license.
90k Wikipedia readers a month on phones
14k GitHub stars
Not known
Established: started 10 years ago, latest release 2026-10.
Other comparisons
More email servers and webmail
Both sides were judged on 2026-11-03 from makers' descriptions, Wikipedia, READMEs and GitHub data. License, age and popularity lines are worked out directly.