{"slug": "mail-in-a-box", "name": "Mail-in-a-Box", "category": "communication", "category_name": "Email and chat", "description": "", "recommenders": 5, "commenters": 6, "warners": 0, "score": 4.811, "rising": -0.31, "first": "2025-11-24", "latest": "2026-10-05", "why": "I switched to using Mail-in-a-Box (https://mailinabox.email/) which makes management a lot easier than configuring each service manually.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 5, "neutral": 1, "compare": 0, "warn": 0}, "spark": [1, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 0, 1, 0, 0, 1], "listed": true, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "I switched to using Mail-in-a-Box (https://mailinabox.email/) which makes management a lot easier than configuring each service manually.", "kind": "", "icon": true, "domain": "mailinabox.email", "github_repo": null, "official_url": "https://mailinabox.email", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["Mail-in-a-Box", "Mail-in-a-box"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 799398336, "item_id": 49962396, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49962396", "by": "drpixie", "date": "2026-10-05", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been very happy with it.", "excerpt": "I've been self-hosting (using a server at home) using MailInABox ( https://mailinabox.email ) for around 5 years. I've been very happy with it. I have a perfectly normal email service, over which I have full control. MailInABox handles all the necessary DKIM etc. I had minor hassles, when I first started, with sending to google and microsoft, but these were reasonably easily managed by following microsoft's advice. (", "context": "self-hosts email on a home server", "use_case": "Self-hosted mail server", "switched_from": "", "story": "All I wanted was a custom domain email"}, {"id": 784651072, "item_id": 49040692, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49040692", "by": "eljimmy", "date": "2026-07-24", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to using Mail-in-a-Box (https://mailinabox.email/) which makes management a lot easier than configuring each service manually.", "excerpt": "I've been self-hosting for 20 years now - a few years ago I switched to using Mail-in-a-Box (https://mailinabox.email/) which makes management a lot easier than configuring each service manually. It definitely requires some effort but once you've got it up and running it's pretty hands off. The only issues I've ever had are expiring certs but I've fixed that by configuring auto-renewals and it's all good now. Ensurin", "context": "self-hosting for 20 years", "use_case": "self-hosted email", "switched_from": "", "story": "Self-host your mail server"}, {"id": 772667232, "item_id": 48291702, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48291702", "by": "graemep", "date": "2026-05-27", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For something simple try https://mailinabox.email/", "excerpt": "A VPS will not be cheaper - but you may get more for your money (more storage, unlimited accounts). For something simple try https://mailinabox.email/ > would love to switch to some VPS/root or anything where I can SSH and install, compile my own services, but something where security is high and support is 24/7 available. Those sound like expensive requirements to me. You want managed self hosted email? Some else pr", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Posthorn, self-hosted mail without the mail server"}, {"id": 769074400, "item_id": 48067150, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48067150", "by": "abdullahkhalids", "date": "2026-05-08", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the ones I do are delivered", "excerpt": "Have been using Mail-in-a-box [1] for about 5 years [1]. I haven't done any maintenance for at least 3 years, besides occasionally clicking restart in the admin webpanel every time it does serious security updates. I don't send a lot of emails from it, but the ones I do are delivered. [1] https://mailinabox.email/", "context": "", "use_case": "Self-hosted mail server", "switched_from": "", "story": "Serving a Website on a Raspberry Pi Zero Running in RAM"}, {"id": 736559280, "item_id": 46034955, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46034955", "by": "randallsquared", "date": "2025-11-24", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to mail-in-a-box in 2014, and contributed a few minor fixes", "excerpt": "I ran my own mail server from 1998 through 2019, and set up a FreeBSD mail server as one of my first contract jobs in 1998 or 1999. I used Sendmail, Exim, Postfix, and qmail at various times. I switched to mail-in-a-box in 2014, and contributed a few minor fixes, then (which I'd forgotten about until I idly looked to see, just now). Throughout 20 years of running my own mail server for companies, friends, and myself,", "context": "", "use_case": "Self-hosted mail server", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Cloudflare outage might be a good thing"}]}], "caveats": [], "who": [{"by": "drpixie", "context": "self-hosts email on a home server", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49962396", "date": "2026-10-05"}, {"by": "eljimmy", "context": "self-hosting for 20 years", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49040692", "date": "2026-07-24"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["self-hosted mail server", "self-hosted email"], "compared": [], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49020751", "title": "Self-host your mail server", "mentions": 2}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49956092", "title": "All I wanted was a custom domain email", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48289624", "title": "Show HN: Posthorn, self-hosted mail without the mail server", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48064312", "title": "Serving a Website on a Raspberry Pi Zero Running in RAM", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46029908", "title": "The Cloudflare outage might be a good thing", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"recommend": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {"recommend": 2}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"neutral": 1, "recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {}, "2026-10": {"recommend": 1}}, "versions": [], "version_unnamed": 0, "family_ref": null, "runs_on": null, "lines": [], "quotes": [{"id": 799398336, "item_id": 49962396, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49962396", "by": "drpixie", "date": "2026-10-05", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I've been very happy with it.", "excerpt": "I've been self-hosting (using a server at home) using MailInABox ( https://mailinabox.email ) for around 5 years. I've been very happy with it. I have a perfectly normal email service, over which I have full control. MailInABox handles all the necessary DKIM etc. I had minor hassles, when I first started, with sending to google and microsoft, but these were reasonably easily managed by following microsoft's advice. (", "context": "self-hosts email on a home server", "use_case": "Self-hosted mail server", "switched_from": "", "story": "All I wanted was a custom domain email"}, {"id": 784651072, "item_id": 49040692, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49040692", "by": "eljimmy", "date": "2026-07-24", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to using Mail-in-a-Box (https://mailinabox.email/) which makes management a lot easier than configuring each service manually.", "excerpt": "I've been self-hosting for 20 years now - a few years ago I switched to using Mail-in-a-Box (https://mailinabox.email/) which makes management a lot easier than configuring each service manually. It definitely requires some effort but once you've got it up and running it's pretty hands off. The only issues I've ever had are expiring certs but I've fixed that by configuring auto-renewals and it's all good now. Ensurin", "context": "self-hosting for 20 years", "use_case": "self-hosted email", "switched_from": "", "story": "Self-host your mail server"}, {"id": 784645313, "item_id": 49040332, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49040332", "by": "dangerboysteve", "date": "2026-07-24", "version": null, "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Some out of the box solutions.", "excerpt": "Some out of the box solutions. https://www.iredmail.org https://mailinabox.email/", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Self-host your mail server"}, {"id": 772667232, "item_id": 48291702, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48291702", "by": "graemep", "date": "2026-05-27", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "For something simple try https://mailinabox.email/", "excerpt": "A VPS will not be cheaper - but you may get more for your money (more storage, unlimited accounts). For something simple try https://mailinabox.email/ > would love to switch to some VPS/root or anything where I can SSH and install, compile my own services, but something where security is high and support is 24/7 available. Those sound like expensive requirements to me. You want managed self hosted email? Some else pr", "context": "", "use_case": "", "switched_from": "", "story": "Show HN: Posthorn, self-hosted mail without the mail server"}, {"id": 769074400, "item_id": 48067150, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48067150", "by": "abdullahkhalids", "date": "2026-05-08", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "the ones I do are delivered", "excerpt": "Have been using Mail-in-a-box [1] for about 5 years [1]. I haven't done any maintenance for at least 3 years, besides occasionally clicking restart in the admin webpanel every time it does serious security updates. I don't send a lot of emails from it, but the ones I do are delivered. [1] https://mailinabox.email/", "context": "", "use_case": "Self-hosted mail server", "switched_from": "", "story": "Serving a Website on a Raspberry Pi Zero Running in RAM"}, {"id": 736559280, "item_id": 46034955, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46034955", "by": "randallsquared", "date": "2025-11-24", "version": null, "stance": "recommend", "quote": "I switched to mail-in-a-box in 2014, and contributed a few minor fixes", "excerpt": "I ran my own mail server from 1998 through 2019, and set up a FreeBSD mail server as one of my first contract jobs in 1998 or 1999. I used Sendmail, Exim, Postfix, and qmail at various times. I switched to mail-in-a-box in 2014, and contributed a few minor fixes, then (which I'd forgotten about until I idly looked to see, just now). Throughout 20 years of running my own mail server for companies, friends, and myself,", "context": "", "use_case": "Self-hosted mail server", "switched_from": "", "story": "The Cloudflare outage might be a good thing"}]}