Postal is a complete open source mail server that handles both incoming and outgoing email delivery for websites and web applications. It provides the core functionality of commercial services like Sendgrid, Mailgun, or Postmark but runs on your own infrastructure, giving you full control over your mail delivery platform.
The tool solves the problem of managing email delivery at scale without relying on third-party services. It handles SMTP-based mail submission from applications, processes incoming mail, and manages the full lifecycle of message delivery including bounces, complaints, and delivery tracking. The platform includes a web interface for configuration and monitoring, support for multiple organizations and mail servers within a single installation, and detailed logging and statistics about mail flow.
Postal suits organizations that need to send transactional email from their applications or websites and want to avoid vendor lock-in or recurring costs associated with hosted mail services. It works well for teams with the infrastructure expertise to run and maintain a mail server, as it requires server setup, DNS configuration for SPF and DKIM, and ongoing system administration. The project is appropriate for deployments where you control the hosting environment and can manage the operational requirements of a mail server.
The project shows consistent maintenance with regular commits addressing bug fixes and feature improvements. Development activity includes responsiveness to issues raised by users, with maintainers engaging in discussions and providing guidance on implementation questions. The codebase receives updates that refine existing functionality and address compatibility concerns, indicating active stewardship of the platform's stability and usability.
