maddy alternatives
Providers that compete with maddy on at least one of: Self-hosted
Composable all-in-one mail server.
Switching as developers picking email infrastructure
The question here is which one a backend engineer would rather operate. That means SDK depth in the language already in use, whether a retry can safely be replayed, how much the event log tells you when a customer says the email never arrived, and whether the pricing curve stays sane as volume grows.
maddy does not cover SDK breadth, idempotency keys, event stream, and webhook coverage. Novu, Plunk, and Postal close that gap. The order below weighs this audience's priorities first, so it differs from a general popularity ranking.
ranked for developers picking email infrastructure
- 01
Novu
Notifications Self-hostedOpen-source notification infrastructure.
Adds SDK breadth, idempotency keys, event stream, and webhook coverage over maddy, with nothing given up on these priorities.
30,000 events/mo on cloud, free self-hosted · $250/mo (Business cloud) - 02
Plunk
Self-hosted MarketingOpen-source unified email platform.
Adds SDK breadth, event stream, and webhook coverage over maddy, with nothing given up on these priorities.
3,000/mo on hosted free plan · $19/mo or self-host - 03
Postal
Self-hosted TransactionalOpen-source mail delivery platform.
Adds SDK breadth, event stream, and webhook coverage over maddy, with nothing given up on these priorities.
Free, self-hosted · Self-hosted only - 04
Ghost
Newsletter Self-hostedOpen-source publishing with built-in memberships and email.
Adds SDK breadth and webhook coverage over maddy, with nothing given up on these priorities.
Self-hosted is free (your infra cost) · Ghost Pro from $9/mo - 05
Listmonk
Newsletter Self-hostedSelf-hosted newsletter and mailing list manager.
Adds event stream and webhook coverage over maddy, with nothing given up on these priorities.
Free, self-hosted · Self-hosted only - 06
mailcow
Self-hostedDockerized groupware and email server suite.
Adds event stream over maddy, with nothing given up on these priorities.
Free self-hosted, GPL-3.0 · Free self-hosted - 07
Cuttlefish
Self-hosted TransactionalOpen-source transactional email server with a web UI.
Adds event stream over maddy, with nothing given up on these priorities.
Free self-hosted, open source · Free self-hosted
maddy and its alternatives, side by side
Columns are the priorities developers picking email infrastructure weigh, in order. maddy is the first row so the trade in each direction is readable at a glance.
| Provider | DX score | SDKs | Idempotency keys | Operating since | Event stream | Best published rate per 1,000 | Webhooks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| maddy | 6/10 | None | No | Not published | No | Tiers not published in comparable form | No |
| Novu | 8/10 | node, python, go, php, java, dotnet | Yes | 2021 | Yes | Tiers not published in comparable form | Yes |
| Plunk | 7/10 | node, python | No | Not published | Yes | Tiers not published in comparable form | Yes |
| Postal | 6/10 | node, ruby, php | No | Not published | Yes | Tiers not published in comparable form | Yes |
| Ghost | 7/10 | node | No | 2013 | No | Tiers not published in comparable form | Yes |
| Listmonk | 7/10 | None | No | Not published | Yes | Tiers not published in comparable form | Yes |
| mailcow | 7/10 | None | No | Not published | Yes | Tiers not published in comparable form | No |
| Cuttlefish | 6/10 | None | No | Not published | Yes | Tiers not published in comparable form | No |
Novu, Plunk, and Postal add capability without giving anything up on these priorities. The rest trade one thing for another.