Mox alternative.
For when it's not just your inbox anymore.
Mox is a single-binary mail server aimed at personal, single-domain, run-and-forget use. Vectis Mail is what you reach for when email becomes infrastructure: sending on behalf of an app, hosting mail for clients, warming a dedicated IP, answering to customers. Same modern ideas — built for the multi-tenant, production case, with the deliverability tooling and the support line that case demands.
At a glance
What changes when email stops being personal and starts being infrastructure. Current as of June 2026.
| Vectis Mail | Mox | |
|---|---|---|
| Built for | Multi-tenant platform — apps, agencies, many domains | Personal / single-domain server |
| Multi-tenant + RBAC | Role-based access · domain-scoped API keys · React admin | Multiple domains; no real multi-tenant model |
| Transactional sending | API keys · per-domain rate limits · delivery analytics | webapi (HTTP send) + delivery webhooks |
| Deliverability tooling | 30-day IP warmup · RBL monitoring · per-domain analytics | Reputation tracking; no warmup scheduler |
| Antispam + antivirus | Full Rspamd + ClamAV | Built-in reputation + per-user Bayesian |
| Updates | Atomic 6-phase orchestrator — auto-rollback on failure | Replace the binary + restart |
| Backups + observability | Scheduled backup/restore · built-in metrics + health alerts | Bring your own |
| Support | Pro $39/tenant/mo · Enterprise from $499 with response SLA | Community support, no SLA |
| Webmail | Roundcube bundled | Built-in webmail |
| Transport security | TLS 1.2+ · SPF/DKIM/DMARC | + DANE · MTA-STS · DNSSEC · REQUIRETLS |
| Footprint + licence | Container stack · BSL 1.1 → Apache 2.0 after 4y | One binary, zero deps · MIT |
Mox's single-binary simplicity, MIT licence and DANE/MTA-STS support suit a personal server — we cover where transport security fits. If you're sending for an app or a roster of clients, the top of this table is the list that decides it.
Why teams move to Vectis Mail
The line is simple: the moment an app sends through your server, or you add a second customer, you're running a platform.
Teams move to Vectis Mail when…
- An application sends email on your behalf, or you host mail for more than one domain or customer.
- You need multi-tenant RBAC and an API key scoped to each customer's domain.
- Inbox placement is mission-critical and you want Rspamd + ClamAV, a real IP-warmup ramp, and per-domain deliverability analytics.
- You want updates that snapshot and roll themselves back, scheduled backups, and built-in monitoring.
- You need a vendor and a response SLA — someone to call — with a company accountable behind the product.
How they differ
Mox can send email. Vectis runs your sending operation.
Credit where it's due: Mox isn't just SMTP and IMAP. It ships a webapi for sending over HTTP and delivery webhooks — more than most minimal servers bother with. So "self-hosted transactional email" isn't where we separate.
Where we separate is everything around the send. The day a real application depends on your email, you need a key you can scope and rotate per customer, rate limits so one tenant can't torch a shared IP, analytics to see what's bouncing and why, and a warmup ramp so a fresh IP doesn't get you blocked in week one. That's the difference between an endpoint that sends a message and a platform that runs your sending — and it's the line Vectis Mail is built on.
The day you add a second customer
Mox is designed around one operator running their own server. It can hold multiple domains, but there's no real multi-tenant model — no role-based access, no per-customer API key, no per-domain analytics or spam policy. Vectis Mail treats multi-tenancy as the point: RBAC, domain-scoped keys, per-domain controls, and a React admin built to manage many domains and mailboxes at once. If you're an agency or a SaaS, that's not a nice-to-have — it's the whole job.
DANE is real — but deliverability wins the inbox
On transport security, Mox implements DANE, MTA-STS, DNSSEC and REQUIRETLS at the SMTP layer. If downgrade-resistant SMTP is central to your threat model, weigh that for yourself.
But for almost every sender, that's not what decides whether mail lands. Inbox placement is won on SPF, DKIM, DMARC, a clean IP, careful warmup and reputation monitoring — and that's exactly where Vectis Mail concentrates: full Rspamd, ClamAV antivirus, a 30-day warmup schedule, RBL monitoring, and per-domain deliverability analytics. DANE hardens how your mail travels; deliverability tooling decides whether it arrives. For a sending platform, the second one moves the revenue.
Who do you call?
Mox is a community open-source project with no commercial vendor or support line behind it — which, for a business, is part of the risk. When production mail is down and your customers aren't getting password resets, "open a GitHub issue" is not an incident response. Vectis Mail has a company behind it and a response SLA on the Enterprise tier, with priority support on Pro. You're buying not just the software but a team who is accountable when it matters.
Migrating from Mox to Vectis Mail
Both expose IMAP, so mailbox data moves with standard tooling:
- Stand up Vectis Mail on a fresh VPS via the installation guide, DNS still on Mox.
- Sync mailboxes with
imapsyncfrom Mox's IMAP to Vectis Mail's Dovecot IMAP. - Generate new DKIM keys on Vectis Mail and publish alongside the existing ones; run both in parallel during cutover.
- Re-point your app from Mox's webapi to the Vectis sending API — issue a domain-scoped key, update the endpoint and payload.
- Cut DNS over: switch MX to Vectis Mail. If you published DANE (TLSA) or MTA-STS records for Mox, review or remove them as part of the switch.
- Verify + decommission after a few clean days.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between Mox and Vectis Mail?
Scale and scope. Mox is a single Go binary built for low-maintenance personal email — a personal, single-domain server with minimal moving parts. Vectis Mail is a multi-tenant platform for when email becomes infrastructure: sending on behalf of an app, hosting mail for many domains or clients, warming a dedicated IP, with RBAC, domain-scoped API keys, per-domain analytics, Rspamd + ClamAV, atomic updates with rollback, and a support SLA. Vectis Mail is where you go when one mailbox becomes a mail operation.
Does Mox have a transactional email API?
Yes — Mox ships a webapi for sending over HTTP plus delivery webhooks, which is more than most minimal servers offer. The difference is everything around the API. Vectis Mail wraps sending in domain-scoped keys, per-domain rate limits and delivery analytics, multi-tenant RBAC, and IP-warmup tracking — the machinery you need the moment you're sending for more than yourself. Mox can send email; Vectis runs your sending operation.
What about DANE and modern SMTP transport security?
Mox implements DANE, MTA-STS, DNSSEC and REQUIRETLS at the transport layer. What actually determines whether your mail reaches the inbox, though, is SPF, DKIM, DMARC, a clean IP, careful warmup and reputation monitoring — and that's exactly where Vectis Mail invests: full Rspamd, ClamAV, a 30-day warmup ramp, RBL monitoring and per-domain deliverability analytics. Transport security hardens how mail travels; deliverability tooling decides whether it arrives.
Is Mox a good fit for multi-tenant or SaaS email?
Mox can host multiple domains, but it's designed around a single operator running their own server — there's no real multi-tenant model. Vectis Mail is built for exactly that case: RBAC, an API key scoped per customer domain, per-domain analytics and spam controls, IP-warmup tracking, and a React admin UI to manage it all. If you're sending for an app or running mail for clients, that's the line where you've outgrown Mox.
Is Vectis Mail overkill for a single personal mailbox?
Vectis Mail is built for the platform case — multi-tenant, application sending, many domains, IP warmup, and a support SLA. If you only ever need a single personal mailbox on one domain, with no application sending on your behalf and no customers, you won't use most of that machinery. The line is simple: the moment an application starts sending through your server, or you add a second customer, you're running a platform — and that's the job Vectis Mail is built for.
Try Vectis Mail
The multi-tenant mail platform, on your own VPS. Free to start, no per-email pricing.
Other Vectis Mail alternatives
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vs Stalwart →
The from-scratch Rust all-in-one vs the proven stack with a transactional API and a support SLA.
vs Mailcow →
Same Postfix/Dovecot/Rspamd stack, modern surface: declarative YAML, REST API, atomic updates.
vs SendGrid →
Same API surface, no per-email pricing. Flat pricing covers unlimited sending volume.
vs Postmark →
Flat self-host pricing vs the developer-loved transactional SaaS. Same API, mailboxes included.