Self-hosted email that gets delivered

Every ask, newest first

Each line is an AI paraphrase of what the writer wanted. The link goes to their own words on Hacker News.

Reader’s note. Older asks want the webmail, newer ones want deliverability.

1. Aug 2026Wants to self-host email without messages landing in spam or vanishing, and without needing Google, Microsoft or Proton. Read it: a comment in “Self hosted email continues to steeply decline”
2. Jun 2026Wants a self-hostable email stack built on serverless Cloudflare Email, paying only for usage. Read it: a comment in “[dead]”
3. Sep 2022Wants a simple self-hosted email solution after maintenance burdens and missed mail pushed them back to Outlook. Read it: a comment in “What to do when Gmail marks all the mails from your server as spam”
4. Sep 2022Wants a one-click download-and-run email server that updates itself, without needing to learn the acronyms and patching. Read it: a comment in “Self-hosted email is the hardest it's ever been, but also the easiest”
5. Nov 2016Wants a self-hosted, open source Gmail clone of comparable quality. Read it: a comment in “Google reverses its ‘digital death sentence’ for Pixel phone resellers”
6. Jan 2014Wants an open source Gmail-like webmail on their own server with conversations, contacts and chat, not Exchange. Read it: a comment in “Gmail was down”
7. Nov 2013Would pay a non-Google provider who nails the basics and adds mobile sync and a Gmail-like interface. Read it: a comment in “Show HN: I'm working on an open-source Gmail replacement”
8. Feb 2013Wants a preconfigured drop-in self-hosted email setup with a good remote web front end. Read it: a comment in “Apple’s Deleting iCloud Emails That Contain The Phrase 'Barely Legal Teens'”
9. Jul 2011Would pay for a preconfigured email appliance with decent spam filtering, since Postfix setup is daunting. Read it: a comment in “I’ve been suspended from Google+”
10. Nov 2010Wants a self-hosted Gmail-like web interface for their own mail server, with search, threading and XMPP-compatible chat. Read it: a post: “Ask HN: Know of a Gmailish Interface for Self-Hosted Email?”
11. May 2010Wants self-hosted mail software with spam filtering as good as Gmail's, plus plus-addressing and the other Gmail conveniences. Read it: a comment in “Gmail has become unusably slow”
12. Apr 2010Wants an open source Gmail-style front end for a personal mail server, after privacy worries. Read it: a comment in “Obama administration wanted warrantless access rights to most US email”
13. Feb 2010Asks for open source webmail recommendations as a Gmail alternative. Read it: a comment in “Ask HN: Gmail alternatives?”
14. Nov 2009Wants open source Gmail-quality webmail with XMPP for personal servers, sold as a purchase plus support. Read it: a comment in “O'Reilly: "We're heading into a war for control of the web."”