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Comparison · Comms
Mailu vs Chatwoot
A side-by-side editorial comparison of Mailu and Chatwoot — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.
Mailu vs Chatwoot: at a glance
| Feature | Mailu | Chatwoot |
|---|---|---|
| Sector | Comms | Comms |
| Velocity score | 5.0 | 2.5 |
| Sparks · 30d | 0 | 0 |
| Top themes | self-hosted-email, docker, security-patches, roundcube | customer-support, open-source, ai-agents, omnichannel |
| Last editorial update | 1h ago | 1h ago |
| Website | Visit → | — |
What is Mailu?
A mail server whose entire visible output is patching other people's code.
Mailu is a self-hosted mail suite shipped as a Docker compose stack, and the 2024.06.x branch shown here is its maintenance line. Every release in the window is a single-issue patch — a Roundcube bump, a CVE fix, an autoconfig tweak. The cadence looks high at ten pinned releases in five months, but each carries one change.
What is Chatwoot?
Chatwoot added voice, then pointed its AI agent at the tickets it already resolved.
Chatwoot is an open-source customer engagement platform releasing every few weeks, and the window splits between two threads. One is channel coverage, where voice calls landed in June after years as the most-requested gap. The other is Captain, the built-in AI agent, which has been getting steadily less manual — document refresh in June, and in July the ability to mine resolved conversations for suggested FAQs.
Mailu vs Chatwoot: editorial side-by-side
Mailu
5.0COMMS
A mail server whose entire visible output is patching other people's code.
◆ Current state
Mailu is a self-hosted mail suite shipped as a Docker compose stack, and the 2024.06.x branch shown here is its maintenance line. Every release in the window is a single-issue patch — a Roundcube bump, a CVE fix, an autoconfig tweak. The cadence looks high at ten pinned releases in five months, but each carries one change.
◆ Where it's heading
Most of what Mailu ships is downstream maintenance of its bundled components, Roundcube above all, which drove three of these ten releases. The project's own work here is defensive: escaping user-controlled fields in generated sieve scripts, setting X-Forwarded-By, adapting to Microsoft's new autodiscover. This is a product in steady-state operation, where the release notes track what upstream broke rather than what Mailu decided to build.
◆ Prediction
The next pinned release will most likely be another Roundcube or Alpine bump, since component upgrades triggered half the releases here. These entries say nothing about what is happening on the main branch.
Chatwoot
2.5COMMS
Chatwoot added voice, then pointed its AI agent at the tickets it already resolved.
◆ Current state
Chatwoot is an open-source customer engagement platform releasing every few weeks, and the window splits between two threads. One is channel coverage, where voice calls landed in June after years as the most-requested gap. The other is Captain, the built-in AI agent, which has been getting steadily less manual — document refresh in June, and in July the ability to mine resolved conversations for suggested FAQs.
◆ Where it's heading
The company's own framing for voice is the tell: text channels first, voice only once the foundation was solid. With the channel set now complete, the remaining investment is in making Captain self-maintaining — its knowledge base updates itself and proposes its own content from support history rather than waiting to be fed. The help center work and the mobile AI Assist follow the same logic, putting existing capability everywhere the agent already is.
◆ Prediction
Expect the next release to extend Captain's use of resolved conversations, since both June and July releases moved in that direction. Voice is the more open question — a newly launched channel usually draws follow-up work, but nothing in these entries says what.
Alternatives to Mailu and Chatwoot
Other Comms products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either Mailu or Chatwoot.
Roundcube
After four years, Roundcube 1.7 lands — and the release stream is otherwise all CVEs
Signal Desktop
Signal's beta train is quietly handing group admins real moderation powers.
Notion
Notion is turning itself into the place other companies' agents come to work.
Slack
Slack's app platform is being rebuilt around agents, with the SDKs clearing old ground behind it.
Bird
Monthly digests showing AI chat latency cut hard, in a feed that repeats itself
See all Mailu alternatives → · See all Chatwoot alternatives →
Recent activity from Mailu and Chatwoot
Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.
- 1d agoChatwootMeet the Improved Captain: Smarter Suggestions and a Better Assistant Overview
- 5d agoMailuAutoconfig fix for modern K-9 Mail
- 7d agoMailuRoundcube 1.6.17 closes two CVEs
- 12d agoMailuSets X-Forwarded-By in response to a GHSA advisory
- 26d agoMailuAdmin UI keeps form values on failed submit
- 1mo agoMailuEscapes sieve fields, fixing autoreplies with special characters
- 1mo agoChatwootIntroducing voice calls in Chatwoot ⚡
- 2mo agoChatwootCaptain Documents Now Stay Up to Date
- 2mo agoMailuRoundcube 1.6.16 and carddav 5.1.3 close CVE-2026-49217
- 2mo agoChatwootA better layout for documentation-heavy help centers
- 2mo agoChatwootAI Assist on mobile
- 3mo agoChatwootA clearer chatlist, and a faster help center
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between Mailu and Chatwoot?
They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Mailu is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.
Is Mailu better than Chatwoot?
Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Mailu is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Comms products to evaluate alongside.
What are the best alternatives to Mailu?
Top Mailu alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Mailu alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/mailu for the full list with editorial commentary on each.
What are the best alternatives to Chatwoot?
Top Chatwoot alternatives in Comms are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Chatwoot alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/chatwoot for the full list with editorial commentary on each.