Courier MTA vs Exim
A side-by-side comparison of Courier MTA and Exim — pricing, license, deployment, and where each tool wins.
Courier MTA
courier-mta.org
Fast, scalable, enterprise mail/groupware server providing ESMTP, IMAP, POP3, webmail, mailing list, basic web-based calendaring and scheduling services.
Exim
exim.org
Message transfer agent (MTA) developed at the University of Cambridge.
| Feature | Courier MTA | Exim |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free | Free |
| Model | Open-source | Open-source |
| License | CC-BY-SA-3.0 | CC-BY-SA-3.0 |
| Deployment | Self-hosted | Self-hosted |
| Category | Communication - Email - Mail Transfer Agents | Communication - Email - Mail Transfer Agents |
| Self-hosted | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
| Free tier | ✓Yes | ✓Yes |
Pick Courier MTA if…
- ✓You prefer Courier MTA's feature set or ecosystem fit.
Pick Exim if…
- ✓You prefer Exim's feature set or ecosystem fit.
Switch from Courier MTA → Exim
4–16hmedium risk
Plan a sprint — 4-16 engineering hours, run in parallel for a week.
Export from Courier MTA: CSV, JSON
1 things to watch
- ⚠Manual data review recommended
Switch from Exim → Courier MTA
4–16hmedium risk
Plan a sprint — 4-16 engineering hours, run in parallel for a week.
Export from Exim: CSV, JSON
1 things to watch
- ⚠Manual data review recommended