Dovecot VS Mail-in-a-Box

Mail server using Postfix, Dovecot, and Rspamd

Eventually I will set up Dovecot as a local IMAP server, pointing to that Maildir. When I've done this before, I've set up a self-signed certificate so Apple Mail wouldn't complain.

You might want to use dovecot for this if I understandyou correctly

If you really want to try it (and keep it up to date for security fixes, check and handle any relay issues or possible spam attackers) then look at Dovecot or Kerio

An IMAP server. I have a strong preference for dovecot for this.

I'd do it with a local IMAP server in conjunction with a webmail client that connects to it. Dovecot is a fantastic and easy to use IMAP server. Webmail clients are a pretty personal thing, but the last time I used Roundcube it seemed pretty good.

For the record, I'm using dovecot (https://www.dovecot.org/) for IMAP and Haraka (https://haraka.github.io/) for SMTP.

self hosting mail is always a pain and can take up a lot of support time and you really need to know your stuff. I always use Plesk witch configures Dovecot. But if there is anyway you can push them to use an external service you should do that.

I run a mail server on DigitalOcean for a few domains using a fairly standard FreeBSD setup running dovecot and postfix. If you're set up your preferred stack on another hosting provider before, you're aware of all the pitfalls:

may i recommend https://mailinabox.email ?

I don't see why we are a long way away. At the sandstorm end, we need to get to the point, where all updates (of both sandstorm and the apps) on the user machine are automatic. Much like they are automatic on various OSes (mobile OSes in particular but also MacOS/Windows). This is not impossible if a single OS like Debian-testing is targeted.

Mailinabox [1] almost does it. They target Ubuntu stable, and upgrades are mostly silent. But they needed user intervention when Ubuntu had to be upgraded from 18.10 to 22.04, which was quite challenging.

If sandstorm can get there, then putting it into a RPi box is simple. What's difficult is helping the general public understand the importance of protecting their data, so such a product has a reasonable market.

[1] https://mailinabox.email/

If you have a better solution, for example a good provider who offer agency packages which allows many domains and there is no catch, for example very small disk space, then hit me right away. Otherwise, please share your experience with hosting your own mail service. I found https://mailinabox.email/ and https://www.iredmail.org/ for example, but never had any experience with neither of them.

mailinabox.email works great on a basic vps.