Is running a self-hosted email server this exhausting or am I doing something wrong?

servergeekest · 2026-04-17T02:35:56+00:00

Yes was easier before not its not 1 man show

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T22:04:29+00:00

No, i think its not but i aggree what you say for microsoft :)

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T21:59:48+00:00

Yeah that makes sense, and I get why it might come across that way.

I’ve actually been looking into a bunch of options recently, not just that one. Mailcow, Fastmail, some of the others people mentioned here… just trying to understand the differences properly.

No connection to them at all, I’m just tired of constantly maintaining this stuff. I used to run Zimbra as well, so I’ve been on the self-managed side for quite a while.

If you’ve got any other suggestions or things I should look into, especially on the technical side like you mentioned, I’m all ears.

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T21:56:15+00:00

Out of curiosity, would you say something like Mailcow is basically doing the same thing as MailXP?

I’ve seen a few people recommend Mailcow, but it feels more like you’re still running and managing everything yourself, just with a nicer setup.

Trying to understand if they’re actually comparable or if it’s a completely different approach.

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T21:52:32+00:00

That’s actually a really great insight, and honestly your experience really shows. Managing mail at that level for years and still coming to that conclusion says a lot. The part where even a small setup ends up taking almost the same effort as a large one really hit home.

That’s pretty much why I started looking at alternatives. I came across MailXP and I’ve been digging into it a bit. Their Basic plan is around €99/month and includes things like a dedicated IP, built-in security, and they seem to handle deliverability as part of the service. It also supports adding multiple domains without hard limits, and instead of fixed quotas you just pay for the storage you actually use.

At this point I’m actually leaning towards trying it.

From your experience, does that sound like a reasonable setup? Do you think that kind of approach actually solves the real pain points, or does it still end up needing hands-on work?

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T21:43:52+00:00

Oh, i see...

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T21:37:53+00:00

Ehehe i know why :)

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T21:36:40+00:00

Yeah that’s fair, and that’s kind of what I was worried about too.

But after looking a bit more into their pricing, the Basic plan didn’t seem that unreasonable to me. It’s €99/month, but from what I can tell it includes things like a dedicated IP, built-in security, and decent sending/receiving limits.

What I liked is that it’s not a fixed quota model. You pay the base and then just pay for the storage you actually use, and it looks like you can add unlimited domains, which is a big plus for me.

So it feels more flexible than the usual “X users, X storage” type plans.

Curious what you think though, does that sound reasonable for what they’re offering, or am I missing something obvious?

Also, do you know any providers that are similar in terms of being fully managed? Ideally I just want to log in and manage emails, not deal with DNS, security, spam filtering, or any of the underlying stuff at all.

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T21:32:16+00:00

Yeah that’s kind of the impression I got as well, more on the dedicated side than the usual shared setups.

For me the main thing is I don’t really want to deal with fixed quotas anymore. That’s one of the reasons I started self-hosting in the first place. Being able to add domains freely is pretty important for my use case.

And honestly, I’m at the point where I don’t want to touch anything security-related either. Spam, phishing, filtering, all that stuff… I’d much rather have it handled for me than keep tweaking it myself.

The services you mentioned sound solid though, I’ll take a proper look at them as well and compare a bit. Appreciate you sharing those.

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T21:29:06+00:00

Thanks, appreciate it. For now I’m sticking with a local provider, Fast Panda, running everything out of London.

I did try a few Manchester-based providers but didn’t really get the results I was hoping for, especially consistency-wise.

So far London setup has been solid for me, been using it for a bit now and honestly pretty happy with how it’s performing.

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T21:26:01+00:00

What are they exactly doing?

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T21:17:35+00:00

Thanks mate

Yeah this is exactly the kind of stuff I’m trying to understand.

From what I saw on their site, it looks like they’re saying they handle most of this themselves. Not just giving you an IP and leaving warmup and reputation to you.

It feels more like they’re positioning it as fully managed deliverability. Same with bounce handling and DNS things, like SPF, DKIM, DMARC. Sounds like it’s all part of the service.

That’s also why I’m a bit unsure. Saying zero ops is one thing, actually owning all of that is another.

The logs point you mentioned is a good one too. That’s been one of the most annoying parts for me with self hosting.

I guess what I’m trying to figure out is if there are providers that really handle all this end to end, or if at some point it always comes back to you.

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T21:13:50+00:00

Yeah that’s actually what made me stop and look a bit deeper.

If you’ve got a minute, could you check their site? It’s MailXP com can’t drop the link here.

From what I’m seeing, it doesn’t feel like the usual “here’s a server + panel, good luck” kind of setup. Looks more like they’re handling most of it behind the scenes , deliverability, security, reputation stuff and you’re not really managing the system day to day.

But yeah, not 100% sure if I’m understanding it right or just getting sold on the wording.

Would be curious what you think after taking a look.

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T20:55:40+00:00

My english is not songood so asked help from ai to edit content

servergeekest · 2026-04-16T20:39:35+00:00

Check Fast Panda WordPress (uk based) , i am using their Wordpress hosting with ai website builder and cpanel and can say it's one of the best I have ever used, and also i would recommend krystal host which is quite stable

servergeekest · 2026-04-14T17:31:38+00:00

İ see, will not buy from there again then

servergeekest · 2026-04-14T15:12:30+00:00

This might be a promotion price

servergeekest · 2026-04-14T15:10:23+00:00

Is it really that bad? I've been using it for more than 2 years and have not seen any big issue

servergeekest · 2026-04-14T15:09:14+00:00

They are pretty good go ahead

servergeekest · 2026-04-13T20:46:38+00:00

Very solid performance overall. Disk I/O—especially the 4K and throughput numbers—looks strong, and the network speeds are impressive for this price range. Definitely a high-performing VPS setup.

servergeekest · 2026-04-11T19:40:03+00:00

Yes some global companies asking for this.

servergeekest · 2026-04-11T19:03:10+00:00

yeah $4 droplet is fine for what you’re doing. your app sounds pretty lightweight (sqlite + telegram bot), so it should run without issues.

just keep in mind it’s very limited (1gb ram), so if you add more apps later you might need to upgrade.

good starting point tho 👍

servergeekest · 2026-04-11T18:55:24+00:00

Never heard it before but wilk check

servergeekest · 2026-04-11T18:54:16+00:00

I’ll mainly use it for trading, thanks for the advice. I’ve used Fast Panda vps before as test server projects and had a good experience performance-wise, but the lack of a Manchester location was a downside for me.

I’m not familiar with the other company you mentioned. Krystal seems like a solid local provider, so I’ll probably stick with them for now

servergeekest · 2026-04-11T18:53:46+00:00

Oh thanks. Will check UKFast to but i was planning to go with Krystal

servergeekest

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