Altnernative to hMailServer

hMailServer was a free email server that is no longer being developed. As a result, organizations that use it must switch to an alternative. Xeams offers a compelling alternative to hMailServer. This page discusses some benefits of using Xeams.

Comparing Xeams with hMailServer

The following table compares hMailServer with Xeams.

Feature hMailServer Xeams
Operating System Microsoft Windows MS Windows, Linux, Mac, BSD, Unix, and others.
Admin Interface Windows desktop Web-based, available from any remote machine
Spam filtering Available Extensive filtering available
SPF Available Available
DKIM Available for inbound filtering Available for inbound filtering and signing outbound messages. Additionally, public/private keys can be easily created.
MTA-STS Not available Available

Feature Mapping

Below is a partial list of features supported in hMailServer and it's corresponding feature in Xeams.

Account
Accounts are called Users in Xeams. To create and modify existing users, go to Server Configuration/Manage Users. Similar to hMailServer, you can optionally integrate users from an Active Directory or any other LDAP server. Additionally, you can integrate users from Microsoft Exchange Online and Google Workspace using single sign-on.
Alias
Aliases are called Associations in Xeams. A single user can have unlimited associations. Every incoming email for an associated address will end up in the primary user's Inbox. Click Server Configuration/Manager Users and click the Association link to manage additional addresses.
Anti spam, Anti virus

hMailServer offers some basic Antispam features. Xeams, on the other hand offers an extensively rich spamfiltering engine that can block 99% of all junk messages right out of the box. Note that you must upgrade to the Enterprise edition of Xeams in order to use the spam filtering features.

In addition to integrating with ClamAV, Xeams can be configured to use other third party anti-virus software that support command line scanning, such as AVG or Windows Defender.

Auto-ban

The auto-ban feature in Xeams is called IP Blocking/Alerts, which can block malicious IP address and generate email alerts to the administrator.

Distribution list

Distribution lists in Xeams is also called the same and can be access by clicking Server Configuration/Manage Distribution List. There is no limit on the number of distribution lists you create.

IMAP/POP3 Server

IMAP and POP3 servers are available in Xeams in either stand-alone or hybrid mode, allowing email clients to integrate with the server.

SSL Certificates

hMailServer allows you to import SSL Certificates, provided you have created them and a CA has signed it. Xeams, not only allows you to use existing certificates but also allows integration with Let's encrypt, which offers two benefits:

  1. Its free
  2. Renewals can be done programatically, which saves significant time.
SSL/TLS

Since no more development is being done for hMailServer, the SSL/TLS related features are a bit stale. For example, support for TLS 1.2 and TLS 1.3 is missing, which is now an industry standard.

Xeams on the other hand supports the latest version of the TLS protocol, along with updated ciphers. It also supports FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption if needed.