mailcow coworking evaluation stub
This is an incomplete evaluation stub, not an implementation guide.
Verified snapshot
mailcow packages a self-hosted mail stack under OSI-approved GPL-3.0-only. The catalog advises most coworking operators to prefer managed email because IP reputation, backups, monitoring, spam, and abuse handling make self-hosting expensive. It holds email, contacts, DKIM keys, and personal data.
Sources reviewed 2026-07-17: homepage, repository, and documentation.
Evaluation questions
- What requirement rules out managed staff email?
- Who owns round-the-clock deliverability, abuse, security updates, and recovery?
- Can mailboxes, contacts, keys, and configuration migrate cleanly?
- What domain/IP/DNS and backup dependencies create lock-in?
Smallest experiment
Prefer a managed mailbox first. If self-hosting remains justified, operate a lab domain for staff-only test mail, never member mail, and test delivery, abuse handling, export, and restore.
Risks
- Deliverability and IP/domain reputation failure
- Sensitive mail, contacts, keys, spam, and abuse handling
- Expert operations and recovery burden
TODO before a full guide
- Record why managed email is unsuitable
- Verify current DNS, deliverability, update, and backup docs
- Test mailbox migration/export and clean disaster restore
- Define abuse, incident, retention, and on-call ownership