# MailDev

Local SMTP server with a web inbox for viewing and testing email during development, written in TypeScript.


Source: https://findsoftware.frbit.cloud/maildev/
Last reviewed: 2026-11-03
Listed since: 2026-11-03

## Record

### Links

- home: https://maildev.github.io/maildev/
- repository: https://github.com/maildev/maildev
- docs: https://maildev.github.io/maildev/docs/

### Identity

- status: active
- maintainer: Dan Farrelly
- maintainerType: individual
- parent: unknown
- firstRelease: 2014
- hqCountry: unknown

### Kind

- category: dev-tool, email
- hosting: unknown
- language: javascript
- runtime: node
- runtimeMin: node 20
- basedOn: unknown

### Content

- contentStore: not applicable
- databases: not applicable
- adminUi: not applicable
- headlessApi: rest
- templating: not applicable
- i18n: not applicable

### Rendering and deploy

- runsAs: local
- renderingModes: not applicable
- installMethod: npm

### License

- licenseModel: open-source
- license: MIT

### Releases

- currentMajor: 3
- latestReleaseDate: 2026-09-23

### Adoption

- githubStargazers: 6156
- packagistDownloads: not applicable
- npmWeeklyDownloads: 67858
- contributors: 82
- pluginCount: unknown
- packagistMonthlyDownloads: unknown
- ecosystemsMonthlyDownloads: unknown
- httpArchiveSites: unknown
- wordpressActiveInstalls: unknown
- dependentRepos: unknown
- dependentPackages: unknown

### Sources

- urls: https://maildev.github.io/maildev/ (read 2026-11-03)
- urls: https://api.github.com/repos/maildev/maildev (read 2026-11-03)
- maintainer: https://github.com/maildev/maildev/blob/master/LICENSE (read 2026-11-03)
- maintainerType: https://github.com/maildev/maildev/blob/master/LICENSE (read 2026-11-03)
- category: https://maildev.github.io/maildev/ (read 2026-11-03)
- language: https://maildev.github.io/maildev/ (read 2026-11-03)
- runtime: https://github.com/maildev/maildev/blob/master/README.md (read 2026-11-03)
- runtimeMin: https://github.com/maildev/maildev/blob/maildev@3.0.0/package.json (read 2026-11-03)
- runtimeMin: https://maildev.github.io/maildev/docs/install/ (read 2026-11-03)
- installMethod: https://maildev.github.io/maildev/ (read 2026-11-03)
- installMethod: https://maildev.github.io/maildev/ (read 2026-11-03)
- installMethod: https://github.com/maildev/maildev/blob/master/README.md (read 2026-11-03)
- runsAs: https://maildev.github.io/maildev/ (read 2026-11-03)
- license: https://maildev.github.io/maildev/ (read 2026-11-03)
- licenseModel: https://api.github.com/repos/maildev/maildev (read 2026-11-03)
- firstRelease: https://api.github.com/repos/maildev/maildev/releases (read 2026-11-03)
- currentMajor: https://github.com/maildev/maildev/releases/tag/maildev@3.0.0 (read 2026-11-03)
- latestReleaseDate: https://github.com/maildev/maildev/releases/tag/maildev@3.0.0 (read 2026-11-03)
- githubStargazers: https://api.github.com/repos/maildev/maildev (read 2026-11-03)
- urls: https://maildev.github.io/maildev/docs/ (read 2026-11-03)
- headlessApi: https://maildev.github.io/maildev/docs/reference/rest-api/ (read 2026-11-03)
- npmWeeklyDownloads: https://api.npmjs.org/downloads/range/2026-10-23:2026-10-29/maildev (read 2026-11-03)
- contributors: https://api.github.com/repos/maildev/maildev/contributors?per_page=1 (read 2026-11-03)

## Notes

MailDev is a local SMTP server with a web inbox for testing the email a project generates during development. It catches the mail an application sends and shows each message in the browser, and it can relay selected messages to an outgoing SMTP server. A [REST API](https://maildev.github.io/maildev/docs/reference/rest-api/) serves the stored mail as JSON. It is written in TypeScript and runs on Node.js, installed with npm, started with npx or run from its Docker image. Its documentation includes a comparison with MailCatcher.

## Worth knowing

The project describes MailDev as a development tool that runs on a developer's machine, not on a live site.

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Data licensed CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Attributes are recorded, never scored; absent means unknown.
Credit, in full: FindSoftware, CC BY 4.0