Forward Email is a 100% open-source email service offering both alias forwarding and full hosted mailboxes. The entire platform, from DNS handling to webmail, is published on GitHub under the MIT license. A self-hosted install path is documented for those who want to run the stack on their own server.
Forward Email
forwardemail.net
Our take
The defining trait here is transparency: the code that processes your mail is the same code running on their servers, so there is nothing proprietary to trust blindly. A first independent security audit by Cure53 was published in 2026. Free alias forwarding for custom domains makes it easy to try, and paid plans unlock full mailboxes with IMAP support. The trade-off for choosing a US-based provider is that US legal jurisdiction applies, which is a real consideration compared to Swiss or German alternatives. Self-hosting removes that concern entirely, though it requires you to manage your own mail server infrastructure.
GitHub at a glance
forwardemail/forwardemail.net
Stars
1,602
Last commit
today
healthy
Latest release
v2.8.32
2d ago
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