head to head · open source
Reflex vs davmail
Reflex has 28,891 GitHub stars, 1,778 forks, 346 open issues and last shipped yesterday. davmail has 758 stars, 110 forks, 52 open issues and last shipped yesterday. Reflex leads on adoption by 3,711% (28,891 vs 758 stars). Reflex is written in Python under Apache-2.0; davmail is written in Java under GPL-2.0. Reflex has attracted 6% as many forks as stars, davmail 15%. Reflex was the more recently maintained of the two, and both are self-hostable with no licence fee.
Two open source projects, one decision. Both are free and self-hostable — the differences are community size, license terms, language stack and release pace.
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Side by side
| Reflex | davmail | |
|---|---|---|
| GitHub stars | ★ 29K | ★ 758 |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-2.0 |
| Written in | Python | Java |
| Last push | 2026-09-17 | 2026-09-17 |
| Forks | ⑂ 1.8K | ⑂ 110 |
| Self-hosting | Yes | Yes |
| Data ownership | Your server | Your server |
pick Reflex if
- You weight community size — 29K stars and counting
- You want the Apache-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Python
- You value the larger contributor base for long-term maintenance
pick davmail if
- You want the davmail feature set and don't need the biggest community
- You prefer the GPL-2.0 license terms
- Your stack matches Java
- You evaluated both and davmail fits your workflow better
About Reflex
Reflex is an open source Apache 2.0 Python library for building full stack web apps and internal tools entirely in Python, aimed at Python developers who want a browser based frontend without learning JavaScript.
read the full Reflex overview →
About davmail
DavMail is a Java gateway that connects standard mail, calendar, contact, and directory protocols to Exchange and Office 365. It presents itself to client software through POP, IMAP, SMTP, CalDAV, CardDAV, and LDAP, while communicating with the target service behind that interface. The project is distributed under GPL 2.0 and is packaged for macOS, Linux, and Windows.
read the full davmail overview →
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Frequently asked questions
Is Reflex or davmail more popular?
Reflex has 28,891 GitHub stars and davmail has 758. Reflex has the larger community by that measure.
Are Reflex and davmail free?
Both are open source. Reflex is licensed under Apache-2.0 and davmail under GPL-2.0. Neither carries a licence fee.
What is the difference between Reflex and davmail?
Reflex is written in Python and davmail in Java. The practical differences are community size, licence terms, language stack and release cadence — all compared in the table above.
Which should I choose, Reflex or davmail?
Choose Reflex if you want the larger community (28,891 stars) or its Apache-2.0 licence terms. Choose davmail if its feature set, stack or GPL-2.0 licence fits better. Both are self-hostable.