MailDev Hosting Live In 5 Minutes

MailDev hosting on xCloud gives your development and staging apps a self-hosted email testing tool that catches their outgoing mail in a password-protected web inbox on your own domain. Deploy MailDev from the OneClick catalog and xCloud starts the pinned 3.0.0 image behind an nginx gateway, generates separate web and SMTP passwords and mounts a volume for captured messages. The SMTP port has no TLS, so open it only to trusted senders.

Deploy your MailDev

No terminal
No technical skills needed
No lock-in, cancel anytime

What is MailDev?

MailDev is, in its README's words, a simple way to test your project's generated email during development, with an easy to use web interface, built on Node.js. It accepts mail on an SMTP port, stores it and shows it in a web inbox with a REST API. The README notes that version 3.0 is a complete rewrite. Self-hosted MailDev is a mail catcher you run yourself instead of a hosted testing inbox such as Mailtrap. It is licensed under MIT.

The xCloud template runs MailDev 3.0.0, pinned by digest, behind an nginx gateway that requires Basic Auth on the inbox, REST API and live-update path. Captured messages sit on the maildev_data volume, and the newest 1000 are kept by default. SMTP needs its own username and password but has no TLS, and MailDev never delivers to real recipients unless you configure a relay.

From Sign-Up to a Live MailDev In Just 3 Easy Steps

A MailDev setup normally means a container, a gateway that protects the live-update path, two sets of credentials, a volume, a domain and a certificate. This is the same result without assembling any of it.

Step 01
Sign Up
Create your xCloud account and pick MailDev from the OneClick catalog. Choose your domain and target server — there are no extra fields to fill in.
Step 02
We Deploy It For You
One click. We bring up the official MailDev image, pinned by immutable digest, with a small nginx gateway in front of the web inbox, generate the web and SMTP passwords, mount the maildev_data volume and publish the inbox over HTTPS.
Step 03
Send A Test Message
Save the passwords from the protected installation credentials, open your HTTPS URL and sign in as admin. Then set your app's SMTP host, port, username smtp and password (no encryption) and send a test message.

Everything MailDev Does, On Your Own Server

MailDev runs in full here: an SMTP catcher with a live inbox and API, behind credentials you did not have to invent.

Test Email Without Sending It
Test transactional email from dev or staging apps without sending real mail.
Live Web Inbox
View HTML and plain-text bodies, headers and attachments; new messages appear live.
REST API
Read captured mail from automated tests through the REST API.
Protected SMTP Ingress
SMTP requires user smtp and a generated password; unauthenticated access was rejected in verification.
Optional Relay
Relay to a real SMTP server by configuring it in the Environment editor.
Messages Survive A Restart
The newest 1000 captured messages by default are kept on the maildev_data volume and survived an xCloud Restart.

Everything You Need To Run Your Email Testing Server 24/7

Managed hosting for MailDev, so the parts that keep it online are not your problem.

MailDev 3.0.0 deployed instantly
Official image pinned by digest
Generated web and SMTP passwords
Persistent maildev_data volume
Free SSL certificate
Server backups and snapshots
Server security updates included
30+ server locations
Unused balance refunded

What You Can Do With MailDev

Test sign-up and reset emails
Your staging app sends verification and reset mail to MailDev, and you read each message in the web inbox instead of delivering it.
Check email rendering
You open a captured message to see its HTML and plain-text views, headers and attachments before real customers receive anything.
Automate email assertions
A test suite sends mail and reads it back over the REST API to check recipients, subjects and links.
Keep test mail off real inboxes
Staging mail that uses customer-like data stays in a mail catcher on a server you control, not in someone's inbox.

MailDev vs Alternatives

Mailpit: Mailpit is another email and SMTP testing tool with its own OneClick page, a web UI and an API. Compare its interface and search with MailDev's inbox before choosing.
Inbucket: Inbucket is a separate mail catcher with its own OneClick page that organises mail by mailbox and also offers POP3. MailDev shows all captured mail in one inbox.
Mailtrap: Mailtrap is a hosted email testing service. MailDev is a mail catcher you run on your own server, so captured test mail stays on a volume you control.
Reading mail in application logs: Logs show that a message was sent. MailDev shows the HTML and plain-text views, headers and attachments of what was sent.

Simple Pricing. Everything Included.

Dedicated Cloud VPS sizes, pre-configured for MailDev hosting. Pick the one that fits, and resize any time.

Cloud VPS 6 GB

Cloud VPS 16 GB

More headroom if MailDev shares the server with your test environments.

$59.99per month

16 GB RAM
6 vCPU cores
200 GB NVMe SSD
30 TB
Unlimited

Get started

Every size is a dedicated Cloud VPS we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Billed monthly with no lock-in — delete the server and the unused balance comes back to your account. MailDev itself is licensed by its maintainers under MIT.

Docker hosting

Already Have a Server? Bring Your Own

Connect any VPS — DigitalOcean, Vultr, Linode, AWS, Hetzner or bare metal — and deploy MailDev on it through the same panel, for a per-server management fee instead of a Cloud VPS rental.

Free

Start your journey without cost.

$0forever

1 server
10 sites

Start free

Starter

Professional

The same platform, discounted at 6–10 servers.

$4per server / month

6–10 servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

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Agency

The same platform, discounted at 11+ servers.

$3per server / month

11+ servers
Unlimited sites
All features included
Bring any VPS provider

Get started

Priced per connected server, so your rate adjusts automatically as you add or remove servers. You pay your own provider for the server itself.

Self-managed hosting

Ready To Run Your Own Email Testing Server?

MailDev on xCloud runs on a dedicated Cloud VPS that we provision, patch, monitor and restore. Deploy faster. Own the server. Stay in control.

Fast Provisioning
Deploy faster using an xCloud Managed Server built with optimized stacks and high-speed SSDs.
Enterprise-grade security
Protect your infrastructure with a free SSL certificate and more advanced security features at no additional cost.
Intuitive Control Panel
From Server creation to application deployment, everything can be managed from our intuitive control panel.

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Frequently Asked Questions

Feel free to contact us with any questions or concerns you may have.

Is MailDev free?

Yes. MailDev is open source under the MIT licence, with the licence file for the pinned [email protected] tag linked above. xCloud bills for the Cloud VPS under it, not for MailDev, and there is no per-message fee. Version 3.0 is described upstream as a complete rewrite.

Can you self-host MailDev with Docker?

Yes, and this MailDev Docker hosting template does it for you: the maildev/maildev image, pinned by digest, runs beside an nginx gateway on your own server, with HTTPS in front of the web inbox. It is not a MailDev cloud account, so captured mail stays on your server.

How much RAM does MailDev need?

MailDev asks for no less than 256 MB of RAM, because MailDev only stores and shows mail. Message volume and attachments grow the volume. This page's 6 GB tier covers that with lots of margin.

Does MailDev deliver mail to real recipients?

No. MailDev only stores what it receives, so your test mail never reaches real inboxes, unless you set the outgoing relay options in the Environment editor. Leave them unset for a safe catcher, and never point production mail at it.

How do I sign in to MailDev?

Use the username admin and the generated web password from the credentials. The web inbox and REST API both require it through the Basic Auth gateway, and the live-update path does too. Keep it private, and change it in the Environment editor if it leaks.

What are the MailDev SMTP settings?

Point your application at the server address and the published SMTP port, with username smtp and the generated SMTP password, and no encryption. Send a test message and confirm it appears in the inbox. The SMTP password is separate from the web password.

Is MailDev SMTP encrypted?

No. MailDev offers no TLS on its SMTP port, so the SMTP credentials and the messages travel in clear text. Send from the same server or a private network where you can, and do not send real or sensitive mail to it.

Who opens the MailDev SMTP port?

You do. The SMTP endpoint is a public TCP port, and xCloud does not open it in your firewall. Open it only for the hosts that send mail. Anyone who can reach it and has the SMTP password can add messages to your inbox.

How many messages does MailDev keep?

The newest 1000 by default, stored on the maildev_data volume, and older ones are dropped. You can change the limit in the Environment editor. Treat captured mail as disposable, since it is a testing tool and not an archive.

How do I back up MailDev?

Back up the maildev_data volume only if you want to keep captured mail; deleting it empties the inbox. Captured test mail is usually disposable, so you can often resend it instead. Keep a private copy of the environment values with the web and SMTP passwords.

Backup and restore Docker apps

How do I upgrade MailDev?

The pinned 3.0.0 image on your running install is untouched by catalog updates; you opt in to a newer template version. Read the upstream release notes first, since 3.0 was a complete rewrite, then send a test message and confirm it appears in the inbox.

Can I cancel anytime?

Yes. There is no lock-in — cancel any time. Hosting is billed monthly and charged for what you actually use, so when you delete the server the unused balance is refunded to your account, less up to 10% in payment-processing fees.