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layout: default
title: About Roundcube Webmail
navtitle: About
lastmod: 2020-12-29T19:40:00Z
---
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        <h1>About the Roundcube webmail project</h1>
        <p>
            This project is a free and open source webmail solution with a desktop-like user interface which is easy to install/configure
            and that runs on a standard LAMPP server. The skins use the latest web standards to render a functional and customizable UI.
            Roundcube includes other sophisticated open-source libraries such as <a href="https://pear.php.net" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">PEAR</a>,
            an IMAP library derived from <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IlohaMail" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">IlohaMail</a>,
            the <a href="https://www.tinymce.com/" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">TinyMCE</a> rich text editor,
            <a href="https://github.com/cbosco/googiespell" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">Googiespell</a> library for spell checking and
            the <a href="https://github.com/Masterminds/html5-php" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">HTML5-PHP</a> sanitizer by Masterminds.
        </p>
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        <h2 id="features">Features <a class="anchor" href="#features" aria-label="Link to this section: Features"></a></h2>
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        <h3>Main Features</h3>
        <ul>
            <li>Drag-&amp;-drop message management</li>
            <li>Full support for MIME and HTML messages</li>
            <li>Multiple sender identities</li>
            <li>Full featured address book with groups and LDAP connectors</li>
            <li>Threaded message listing</li>
            <li>IDNA and SMTPUTF8 support</li>
            <li>Spell checking</li>
            <li>Canned response templates</li>
            <li>IMAP folder management</li>
            <li>Shared/global IMAP folders</li>
            <li>Support for external SMTP server</li>
            <li>Support for access control lists (ACL)</li>
            <li>Built-in caching for fast mailbox access</li>
            <li>Unlimited users and messages</li>
            <li>Import/export functions</li>
            <li>Template system for custom skins</li>
            <li>Plug-in API for flexible extensions</li>
        </ul>
        <h3>Security</h3>
        <ul class="mb-0 mb-md-3">
            <li>Sophisticated privacy protection</li>
            <li>Brute-force login attack prevention</li>
            <li>XSS attack protection</li>
            <li>Support for PGP encryption</li>
            <li>OAuth/XOauth login support</li>
        </ul>
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        <h3>User Interface</h3>
        <ul>
            <li>Available in over 80 languages</li>
            <li>Three column view</li>
            <li>Responsive skin (multi-device support)</li>
            <li>Light and dark interface modes</li>
            <li>Attachment previews</li>
            <li>Find-as-you-type address book integration</li>
            <li>Searching messages and contacts</li>
        </ul>
        <h3>3<sup>rd</sup> Party Additions</h3>
        <ul>
            <li><a href="https://packagist.org/?query=search&type=roundcube-plugin" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">Advanced search</a></li>
            <li><a href="https://packagist.org/?query=keyboard&type=roundcube-plugin" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">Keyboard shortcuts</a></li>
            <li><a href="https://packagist.org/?query=calendar&type=roundcube-plugin" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">Calendar module</a></li>
            <li><a href="https://packagist.org/?query=2fa&type=roundcube-plugin" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">Two-factor authentication</a></li>
            <li><a href="https://packagist.org/packages/boressoft/ident_switch" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">Multiple accounts</a></li>
        </ul>
        <p>Browse all 3<sup>rd</sup> party <a href="https://packagist.org/?type=roundcube-plugin" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">plugins</a> and <a href="https://packagist.org/?type=roundcube-skin" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">skins</a> available on Packagist.</p>
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        <p>See the <a href="https://github.com/roundcube/roundcubemail/milestones" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">development roadmap</a> for more.</p>
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        <h2 id="serverrequirements">Server Requirements <a class="anchor" href="#serverrequirements" aria-label="Link to this section: Server Requirements"></a></h2>
        <ul>
            <li>Apache, Lighttpd, Nginx, IIS, Cherokee or Hiawatha web server</li>
            <li>PHP Version 8.1 or greater<sup><a href="#fn1" class="text-body-secondary">1</a></sup></li>
            <li>MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL or SQLite database</li>
            <li>SMTP server and IMAP server with IMAP4 rev1 support</li>
        </ul>

        <p><a href="https://github.com/roundcube/roundcubemail/wiki/Install-Requirements" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">More detailed list of requirements</a></p>

        <p id="fn1" class="text-body-secondary">1. Roundcube supports versions of PHP available at the time of each major release. See the <a href="https://github.com/roundcube/roundcubemail/wiki/Version-History" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">version history</a> for more information.</p>
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        <h2 id="license">License <a class="anchor" href="#license" aria-label="Link to this section: license"></a></h2>
        <p>
            Roundcube Webmail is released under the GNU <a href="https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">General Public License</a>
            version 3 or any later version with exceptions for skins and plugins.
        </p>
        <p>
            Everyone is welcome to download and use it, deploy it and to re-distribute it.
            The code is provided &laquo;as-is&raquo; and in no event shall the copyright
            owner or contributors be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental,
            special, exemplary, or consequential damages.
        </p>
        <p><a href="/license">More details about licensing and the exceptions for skins and plug-ins</a></p>
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        <h2 id="services">Services using and supporting Roundcube <a class="anchor" href="#services" aria-label="Link to this section: Services Using and Supporting Roundcube"></a></h2>
        <p>
            There are thousands of services that make use of Roundcube to provide
            webmail to millions of users. We love to see our application in so many hands
            and believe it is essential for society at large to have Open Source software
            available for a crucial task such as communication.
        </p>
        <p>
            Below is a list of services that not only use, but actively contribute to
            Roundcube and where usage of those services helps to improve and further develop
            Roundcube webmail. These are the services that make it possible for us to
            continue improving our software and to make it freely available for everybody.
            Preferring one of these services will help them to further support us.
        </p>
    </div>
</div>

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                <a href="https://nextcloud.com" class="text-white" target="_blank">Nextcloud</a>
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                <p>
                    <a href="https://nextcloud.com" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">Nextcloud</a>
                    develops software for decentralized and federated clouds as alternative to centralized cloud services.
                </p>
                <p>
                    Since 2023 it is the new home of Roundcube and fosters the growth and improvement of the project.
                </p>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>

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                <a href="https://kolabnow.com" class="text-white" target="_blank">KolabNow</a>
            </div>
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                <p>
                    <a href="https://kolabnow.com" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">KolabNow</a>
                    is the highly security and privacy centric business and personal groupware hosting from a data centre
                    in central Switzerland. Run by <a href="https://apheleia-it.ch/" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">Apheleia IT</a>,
                    the developers of <a href="https://kolab.org" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">Kolab</a>,
                    KolabNow offers Mail, Calendar, Tasks and File Cloud on all platforms, including mobile.
                </p>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>

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                <a href="https://hostingu2.nl/" class="text-white" target="_blank">HostingU2</a>
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                <p>
                    <a href="https://hostingu2.nl" class="rc-icon external-link" target="_blank">HostingU2</a>
                    is contributing web hosting services to run Roundcube's free and privacy-safe spell checking service.
                </p>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
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