# FlareMail vs Orange Inbox Orange Inbox is an early self-hosted three-pane client. FlareMail is hosted and does not ask you to deploy Next.js on Workers. HTML: https://sendwithflare.com/articles/flaremail-vs-orange-inbox/ **Keyword:** flaremail vs orange inbox **Audience:** people who want a Gmail-like Cloudflare inbox and are looking at a young open-source repo ## Short answer FlareMail is a web inbox for Cloudflare-powered email — a hosted inbox with an account password flow, while Orange Inbox is a self-hosted Gmail-like client behind Cloudflare Access. First three domains are free; Pro is $10/month for 12 domains; Agency is $60/month unlimited. FlareMail vs Orange Inbox is a finished hosted app versus a young self-hosted client. Orange Inbox is MIT, with 2 GitHub stars, and the README says versions are still 0.2.x. It is a Gmail-like three-pane UI for Email Routing: Next.js on Workers plus a separate email Worker, with D1, R2, and KV. You operate that. FlareMail is hosted. ## Hosted inbox or a stack you operate FlareMail is for people who already run on Cloudflare and do not want to provision the mail stack. You create an account, open the app, and connect a domain. The setup guide says about five minutes. One step sits outside the app: an Email Routing rule to the flaremail-api Worker. FlareMail operates the Worker, D1, and R2. Orange Inbox is the self-hosted path in this comparison. You clone it and you keep it running. That can be the right trade when the mail must live in your Cloudflare account, or when a feature below is the reason you are here. ## Side by side Same job, different operator. Price on the FlareMail side is the domain plan, not a claim that self-hosting is free. ## What the FlareMail screen actually is The inbox list above is the web app from this product, with obviously fake mail so the screenshot does not use a customer account. The sign-in form at app.sendwithflare.com is only the account door. It is not the inbox. ![FlareMail web app with a fictional message open from Northwind Booth](/assets/articles/flaremail-message.webp) *A message open in the FlareMail web app. The mail is fictional sample data (paperlantern.example), captured from this repo so the screenshot is the real UI.* ![FlareMail sign-in form at app.sendwithflare.com](/assets/articles/flaremail-signup.webp) *The public sign-in form at app.sendwithflare.com. Use it to create an account. It is not the inbox.* ## What Orange Inbox is actually good at The feature list is already a real mail client, even at 0.2.x. Labels, search, scheduled send, undo send, drafts, templates, a PWA, and web push are in the README. Multi-domain unified inbox is there too. Auth is Cloudflare Access, not a password form. That is a strength if you already live in Zero Trust, and it is extra setup if you do not. FlareMail does not match Access-as-login, and this comparison does not pretend Orange Inbox has no inbox features. The wedge is who provisions the stack. Orange Inbox is yours to deploy. FlareMail’s Worker, D1, and R2 are already running. ## Which one to pick Pick Orange Inbox when you want the bits in your account and you will operate them. Pick FlareMail when you want the inbox without becoming the person who provisions Worker, D1, and R2. Start on [onboarding](/onboarding/) and use the [setup guide](/help/setup-guide/). First three domains are free. Pro is $10/month for 12 domains, then $1 per extra domain. Agency is $60/month unlimited. ## Other FlareMail comparisons The same hosted-versus-self-host question, for the rest of the field: - [FlareMail vs Mailflare](/articles/flaremail-vs-mailflare/) - [FlareMail vs Agentic Inbox](/articles/flaremail-vs-agentic-inbox/) - [FlareMail vs Quickinbox](/articles/flaremail-vs-quickinbox/) - [FlareMail vs Email Explorer](/articles/flaremail-vs-email-explorer/) - [FlareMail vs Postern](/articles/flaremail-vs-postern/) - [FlareMail vs Doota](/articles/flaremail-vs-doota/) - [FlareMail vs cf-mail](/articles/flaremail-vs-cf-mail/) - [FlareMail vs Reccado](/articles/flaremail-vs-reccado/) - [FlareMail vs cloudflare-email](/articles/flaremail-vs-cloudflare-email/) - [FlareMail vs AgentBox](/articles/flaremail-vs-agentbox/) Create an account on [onboarding](/onboarding/), then follow the [setup guide](/help/setup-guide/). The guide’s outside step is an Email Routing rule to the flaremail-api Worker. ## FAQ **Is Orange Inbox a hosted Gmail alternative?** No. It is self-hosted. The README describes Gmail-like webmail on Workers, D1, and R2, and versions are still 0.2.x. **How do you sign in to Orange Inbox?** Auth is Cloudflare Access, not a password form. **What does FlareMail cost?** First three domains are free. Pro is $10/month for 12 domains, then $1 per extra domain. Agency is $60/month unlimited. ## Related - [FlareMail vs Email Explorer](/articles/flaremail-vs-email-explorer/index.md) - [FlareMail vs AgentBox](/articles/flaremail-vs-agentbox/index.md) - [Cloudflare Email Routing Destination: Where Routed Mail Should Actually Land](/articles/cloudflare-email-routing-destination/index.md) ## Start [Onboarding](https://sendwithflare.com/onboarding/) · [Pricing](https://sendwithflare.com/pricing.md) · [Setup guide](https://sendwithflare.com/help/setup-guide/)