Buffer vs Fastmail

Buffer (Helping people build their business on social media since 2011) and Fastmail (Open-source software developed at Fastmail.) both appear on the Smoower Developer Ecosystem Index.

Fastmail (rank #430) holds a narrow lead over Buffer (rank #455) on the overall Smoower ecosystem score (40 vs 39). The gap of 1 points reflects composite signals across code, docs, community and reach.

On code quality (the state of repositories, tests, releases and polish), Buffer is slightly ahead of Fastmail. On education (docs, guides and learning material for developers), Fastmail is slightly ahead of Buffer. On community (issue response, PR reviews and discussion health), Fastmail is ahead of Buffer. On reach (how visible the ecosystem is beyond its own repos), Fastmail is clearly ahead of Buffer. On momentum (release cadence and how fast the ecosystem moves), Fastmail is clearly ahead of Buffer.

Buffer carries 11,181 GitHub stars across 196 public repos, with 4 repositories active in the last 90 days and 0 external contributors on record. Fastmail shows 6,316 stars across 38 public repos, 12 active in the last 90 days and 2 external contributors.

Buffer is the stronger read for anyone weighting code quality. Fastmail looks better where reach is the deciding factor. The table below breaks the scores down pillar by pillar; the linked profiles cover the underlying repos, docs and community signals in full.