I review the X-ray emission from cool stars with outer convection zones in comparison to the Sun with a focus on the properties of low-activity stars. I present the recent results of long-term X-ray monitoring which demonstrate the existence of X-ray cycles on stars with known calcium cycles. The evidence of a minimum stellar X-ray flux is presented and arguments are put forward for the view that the Sun in its extended minimum between 2008 - 2009 behaved very much like a Maunder-minimum Sun.