dashdot vs Homarr
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted dashboards & startpages options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Homarr
Customizable dashboard for your self-hosted services
| Feature | dashdot | Homarr |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 85 · Excellent | 89 · Excellent |
| Category | Dashboards & Startpages | Dashboards & Startpages |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | TypeScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 3,545 | ★ 4,778 |
| First released | 2022 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Heimdall | Heimdall |
What are dashdot and Homarr?
dashdot
dashdot is a simple, modern server dashboard that displays live system resource usage like CPU, memory, storage, and network. It targets users wanting a clean overview of one machine. It is deployed via Docker.
- Live CPU, RAM and storage graphs
- Clean modern interface
- Network and OS info
- Single-container deploy
Homarr
Homarr is a sleek, customizable dashboard that organizes links and widgets for your self-hosted services with deep integrations. It targets home labbers wanting a polished start page. It is deployed via Docker.
- Drag-and-drop layout editor
- Service status integrations
- Built-in widgets and search
- Theming support
dashdot vs Homarr: key differences
Both projects are written in TypeScript. Licensing differs — MIT for dashdot versus Apache-2.0 for Homarr. Dashdot is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Homarr.
Why pick each one
Choose dashdot if…
- Attractive design
- Lightweight
- Zero config
Watch out for
- Single host only
- Resource view, not app launcher
Choose Homarr if…
- Beautiful modern UI
- Easy drag-and-drop config
- Good integrations
Watch out for
- Newer with evolving features
- Mostly single-dashboard focus
Frequently asked questions
Is dashdot or Homarr better?
Neither is universally better. Homarr has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are dashdot and Homarr free and open-source?
Yes. dashdot is licensed under MIT and Homarr under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run dashdot and Homarr with Docker?
dashdot: yes. Homarr: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, dashdot or Homarr?
dashdot has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Homarr. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.