DashMachine vs SUI
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted dashboards & startpages options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | DashMachine | SUI |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 15 · At risk | 15 · At risk |
| Status | Actively maintained | Archived |
| Category | Dashboards & Startpages | Dashboards & Startpages |
| License | Unlicense | MIT |
| Language | Python | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 32 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 1,264 | ★ 1,574 |
| First released | 2020 | 2018 |
| Replaces | Google homepage | Google homepage |
What are DashMachine and SUI?
DashMachine
DashMachine is a self-hosted application dashboard for organizing and accessing your services. It supports widgets, platform integrations, and themes to build a personalized homelab landing page.
- Application tiles and widgets
- Platform integrations
- Theming support
- Search functionality
SUI
SUI is a simple startpage for self-hosted services. It shows app links and bookmarks defined in plain config files, offers search across multiple providers, and runs as a lightweight JavaScript app with no database, deployable via Docker. The project is archived.
DashMachine vs SUI: key differences
The biggest difference is maintenance: SUI's repository is archived and no longer developed, while DashMachine is actively maintained. DashMachine is written in Python, while SUI is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — Unlicense for DashMachine versus MIT for SUI. SUI is the lighter option, starting around 32 MB of RAM against 128 MB for DashMachine. SUI is the more established project (first released 2018), while DashMachine arrived in 2020.
Why pick each one
Choose DashMachine if…
- Flexible widget system
- Simple deployment
Watch out for
- Development has slowed
- Smaller community
Choose SUI if…
- Dead simple setup
- Tiny footprint
Watch out for
- Limited widgets
- Manual config edits
Frequently asked questions
Is DashMachine or SUI better?
Neither is universally better. SUI has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are DashMachine and SUI free and open-source?
Yes. DashMachine is licensed under Unlicense and SUI under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run DashMachine and SUI with Docker?
DashMachine: yes. SUI: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, DashMachine or SUI?
SUI has the smaller minimum footprint at 32 MB of RAM, compared to about 128 MB for DashMachine. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.