Flame vs Organizr
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted dashboards & startpages options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Flame | Organizr |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 83 · Excellent | 62 · Good |
| Category | Dashboards & Startpages | Dashboards & Startpages |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | TypeScript | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 6,550 | ★ 5,817 |
| First released | 2021 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Heimdall | Heimdall |
What are Flame and Organizr?
Flame
Flame is a minimalist, self-hosted start page for organizing applications and bookmarks with a clean interface. It targets users who want a fast, simple home page. It is deployed via Docker.
- Clean minimalist interface
- App and bookmark management
- Docker label integration
- Built-in weather widget
Organizr
Organizr provides a tabbed front end that brings all your self-hosted services together behind one portal with authentication. It targets users who want a unified, single-pane interface. It is deployed via Docker.
- Tabbed iframe portal
- Built-in authentication
- User management
- Service health pings
Flame vs Organizr: key differences
Flame is written in TypeScript, while Organizr is built with PHP. Licensing differs — MIT for Flame versus GPL-3.0 for Organizr. Flame is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Organizr. Organizr is the more established project (first released 2017), while Flame arrived in 2021.
Why pick each one
Choose Flame if…
- Simple and fast
- Lightweight
- Easy to set up
Watch out for
- Few advanced features
- Limited active development
Choose Organizr if…
- Unified single-page access
- Built-in auth
- Mature
Watch out for
- Iframe approach has quirks
- Dated UI
Frequently asked questions
Is Flame or Organizr better?
Neither is universally better. Flame has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Flame and Organizr free and open-source?
Yes. Flame is licensed under MIT and Organizr under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Flame and Organizr with Docker?
Flame: yes. Organizr: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Flame or Organizr?
Flame has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Organizr. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.