Glance vs Grafana Image Renderer
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted dashboards & startpages options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Glance
Self-hosted feeds and info dashboard
VS
Grafana Image Renderer
Render Grafana panels and dashboards as images and PDFs
| Feature | Glance | Grafana Image Renderer |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Dashboards & Startpages | Dashboards & Startpages |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | Go | Go |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 512 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker, binary, kubernetes |
| GitHub stars | ★ 36,179 | ★ 520 |
| First released | 2024 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Heimdall | Grafana Enterprise Reporting |
Why pick each one
Choose Grafana Image Renderer if…
- Enables image alerts and reports
- Simple Docker deployment
Frequently asked questions
Is Glance or Grafana Image Renderer better?
Neither is universally better. Glance has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Glance and Grafana Image Renderer free and open-source?
Yes. Glance is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Grafana Image Renderer under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Glance and Grafana Image Renderer with Docker?
Glance: yes. Grafana Image Renderer: yes.