Glance vs Heimdall
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted dashboards & startpages options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
| Feature | Glance | Heimdall |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 99 · Excellent | 92 · Excellent |
| Category | Dashboards & Startpages | Dashboards & Startpages |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | MIT |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 37,187 | ★ 9,331 |
| First released | 2024 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Heimdall | Heimdall |
What are Glance and Heimdall?
Glance
Glance is a self-hosted dashboard that aggregates feeds, weather, calendars, and service widgets into a single page. It targets users who want an information-dense home page. It is deployed via Docker or a binary.
- Aggregates RSS, weather and more
- YAML configuration
- Lots of built-in widgets
- Single lightweight binary
Heimdall
Heimdall is a simple dashboard for organizing all your web applications and links in one place with enhanced app tiles. It targets users who want an easy, no-frills start page. It is deployed via Docker.
- Simple app tile dashboard
- Enhanced tiles with live data
- Search bar integration
- Easy to use
Glance vs Heimdall: key differences
Glance is written in Go, while Heimdall is built with PHP. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Glance versus MIT for Heimdall. Glance is the lighter option, starting around 128 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Heimdall. Heimdall is the more established project (first released 2017), while Glance arrived in 2024. Glance has the considerably larger community, at 37,187 GitHub stars versus 9,331.
Why pick each one
Choose Glance if…
- Information-dense layout
- Very lightweight
- Easy config
Watch out for
- YAML-only configuration
- Young project
Choose Heimdall if…
- Very simple to set up
- Clean look
- Low maintenance
Watch out for
- Limited widgets
- Slow development pace
Frequently asked questions
Is Glance or Heimdall 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 Heimdall free and open-source?
Yes. Glance is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Heimdall under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Glance and Heimdall with Docker?
Glance: yes. Heimdall: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Glance or Heimdall?
Glance has the smaller minimum footprint at 128 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Heimdall. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.