Glance 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 | Glance | Organizr |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 99 · Excellent | 62 · Good |
| Category | Dashboards & Startpages | Dashboards & Startpages |
| License | AGPL-3.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Go | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 128 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, binary | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 37,187 | ★ 5,817 |
| First released | 2024 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Heimdall | Heimdall |
What are Glance and Organizr?
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
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
Glance vs Organizr: key differences
Glance is written in Go, while Organizr is built with PHP. Licensing differs — AGPL-3.0 for Glance versus GPL-3.0 for Organizr. Glance 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 Glance arrived in 2024. Glance has the considerably larger community, at 37,187 GitHub stars versus 5,817.
Why pick each one
Choose Glance if…
- Information-dense layout
- Very lightweight
- Easy config
Watch out for
- YAML-only configuration
- Young project
Choose Organizr if…
- Unified single-page access
- Built-in auth
- Mature
Watch out for
- Iframe approach has quirks
- Dated UI
Frequently asked questions
Is Glance or Organizr 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 Organizr free and open-source?
Yes. Glance is licensed under AGPL-3.0 and Organizr under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Glance and Organizr with Docker?
Glance: yes. Organizr: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Glance or Organizr?
Glance 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.