Heimdall vs Homepage
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted dashboards & startpages options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Heimdall
Simple application dashboard and launcher
VS
Homepage
Fast, file-configured application dashboard
| Feature | Heimdall | Homepage |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 98 · Excellent |
| Category | Dashboards & Startpages | Dashboards & Startpages |
| License | MIT | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | PHP | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 128 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,330 | ★ 32,809 |
| First released | 2017 | 2022 |
| Replaces | Heimdall | Heimdall |
What are Heimdall and Homepage?
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
Homepage
Homepage is a highly customizable application dashboard configured via YAML files, with Docker and service integrations. It targets users who like config-as-code start pages. It is deployed via Docker.
- YAML-based configuration
- Docker auto-discovery
- Hundreds of service widgets
- Very fast and lightweight
Heimdall vs Homepage: key differences
Heimdall is written in PHP, while Homepage is built with JavaScript. Licensing differs — MIT for Heimdall versus GPL-3.0 for Homepage. Homepage 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 Homepage arrived in 2022. Homepage has the considerably larger community, at 32,809 GitHub stars versus 9,330.
Why pick each one
Choose Heimdall if…
- Very simple to set up
- Clean look
- Low maintenance
Watch out for
- Limited widgets
- Slow development pace
Choose Homepage if…
- Config as code
- Lightweight and fast
- Tons of widgets
Watch out for
- No web-based editing
- Editing YAML can intimidate
Frequently asked questions
Is Heimdall or Homepage better?
Neither is universally better. Homepage has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Heimdall and Homepage free and open-source?
Yes. Heimdall is licensed under MIT and Homepage under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Heimdall and Homepage with Docker?
Heimdall: yes. Homepage: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Heimdall or Homepage?
Homepage 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.