Heimdall vs Homer
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
Homer
Static, fast and simple service dashboard
| Feature | Heimdall | Homer |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | Under-an-hour setup | ≈5-minute setup |
| Health score | 92 · Excellent | 93 · Excellent |
| Category | Dashboards & Startpages | Dashboards & Startpages |
| License | MIT | Apache-2.0 |
| Language | PHP | Vue |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 256 MB | 64 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 9,331 | ★ 11,617 |
| First released | 2017 | 2019 |
| Replaces | Heimdall | Heimdall |
What are Heimdall and Homer?
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
Homer
Homer is a very simple static dashboard for your services, configured with a single YAML file and served as static assets. It targets users wanting the lightest possible start page. It is deployed via Docker or any static host.
- Single YAML configuration
- Pure static, no backend
- Themes and search
- Tiny resource use
Heimdall vs Homer: key differences
Heimdall is written in PHP, while Homer is built with Vue. Licensing differs — MIT for Heimdall versus Apache-2.0 for Homer. Homer is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Heimdall. Heimdall is the more established project (first released 2017), while Homer arrived in 2019.
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 Homer if…
- Extremely lightweight
- Trivial to host
- Fast
Watch out for
- No dynamic widgets
- Manual config edits
Frequently asked questions
Is Heimdall or Homer better?
Neither is universally better. Homer has the larger community; both share a easy setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Heimdall and Homer free and open-source?
Yes. Heimdall is licensed under MIT and Homer under Apache-2.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Heimdall and Homer with Docker?
Heimdall: yes. Homer: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Heimdall or Homer?
Homer has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Heimdall. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.