Homer vs Organizr
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted dashboards & startpages options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Homer
Static, fast and simple service dashboard
VS
Organizr
Tabbed portal for your self-hosted services
| Feature | Homer | Organizr |
|---|---|---|
| Deploy effort | ≈5-minute setup | Under-an-hour setup |
| Health score | 93 · Excellent | 62 · Good |
| Category | Dashboards & Startpages | Dashboards & Startpages |
| License | Apache-2.0 | GPL-3.0 |
| Language | Vue | PHP |
| Setup difficulty | Easy | Easy |
| Min. RAM | 64 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker, bare-metal | docker |
| GitHub stars | ★ 11,617 | ★ 5,817 |
| First released | 2019 | 2017 |
| Replaces | Heimdall | Heimdall |
What are Homer and Organizr?
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
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
Homer vs Organizr: key differences
Homer is written in Vue, while Organizr is built with PHP. Licensing differs — Apache-2.0 for Homer versus GPL-3.0 for Organizr. Homer is the lighter option, starting around 64 MB of RAM against 256 MB for Organizr. Organizr is the more established project (first released 2017), while Homer arrived in 2019.
Why pick each one
Choose Homer if…
- Extremely lightweight
- Trivial to host
- Fast
Watch out for
- No dynamic widgets
- Manual config edits
Choose Organizr if…
- Unified single-page access
- Built-in auth
- Mature
Watch out for
- Iframe approach has quirks
- Dated UI
Frequently asked questions
Is Homer or Organizr 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 Homer and Organizr free and open-source?
Yes. Homer is licensed under Apache-2.0 and Organizr under GPL-3.0. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Homer and Organizr with Docker?
Homer: yes. Organizr: yes.
Which is lighter on resources, Homer or Organizr?
Homer has the smaller minimum footprint at 64 MB of RAM, compared to about 256 MB for Organizr. Real-world usage depends on library size, user count, and enabled features.