Personal Management System vs Smashing
A side-by-side comparison of two self-hosted dashboards & startpages options — licensing, setup difficulty, resource needs, and what each one replaces.
Not the right match-up?
Personal Management System
Organize the essentials of everyday life, everything from a simple
VS
Smashing
Sinatra-based dashboard framework for custom widgets
| Feature | Personal Management System | Smashing |
|---|---|---|
| Category | Dashboards & Startpages | Dashboards & Startpages |
| License | MIT | MIT |
| Language | PHP | JavaScript |
| Setup difficulty | Medium | Medium |
| Min. RAM | 512 MB | 256 MB |
| Deployment | docker | docker, bare-metal |
| GitHub stars | ★ 4,122 | ★ 3,301 |
| First released | 2026 | 2016 |
| Replaces | — | Geckoboard |
Why pick each one
Choose Personal Management System if…
- Released under the MIT license
- First-class Docker support for quick deployment
- Active community (4.1k GitHub stars)
- Written in PHP
Frequently asked questions
Is Personal Management System or Smashing better?
Neither is universally better. Personal Management System has the larger community; both share a medium setup difficulty, so the decision comes down to features and licensing.
Are Personal Management System and Smashing free and open-source?
Yes. Personal Management System is licensed under MIT and Smashing under MIT. Both can be self-hosted at no software cost.
Can I run Personal Management System and Smashing with Docker?
Personal Management System: yes. Smashing: yes.