Homarr vs Dashy: Server Dashboards Compared

Quick Verdict

Homarr is the better choice if you run media management tools like Sonarr, Radarr, or qBittorrent and want a dashboard that actually talks to them. Dashy is the better choice if you want pixel-perfect visual control over your dashboard layout and don’t need deep service integration. Both are solid, but they solve different problems.

Updated March 2026: Verified with latest Docker images and configurations.

Overview

Homarr and Dashy are both self-hosted server dashboards designed to give you a single page for accessing all your services. They share the same starting point — a grid of bookmarks to your apps — but diverge sharply from there.

Homarr (now maintained by homarr-labs after a complete v1.0 rewrite) focuses on service integration. It connects directly to your *arr stack, torrent clients, and other services to display real-time data in widgets. You configure everything through a drag-and-drop GUI.

Dashy focuses on customization and aesthetics. Configuration lives in a YAML file, giving you fine-grained control over every aspect of the dashboard. It ships with dozens of themes, extensive icon support, and built-in status checking.

Feature Comparison

Feature	Homarr	Dashy
Configuration method	GUI (drag-and-drop editor)	YAML config file + optional GUI editor
Service integrations	Deep (Sonarr, Radarr, qBittorrent, SABnzbd, Overseerr, etc.)	Basic (status checks only)
Widget system	Built-in widgets with live data from integrated services	Widgets available, less service-specific
Theming	Light/dark mode, color customization	50+ built-in themes, full CSS override support
Icon support	Dashboard Icons, URL favicons	Dashboard Icons, Font Awesome, Material Icons, custom SVG, URL favicons
Authentication	Built-in user management with permissions	Built-in auth, Keycloak, OAuth support
Docker integration	Auto-discovers containers via Docker socket	No native Docker integration
Status monitoring	Via service integrations	Built-in status checks (HTTP, ping, port)
Mobile responsive	Yes	Yes
Multi-user support	Yes, with role-based access	Yes, with guest mode
Search	Built-in app search	Built-in search with web search fallback
Database	SQLite	None (YAML file)
Framework	Next.js (TypeScript)	Vue.js
License	MIT	MIT

Docker Compose Setup

Homarr

Create a docker-compose.yml:

services:
  homarr:
    image: ghcr.io/homarr-labs/homarr:v1.56.0
    container_name: homarr
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "7575:7575"  # Web UI
    volumes:
      - homarr_data:/appdata  # Application data and SQLite database
    environment:
      - TZ=UTC  # Set to your timezone (e.g., America/New_York)
      - SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY=your_random_64_char_hex_string  # CHANGE THIS: generate with `openssl rand -hex 32`

volumes:
  homarr_data:

Note: Homarr v1.0 is a complete rewrite from the ground up. The Docker image moved from ghcr.io/ajnart/homarr to ghcr.io/homarr-labs/homarr. If you’re migrating from the old version, your configuration will not carry over — you’ll need to rebuild your dashboard.

Start the stack:

docker compose up -d

Access Homarr at http://your-server:7575. You’ll be prompted to create an admin account on first launch.

Dashy

Create a docker-compose.yml:

services:
  dashy:
    image: lissy93/dashy:3.1.1
    container_name: dashy
    restart: unless-stopped
    ports:
      - "4000:8080"  # Web UI (container listens on 8080)
    volumes:
      - ./dashy-conf.yml:/app/user-data/conf.yml  # Dashboard configuration
    environment:
      - NODE_ENV=production  # Recommended for performance
    healthcheck:
      test: ["CMD", "node", "/app/services/healthcheck"]
      interval: 1m30s
      timeout: 10s
      retries: 3
      start_period: 40s

Create a dashy-conf.yml alongside it with a starter configuration:

pageInfo:
  title: My Dashboard
  description: Self-hosted services
  navLinks:
    - title: GitHub
      path: https://github.com/lissy93/dashy

sections:
  - name: Services
    icon: fas fa-server
    items:
      - title: Portainer
        url: http://your-server:9000
        icon: hl-portainer
      - title: Uptime Kuma
        url: http://your-server:3001
        icon: hl-uptime-kuma

appConfig:
  theme: one-dark
  statusCheck: true
  statusCheckInterval: 300

Start the stack:

docker compose up -d

Access Dashy at http://your-server:4000. Edit your dashy-conf.yml to add services, or use the built-in interactive editor from the web UI.

Installation Complexity

Homarr is easier to get running. Deploy the container, open the web UI, and start dragging widgets onto the board. No config files to write. Service integrations are configured through the GUI by entering API URLs and keys.

Dashy requires more upfront work. You’ll write YAML to define your layout, sections, and items. The payoff is total control — but the learning curve is steeper if you’ve never worked with YAML configuration. Dashy does include a GUI config editor, but most users end up hand-editing the YAML for precision.

Performance and Resource Usage

Resource	Homarr	Dashy
RAM (idle)	~150 MB	~100 MB
RAM (active use)	~200 MB	~120 MB
CPU	Low (spikes during service polling)	Very low
Disk	~500 MB (image + SQLite)	~300 MB (image + YAML)
Startup time	~10 seconds	~15-20 seconds (initial build)

Both are lightweight enough to run on a Raspberry Pi alongside other services. Dashy is slightly lighter since it’s a static Vue.js app with no database. Homarr uses more resources because it actively polls your integrated services for live data.

Community and Support

Metric	Homarr	Dashy
GitHub stars	6,000+	18,000+
Active development	Very active (v1.0 rewrite ongoing)	Active, mature codebase
Documentation	Good, improving with v1.0	Excellent, extensive wiki
Discord community	Active	Active
Update frequency	Frequent (beta releases)	Regular stable releases

Dashy has a larger community and more mature documentation. Homarr’s community is growing fast, especially with excitement around the v1.0 rewrite. Both projects are well-maintained and responsive to issues.

Use Cases

Choose Homarr If…

• You run the *arr stack (Sonarr, Radarr, Prowlarr) and want to see download status, library stats, and queue data on your dashboard
• You prefer GUI-based configuration over editing config files
• You want Docker container management directly from your dashboard
• You like drag-and-drop widget placement
• You want a dashboard that does more than just link to services — you want it to interact with them

Choose Dashy If…

• Visual customization is your top priority — you want your dashboard to look exactly how you envision it
• You prefer configuration-as-code (YAML) that you can version control with git
• You want built-in status monitoring without a separate tool
• You need multi-user support with granular access control
• You want dozens of theme options without writing CSS
• You run the dashboard on minimal hardware and want the lowest resource footprint

Final Verdict

Homarr wins for service integration. If your dashboard needs to be more than a bookmark page — if you want live data from Sonarr, qBittorrent, Overseerr, and other services displayed in widgets — Homarr is the clear choice. The v1.0 rewrite has made it significantly more capable, and the drag-and-drop editor means you never touch a config file.

Dashy wins for customization and aesthetics. If you want a dashboard that looks exactly how you want it, with full control over themes, layouts, icons, and styling, Dashy gives you more options. The YAML configuration is also a strength if you like versioning your config in git.

For most homelab users running media management tools, Homarr is the better pick. The ability to see your download queue, library stats, and service health at a glance — without opening each app individually — is genuinely useful. Dashy’s beauty is skin-deep by comparison. But if your dashboard is primarily a launchpad for bookmarks and you care about how it looks, Dashy delivers.

Neither is a wrong choice. Both are free, lightweight, and easy to deploy. Try both — it takes five minutes each.

Related

• How to Self-Host Homarr
• Best Self-Hosted Dashboards
• Docker Compose Basics
• How to Self-Host Portainer
• Reverse Proxy Setup
• How to Self-Host Homepage
• How to Self-Host Heimdall