Dashy

26.8K stars
MIT
Active this week
Last commit 2 days ago

Last verified Oct 29, 2026

Manage all your self-hosted services from one configurable homelab homepage with real-time status checks, widgets, icon packs, and YAML-based configuration.

Visit website GitHub26.8K Deploy on Hostinger

Read the full breakdownWho it is for, how it works, trade-offs, the quick start and the FAQ

who it's for

Who Dashy is for#

Homelab enthusiasts organizing 10+ self-hosted services

Dashy gives each service its own tile with an icon, status badge, and configurable launch method. For someone running Plex, Nextcloud, Portainer, Home Assistant, Vaultwarden, Jellyfin, and a dozen other services, Dashy replaces browser bookmarks with a structured, always-visible launch pad that also shows which services are actually running.

Skip if:

If you run fewer than four or five services, a browser bookmarks folder is faster to set up and equally effective. Dashy's value scales with the number of services you manage.

Households sharing a home server with non-technical members

The minimal view serves as a clean browser startpage that non-technical family members can use without knowing port numbers or IP addresses. Combined with per-user access controls, you can give family members access to specific services while keeping admin tools hidden from their view.

Skip if:

If your household is just one person, the multi-user and guest access features add no value. A simpler personal configuration suffices.

Self-hosters wanting private status monitoring without external services

Instead of signing up for a monitoring service that requires exposing your private services to the public internet, Dashy runs status checks from within your local network. HTTP and ICMP ping checks run from the browser, keeping your service topology private and requiring no external dependencies.

Skip if:

If you need alerting when a service goes down, Dashy does not send notifications. It only displays current status on page load or on a polling interval. A dedicated monitoring tool like a self-hosted Uptime Kuma handles the alerting use case.

Developers and sysadmins managing a shared homelab or internal tool stack

SSO integration with Keycloak or any OIDC provider means Dashy fits into an existing identity setup. Multi-page support lets you organize the dashboard into logical sections such as Infrastructure, Apps, or Development. The workspace view is useful for monitoring multiple admin panels side by side.

Skip if:

If your team needs a full internal developer portal with documentation, API catalogs, and service ownership metadata, Dashy covers only the launch-and-monitor layer. Tools like Backstage serve the broader portal use case.

the problem

The problem it solves#

Running a homelab means accumulating services such as Plex for media, Nextcloud for files, Portainer for containers, and Home Assistant for automation. Within a few months most homelabs have 10 to 20 services reachable on different ports, and none of them are organized anywhere. Browser bookmarks become the default, but they do not tell you whether a service is actually running, what port it lives on, or how to share access with a family member or colleague.

The second pain is visibility. If a service goes down, you may not notice until you try to use it and get a connection refused error. Paid uptime monitoring services exist but require exposing private services to external check endpoints, which conflicts with self-hosting for privacy-conscious users.

how Dashy solves it

How it solves it#

Real-time service status indicators

Each item shows a live HTTP or ICMP ping status badge, updated on page load or on a configurable polling interval. Response time and HTTP status code appear on hover. Status checks can be enabled globally via appConfig.statusCheck or individually per item, with custom check URLs and headers when the default endpoint is not appropriate.

In-browser YAML config editor

Right-clicking any section or item opens an edit prompt, and the UI editor writes changes to the YAML config file. You can also edit the raw YAML directly in the editor with built-in schema validation. Changes show a live preview before saving, and the tool supports exporting, backing up, and resetting the config.

Widgets for dynamic content

Pre-built widgets pull live data from self-hosted services and public APIs. Available types include weather forecasts, RSS feeds, GitHub stats, Pihole ad-blocker stats, system resource usage, and more. Widgets configure in the YAML file and render alongside your app links, turning the dashboard into a live information panel.

Multiple icon types including homelab icon packs

Icons can be auto-fetched favicons, Font-Awesome icons, Simple Icons, Material Icons, selfh.st/icons, dashboard-icons (logos for commonly self-hosted apps like Nextcloud, Plex, and Portainer), emoji, generative avatars, custom images by URL, or locally stored files. Most services have a recognizable logo available in one of these sources.

Multiple view modes

Beyond the default grid layout, Dashy includes a minimal view suitable as a browser start page and a workspace view that opens apps side-by-side in iframes without leaving the dashboard. View switching is available from the top-right corner of the UI or set as the startup default in conf.yml.

Multi-user authentication and SSO

Basic auth supports multiple users with SHA-256 hashed passwords, per-user access levels including read-only guest mode, and granular item visibility controls. For teams or households, full SSO is available via Keycloak or any OIDC-compatible provider, so existing identity infrastructure handles access without maintaining a separate user list.

strengths · trade-offs

Strengths and trade-offs#

Strengths

MIT license with no usage restrictionsDashy is MIT licensed, so you can run it commercially, fork it, modify it, and redistribute it without paying anyone. Unlike commercial dashboard products that charge per-seat fees or restrict team use to paid plans, Dashy's only cost is the server time to run it.
26,000+ stars with active ongoing developmentWith 26,844 GitHub stars and a last push on 2026-10-27, Dashy has one of the strongest community health signals among homelab dashboard tools. The high star count reflects genuine adoption, and the recent activity means bugs get addressed and features continue to be added.
Single Docker command to get runningStarting Dashy requires one Docker command on amd64 or arm64 hardware, with images available on Docker Hub and GitHub Container Registry. For production use, mounting a user-data directory to /app/user-data preserves configuration across container restarts without additional setup.
YAML-first config with live UI editingEverything in Dashy is controlled by a single conf.yml file, which is readable, version-controllable, and straightforward to back up. The UI editor generates the same YAML, so you can switch between editing methods. Versioning your dashboard config in git means changes are reversible and shareable.

Trade-offs

-Initial YAML setup has a learning curveGetting a useful dashboard requires writing a conf.yml with sections and items, which involves learning the YAML schema even with the UI editor's help. The documentation is thorough, but users who have never edited YAML will spend 30-60 minutes on initial configuration. The UI editor reduces this for subsequent changes but does not eliminate it for the first setup.
-Workspace view is memory-intensive on low-RAM clientsThe workspace view loads multiple iframes simultaneously in the browser, which can be memory-intensive for older devices or low-power single-board computers used as the browser client. Running Dashy on a Raspberry Pi as a server is fine; accessing the workspace view from a low-RAM client device may be slow.
-Cloud backup sends configuration off-deviceThe optional encrypted cloud backup feature sends config to an external service. Self-hosters who want entirely self-contained setups should version their conf.yml with git or mount it from a NAS volume instead. The backup feature is off by default and entirely optional, but worth knowing about if keeping all data local is a priority.

versus alternatives

Dashy vs alternatives#

Dashy vs Start.me

Start.me is a cloud-based personal homepage and bookmark manager with paid plans for teams and advanced widget features. Dashy and Start.me both organize links in a structured visual dashboard, but they differ on hosting model and primary purpose.

Feature	Dashy	Start.me
License	MIT	Proprietary (SaaS)
Self-hosting	Yes (Docker)	No
Status monitoring	Yes (HTTP + ICMP)	No
SSO support	Yes (Keycloak/OIDC)	Teams plan only
Offline access	PWA (basic)	Requires internet
Pricing	Free (self-hosted)	Freemium, paid for teams

Dashy is the better choice when you want your service list and status checks to stay on your own network. The HTTP and ICMP status monitoring feature has no equivalent in Start.me, which is primarily a bookmarking tool.

Start.me suits users who want a polished, zero-maintenance homepage without any server setup. If your links point to public-internet services rather than private homelab endpoints, Start.me's cloud model is simpler.

Dashy vs Uptime Robot

Uptime Robot is a cloud-based service availability monitoring tool with paid plans. The overlap with Dashy is HTTP and ping checking, but the products serve different primary purposes.

Feature	Dashy	Uptime Robot
Primary purpose	Homepage and service launcher	Uptime monitoring only
Self-hosting	Yes	No (cloud only)
Status checks	HTTP + ICMP (from local network)	External HTTP checks
Alerting	None	Email, SMS, Slack, webhook
Dashboard	Full app launcher	Status page only

Dashy's status checks run from within your local network, so they work for services not exposed to the public internet. Uptime Robot checks from external servers, requiring your services to be publicly reachable.

Uptime Robot is worth considering if you need alerting when a service goes down. Dashy only shows current status on page load or on a polling interval; it does not send notifications. For production services requiring uptime alerts, Uptime Robot is the appropriate choice.

install · quick start

Quick start#

bash

Self-hosting Dashy uses Docker, with multi-arch images for amd64 and arm64 on Docker Hub.

```bash
docker run -p 4000:8080 lissy93/dashy
```

tech stack · detected from GitHub

What it's built on#

Languages: JavaScript
Frameworks: ExpressVue
Runtimes: Node.js
Infrastructure: Docker

frequently asked

FAQ#

Is Dashy free to use?

Yes. Dashy is MIT licensed and free to self-host on your own infrastructure. There is no paid tier, no subscription, and no usage limits when self-hosted. The only cost is the server that runs it.

Can Dashy monitor whether my services are online?

Yes. Dashy checks HTTP status codes for app and service endpoints and sends ICMP ping requests for hosts, displaying a colored status badge per item. You configure the check interval in the YAML config under appConfig.statusCheckInterval. Hovering over a badge shows the response time and HTTP status code.

How do I configure Dashy?

Dashy reads a YAML file at /app/user-data/conf.yml on startup. You can edit this file directly in any text editor, or use the in-browser UI editor by right-clicking any item or section, or entering edit mode from the top-right icon. The UI editor writes changes back to the same YAML file, so both methods stay in sync.

Does Dashy support SSO or multi-user access?

Yes. For basic setups, Dashy supports multiple users with SHA-256 hashed passwords and per-user access levels including read-only guest mode. For full SSO, it integrates with Keycloak and any OIDC-compatible identity provider. Basic auth requires only a conf.yml change; SSO requires a running OIDC provider.

Can I run Dashy on a Raspberry Pi?

Yes. Dashy's Docker images are multi-arch and support both amd64 and arm64, so they run natively on Raspberry Pi 3 and newer without emulation. Resource requirements are modest for the server itself. The workspace view, which loads multiple apps in iframes simultaneously, may be slow if the Pi is also used as the browser client.

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Hostinger

Self-host Dashy on a Hostinger VPS

Keep it running 24/7, even when your laptop is off. A Hostinger VPS gives it a server of its own.

01
Choose a plan
Starts from $6.49/mo
02
Apply
Extra 10% off yearly plans
03
Install Dashy
On a server that stays on
04
Start building
Focus on the app, not the server

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Dashy vs Start.me

Feature	Dashy	Start.me
License	MIT	Proprietary (SaaS)
Self-hosting	Yes (Docker)	No
Status monitoring	Yes (HTTP + ICMP)	No
SSO support	Yes (Keycloak/OIDC)	Teams plan only
Offline access	PWA (basic)	Requires internet
Pricing	Free (self-hosted)	Freemium, paid for teams

Dashy vs Uptime Robot

Uptime Robot is a cloud-based service availability monitoring tool with paid plans. The overlap with Dashy is HTTP and ping checking, but the products serve different primary purposes.

Feature	Dashy	Uptime Robot
Primary purpose	Homepage and service launcher	Uptime monitoring only
Self-hosting	Yes	No (cloud only)
Status checks	HTTP + ICMP (from local network)	External HTTP checks
Alerting	None	Email, SMS, Slack, webhook
Dashboard	Full app launcher	Status page only