Homarr

Homarr is a free, self-hosted dashboard that puts every app and service running on your server behind one customizable homepage: drag-and-drop widgets, live status checks, and one-click links, with no YAML file required. It runs as a single Docker container and talks directly to Sonarr, Plex, Proxmox, Docker itself, and dozens of other self-hosted tools to pull live data onto the board.

What Homarr actually does

Homarr’s pitch is a board built by dragging tiles around, not a config file edited by hand. Apps get bookmarked with an icon from a library of over 10,000 built-in options, and widgets attached to those apps show live data instead of just a link: a Sonarr tile showing the next download, a Proxmox tile showing host load. Homarr ships with 40-plus built-in integrations, covering media servers, the *arr stack, Proxmox, Home Assistant, and generic protocols like RSS and iCal for anything without a dedicated widget.

Authentication is built in rather than left to a reverse proxy: Homarr supports credential accounts plus OIDC and LDAP single sign-on, with per-user permissions and groups, so a shared household board can hide admin-only apps from everyone else. Boards can also be duplicated per user or per screen.

Installing Homarr with Docker

Homarr’s own installation docs recommend Docker Compose over a plain docker run command, and the image lives on GitHub Container Registry rather than Docker Hub. Create a docker-compose.yml with the following:

services:
  homarr:
    container_name: homarr
    image: ghcr.io/homarr-labs/homarr:latest
    restart: unless-stopped
    volumes:
      - /var/run/docker.sock:/var/run/docker.sock # optional, only for Docker integration
      - ./homarr/appdata:/appdata
    environment:
      - SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY=your_64_character_hex_string
    ports:
      - '7575:7575'

1. Generate a 64-character hex key for SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY before the first start; Homarr won’t boot without one.
2. Save the file and run docker compose up -d in the same directory.
3. Open http://your-server-ip:7575 and create the first admin account; there’s no default login to change.
4. Only keep the docker.sock volume line if the Docker integration widget matters.

openssl rand -hex 32

Adding your first apps and widgets

Board editing happens entirely in the browser once logged in, no YAML file to find or edit.

1. Click Edit mode in the top corner to unlock the drag-and-drop grid.
2. Choose Add App or Add Widget: apps are simple bookmarks with an icon, widgets pull live data from an integration.
3. For anything needing live data, a torrent client, Sonarr, Proxmox, paste in its URL plus an API key from that service’s settings.
4. Drag tiles and resize sections until the layout fits, then exit Edit mode.
5. Repeat for additional boards if different people or screens need different layouts.

Homelab use cases

The obvious first move is replacing a browser bookmarks folder: every self-hosted service lands on one board instead of a dozen tabs nobody can find at 11pm. Homarr’s Docker integration also works as a lightweight, read-only view of what’s running, useful alongside a proper management tool like Portainer for actually redeploying containers. Pair the two: Portainer manages the containers, Homarr links to all of them, and an Uptime Kuma status widget flags anything that’s gone down.

Homarr vs other self-hosted dashboards

Homarr isn’t the only drag-and-drop homepage built for a homelab. Homepage leans further into YAML files and a very long integration list; Heimdall and Flame stay closer to a simple bookmark grid; Dashy sits in between, configurable through either YAML or its own UI. Both Heimdall and Dashy now have their own fiches here on the site, so this stays brief:

	Homarr	Homepage	Heimdall	Dashy	Flame
Configuration	Drag-and-drop UI	YAML files	Simple UI	YAML or UI	Minimal UI
Built-in auth	Credentials, OIDC, LDAP	None	Basic	Optional	Basic PIN
Live widgets	40+ integrations	Very large list	Minimal	Wide, community-driven	Minimal
Best for	Power and ease	YAML power users	Simplicity	Customization	Fast bookmarks

Homarr: pros and cons

• Free and open source under the Apache License 2.0, no account or paid tier for the self-hosted software
• Genuinely no-YAML setup: apps, widgets, and layout are all drag-and-drop from the browser
• Built-in authentication with OIDC/LDAP and per-user permissions, not left to a reverse proxy
• 40+ integrations plus a large icon library; most common self-hosted apps are one click away

• The optional Docker socket integration is read access to every container on the host, worth a deliberate decision, not a default yes
• SECRET_ENCRYPTION_KEY is mandatory before the first boot, easy to miss coming from simpler single-container apps
• Younger rewrite than it looks: the v1.0 codebase and homarr-labs organization only date to 2024, so older guides and screenshots often show the discontinued MIT-licensed version
• No official mobile app; the dashboard is browser-only

FAQ

Is Homarr free?

Yes, fully, under the Apache License 2.0 with no feature gated behind a paid tier. Third-party platforms like Railway, PikaPods, or ElfHosted sell managed hosting of that same image, but that’s a hosting fee, not a Homarr license.

What happened to the old Homarr GitHub repo?

The original project, created by developer ajnart and MIT-licensed, was rewritten from scratch as version 1.0 in 2024 and moved to the homarr-labs organization, now under Apache 2.0. The old ajnart/homarr repo stayed live for reference before being archived as read-only in 2026; a pre-1.0 install needs Homarr’s migration guide, not a simple image update.

Does Homarr need an external database?

No. It uses an embedded SQLite database by default, inside the mounted /appdata volume, and bundles its own Redis instance for realtime widget updates. PostgreSQL and MySQL are both supported through the DB_DRIVER variable for larger setups, but neither is required to get started.

Homarr vs Homepage: which one should I pick?

Homepage leans on YAML files, suiting anyone who wants to version-control their dashboard as text. Homarr trades some of that configurability for a drag-and-drop UI, built-in authentication, and per-user boards. Neither is objectively better, it’s a YAML-first versus UI-first choice.

Can I run Homarr without exposing it to the internet?

Yes, and that’s the recommended setup for any dashboard aggregating links and status for a homelab: keep it on the local network, or reachable only through a mesh VPN like Tailscale, rather than forwarding its port to the open internet.

Homarr earns its spot as the first thing that loads on a homelab, less because any single feature is unique and more because drag-and-drop setup actually gets finished, instead of half-configured in a YAML file for six months. Our homelab setup guide for beginners covers the Docker basics it runs on, and pairing it with Portainer and Uptime Kuma covers the rest of a basic homelab stack: managing containers, and knowing when one goes down.