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Comparison · Infra & APIs

AdGuard Home vs Dashy

A side-by-side editorial comparison of AdGuard Home and Dashy — release velocity, themes, recent moves, and the top alternatives to consider.

Shared themes:self-hosted

AdGuard Home vs Dashy: at a glance

FeatureAdGuard HomeDashy
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score5.06.3
Sparks · 30d01
Top themesdns-filtering, encrypted-dns, security-advisories, dual-branchself-hosted, dashboard, drag-and-drop, widgets
Last editorial update3h ago1h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is AdGuard Home?

AdGuard Home is spending most of its release capacity on DNS protocol vulnerabilities.

Two trains run in parallel: the 0.107.x stable line and a long-running 0.108.0 beta series now at b.90. Security dominates both — one stable release opened by admitting security changes take up over half its changelog. The reported issues cluster in the encrypted-DNS stack: JIGGLE attacks, loose validation of DoH upstream responses, unbounded reads on QUIC connections, DNS-over-QUIC resource exhaustion, and a path traversal in GLiNET-mode authorization. Feature work in the window is minor: comments in bootstrap server configuration, removing a static lease hostname via the HTTP API, day units in YAML durations.

Read the full AdGuard Home trajectory →

What is Dashy?

The self-hosted dashboard finally let you drag things around instead of editing YAML.

Dashy tags a release per merged pull request, so the version number climbs several times a week while most tags carry a single dependabot bump or a translation file. The substance sits in 4.5.0, which added drag-and-drop editing of sections, items and widgets, rebuilt the GitHub stats widget on GitHub's own API with optional token authentication, and expanded number formatting in the custom-api widget. Point releases since have been an OIDC post-logout redirect, item sorting options, and an out-of-memory crash fix.

Read the full Dashy trajectory →

AdGuard Home vs Dashy: editorial side-by-side

A
AdGuard Home
INFRA · APIS
5.0

AdGuard Home is spending most of its release capacity on DNS protocol vulnerabilities.

◆ Current state

Two trains run in parallel: the 0.107.x stable line and a long-running 0.108.0 beta series now at b.90. Security dominates both — one stable release opened by admitting security changes take up over half its changelog. The reported issues cluster in the encrypted-DNS stack: JIGGLE attacks, loose validation of DoH upstream responses, unbounded reads on QUIC connections, DNS-over-QUIC resource exhaustion, and a path traversal in GLiNET-mode authorization. Feature work in the window is minor: comments in bootstrap server configuration, removing a static lease hostname via the HTTP API, day units in YAML durations.

◆ Where it's heading

The 0.108 beta has been running long enough that its interesting signal is the edge channel switching to the new UI and versioning scheme — the rewrite is reaching users before the beta closes. Meanwhile the security cadence is community-driven: nearly every fix credits an external reporter, and fixes land in a beta and its stable counterpart within days or the same day. That is a project whose attack surface is its protocol implementations, and whose defence is a fast disclosure-to-patch loop rather than architectural change.

◆ Prediction

Expect the encrypted-DNS transports to keep generating reports and same-week patches on both branches, and the new UI to widen from the edge channel toward beta as 0.108 approaches release.

D
Dashy
INFRA · APIS
6.3

The self-hosted dashboard finally let you drag things around instead of editing YAML.

◆ Current state

Dashy tags a release per merged pull request, so the version number climbs several times a week while most tags carry a single dependabot bump or a translation file. The substance sits in 4.5.0, which added drag-and-drop editing of sections, items and widgets, rebuilt the GitHub stats widget on GitHub's own API with optional token authentication, and expanded number formatting in the custom-api widget. Point releases since have been an OIDC post-logout redirect, item sorting options, and an out-of-memory crash fix.

◆ Where it's heading

The direction is away from configuration-as-a-file toward direct manipulation, which is the friction that has always separated Dashy from simpler homepage dashboards. The supporting work lines up with it: sorting controls, better handling of long titles, richer widget formatting. The auth-adjacent changes — OIDC logout redirect, logout destination — suggest people are running Dashy behind an identity provider for more than one user.

◆ Prediction

With drag-and-drop editing shipped, the follow-on is most likely persistence and permissions questions around who can edit a shared dashboard, though these notes do not state that. Expect the per-PR release cadence to continue producing mostly dependency tags.

Alternatives to AdGuard Home and Dashy

Other Infra & APIs products tracked by Sparkpulse, ranked by recent ship velocity. Each card links to a full editorial trajectory and lets you pivot into a head-to-head comparison with either AdGuard Home or Dashy.

See all AdGuard Home alternatives → · See all Dashy alternatives →

Recent activity from AdGuard Home and Dashy

Latest ship moves from both products, interleaved chronologically. ⚡ = editorial spark.

  1. 1d agoDashyMissing German translations added
  2. 3d agoDashyOut-of-memory crash from unclosed secureConnect listeners fixed
  3. 4d agoDashyDependency bumps in the minor-and-patch group
  4. 5d agoAdGuard HomeAdGuard Home v0.108.0-b.90
  5. 6d agoDashyOIDC post-logout redirect URI support
  6. 8d agoDashyItems can be sorted by provider and by item ID
  7. 9d agoDashy4.5.0 adds drag-and-drop editing of sections, items and widgets
  8. 21d agoAdGuard HomeAdGuard Home v0.108.0-b.89
  9. 22d agoAdGuard HomeAdGuard Home v0.107.78
  10. 2mo agoAdGuard HomeAdGuard Home v0.108.0-b.88
  11. 2mo agoAdGuard HomeAdGuard Home v0.107.77
  12. 2mo agoAdGuard HomeAdGuard Home v0.108.0-b.87

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between AdGuard Home and Dashy?

Both compete on the same themes — self-hosted — within Infra & APIs. Dashy is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. See the at-a-glance table above for a side-by-side breakdown of velocity, recent sparks, and editorial themes.

Is AdGuard Home better than Dashy?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Dashy is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), with 1 editorial sparks in the last 30 days against 0. For your specific use case, the alternatives sections above list other Infra & APIs products to evaluate alongside.

What are the best alternatives to AdGuard Home?

Top AdGuard Home alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "AdGuard Home alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/adguard-home for the full list with editorial commentary on each.

What are the best alternatives to Dashy?

Top Dashy alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "Dashy alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/dashy for the full list with editorial commentary on each.