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Comparison · Infra & APIs

Dashy vs Nebula

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

Dashy vs Nebula: at a glance

FeatureDashyNebula
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score5.02.5
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesself-hosted, dashboard, homelab, securitymesh-vpn, overlay-network, ipv6, performance
Last editorial update5h ago1h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is Dashy?

Dashy shipped ten releases in five days; one fixes how auth headers trust origins

Dashy ships one release per merged PR. From October 26 to 31 that meant ten releases: six were Dependabot bumps, and the rest were fixes, including accepting IPv6 connections by default, a workspace header and search fix, an icon color fix, and a security fix for auth headers used with lookalike origins.

Read the full Dashy trajectory →

What is Nebula?

Nebula 1.12 adds optional offloading for throughput after a run of platform fixes.

Nebula is a peer-to-peer mesh VPN with its own certificate authority. Since v1.10.0 added IPv6 and multiple overlay addresses, releases have dealt with the fallout: v1.11.1 fixed an IPv6 firewall bypass, and v1.11.2 in September fixed IPv6 MTU on Windows, local address discovery on Android 11+, and checksums for traffic to a host's own IPv6 address on macOS. v1.12.0 on October 29 added optional UDP and TUN offloading, planned to become the default later, and stricter firewall rule parsing.

Read the full Nebula trajectory →

Dashy vs Nebula: editorial side-by-side

D
Dashy
INFRA · APIS
5.0

Dashy shipped ten releases in five days; one fixes how auth headers trust origins

◆ Current state

Dashy ships one release per merged PR. From October 26 to 31 that meant ten releases: six were Dependabot bumps, and the rest were fixes, including accepting IPv6 connections by default, a workspace header and search fix, an icon color fix, and a security fix for auth headers used with lookalike origins.

◆ Where it's heading

The cadence stays automated and small-grained, with the maintainer's own fixes interleaved with dependency updates.

◆ Prediction

More single-PR releases will follow; the entries give no sign of a larger feature release.

N
Nebula
INFRA · APIS
2.5

Nebula 1.12 adds optional offloading for throughput after a run of platform fixes.

◆ Current state

Nebula is a peer-to-peer mesh VPN with its own certificate authority. Since v1.10.0 added IPv6 and multiple overlay addresses, releases have dealt with the fallout: v1.11.1 fixed an IPv6 firewall bypass, and v1.11.2 in September fixed IPv6 MTU on Windows, local address discovery on Android 11+, and checksums for traffic to a host's own IPv6 address on macOS. v1.12.0 on October 29 added optional UDP and TUN offloading, planned to become the default later, and stricter firewall rule parsing.

◆ Where it's heading

The IPv6 work has moved from security fixes to per-platform correctness, and 1.12 turns to throughput. Offloading starting as opt-in, with a stated plan to make it default, sets up the next release cycle.

◆ Prediction

Expect 1.12.x patches for offloading edge cases, and a later release that turns offloading on by default as announced.

Alternatives to Dashy and Nebula

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 Dashy or Nebula.

See all Dashy alternatives → · See all Nebula alternatives →

Recent activity from Dashy and Nebula

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

  1. 2d agoDashyDashy 4.9.12 fixes auth-header trust of lookalike origins
  2. 3d agoDashyDashy 4.9.11 bumps brace-expansion for security
  3. 3d agoDashyDashy 4.9.10 fixes icon color bleeding into text
  4. 3d agoDashyDashy 4.9.9 bundles three dependency updates
  5. 4d agoNebulaRelease v1.12.0
  6. 6d agoDashyDashy 4.9.8 fixes workspace header and search
  7. 6d agoDashyDashy 4.9.7 bundles three dependency updates
  8. 1mo agoNebulav1.11.2 fixes IPv6 MTU on Windows and address discovery on Android
  9. 2mo agoNebulaIPv6 firewall bypass: unparsed protocols matched TCP/UDP rules
  10. 3mo agoNebulaBreaking: slog logging, corrected firewall reject/drop direction
  11. 8mo agoNebulaP256 signature malleability allowed blocklist bypass
  12. 9mo agoNebulaFix panic in use_system_route_table introduced by the previous release

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between Dashy and Nebula?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Dashy is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 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 Dashy better than Nebula?

Sparkpulse doesn't pick a winner — we score release velocity, not feature parity. Dashy is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 5.0 vs 2.5), with 0 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 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.

What are the best alternatives to Nebula?

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