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Comparison · Infra & APIs

GLAuth vs Dashy

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

GLAuth vs Dashy: at a glance

FeatureGLAuthDashy
SectorInfra & APIsInfra & APIs
Velocity score5.06.3
Sparks · 30d00
Top themesldap, opentelemetry, authentication, embedded-pluginsself-hosted, dashboard, oidc, per-pr-releases
Last editorial update1h ago15h ago
WebsiteVisit →Visit →

What is GLAuth?

A small LDAP server that grew OpenTelemetry tracing, embedded plugins and RISC-V builds.

GLAuth's 2.5.0 in April was the substantial release: OpenTelemetry tracing wired through the handler and plugin packages plus otelsql, embedded plugins, RISC-V platform support, StartTLS and LDAPS brought to feature parity, and LDAP paging compatibility when proxying. The two releases since are corrective — rejecting disabled users on all backends during Bind, an arbitrary-password issue, and a release-time plugin compatibility check.

Read the full GLAuth trajectory →

What is Dashy?

Dashy ships a release per merged PR — the real 4.5 features are already scrolling off the feed.

The self-hosted dashboard cuts a version for essentially every merged pull request, so the recent window is a mix of dependabot bumps, German translations, an out-of-memory fix from unclosed secureConnect listeners, OIDC post-logout redirect support, and new sorting by provider and item ID. The 4.5.0 release that carries the substance — drag-and-drop editing of sections, items and widgets, a rebuilt GitHub stats widget on the official API, and number formatting in the custom-api widget — sits just outside this window.

Read the full Dashy trajectory →

GLAuth vs Dashy: editorial side-by-side

G
GLAuth
INFRA · APIS
5.0

A small LDAP server that grew OpenTelemetry tracing, embedded plugins and RISC-V builds.

◆ Current state

GLAuth's 2.5.0 in April was the substantial release: OpenTelemetry tracing wired through the handler and plugin packages plus otelsql, embedded plugins, RISC-V platform support, StartTLS and LDAPS brought to feature parity, and LDAP paging compatibility when proxying. The two releases since are corrective — rejecting disabled users on all backends during Bind, an arbitrary-password issue, and a release-time plugin compatibility check.

◆ Where it's heading

The direction in 2.5.0 is toward being operable in production rather than merely functional: distributed tracing, a config watcher that notices files added to a directory, credentials no longer leaking at INFO log level, and a legacy behaviour mode so existing deployments can upgrade without changing semantics. The patches since suggest the authentication paths are getting scrutiny they had not previously had, with disabled-user handling inconsistent across backends until 2.5.1 fixed it.

◆ Prediction

Expect the 2.5 line to keep taking small authentication-correctness fixes, with the embedded plugin mechanism and the release-time compatibility check pointing toward more attention on how third-party backends are built and shipped.

D
Dashy
INFRA · APIS
6.3

Dashy ships a release per merged PR — the real 4.5 features are already scrolling off the feed.

◆ Current state

The self-hosted dashboard cuts a version for essentially every merged pull request, so the recent window is a mix of dependabot bumps, German translations, an out-of-memory fix from unclosed secureConnect listeners, OIDC post-logout redirect support, and new sorting by provider and item ID. The 4.5.0 release that carries the substance — drag-and-drop editing of sections, items and widgets, a rebuilt GitHub stats widget on the official API, and number formatting in the custom-api widget — sits just outside this window.

◆ Where it's heading

Development is steady and community-driven, with a maintainer handling auth and stability while contributors add widgets, sorting and translations. The direction after 4.5.0 is refinement rather than expansion: fix what the new editing surface exposed, round out OIDC, keep dependencies current. The per-PR release cadence makes the feed noisy relative to how much actually changes.

◆ Prediction

Expect the 4.5.x patch stream to continue at roughly a release every few days, dominated by dependency bumps and follow-up fixes to the drag-and-drop editor. Larger features will land in a 4.6 cut rather than trickling through patches.

Alternatives to GLAuth 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 GLAuth or Dashy.

See all GLAuth alternatives → · See all Dashy alternatives →

Recent activity from GLAuth and Dashy

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

  1. 23h agoDashy4.5.6 bumps fast-uri
  2. 3d agoDashy4.5.5 adds missing German translations
  3. 5d agoDashy4.5.4 fixes an OOM crash from leaked listeners
  4. 6d agoDashy4.5.3 bumps minor and patch dependencies
  5. 8d agoDashy4.5.2 adds OIDC post-logout redirect support
  6. 10d agoDashy4.5.1 adds sorting by provider and item ID
  7. 11d agoGLAuthv2.5.2 checks plugin compatibility at release time
  8. 18d agoGLAuthv2.5.1 rejects disabled users on every backend during Bind
  9. 3mo agoGLAuthv2.5.0 wires OpenTelemetry tracing through GLAuth end to end

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between GLAuth and Dashy?

They serve adjacent needs but don't currently overlap on shipped themes. Dashy is currently shipping more aggressively (velocity 6.3 vs 5.0), 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 GLAuth 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 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 GLAuth?

Top GLAuth alternatives in Infra & APIs are ranked by recent ship velocity. Browse the "GLAuth alternatives" section above for the current picks, or visit /alternatives/glauth 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.