GoAccess vs linux-dash
Which should you use? A side-by-side look at what each one does, who it suits, what it costs, how hard it is to set up, and where each falls short.
Open source · MIT
Open-source log analyzer that shows live web traffic stats in your terminal or a browser dashboard.
Open source · MIT
A simple, low-overhead web dashboard that shows system stats for a Linux machine.
The short answer
Choose GoAccess if you need…
- System administrators who want quick traffic stats over SSH
- DevOps engineers monitoring Nginx, Apache, or similar servers
- People who prefer working in the terminal
- Anyone checking which pages are slowing down a site using response time tracking
Choose linux-dash if you need…
- People who want a quick browser view of a Linux server's health
- Developers running a small personal or lab machine
- Anyone who wants a lightweight monitor with little setup
Side-by-side
| GoAccess | linux-dash | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | App | App |
| Price | Free and open source | Free and open source |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| GitHub stars | 21.1k | 10.6k |
| Setup difficulty | Intermediate | Beginner |
| How you get it | Clone and build from source | Clone and build from source |
| Main language | C | JavaScript |
| Last code update | 9 days ago | 3 years ago |
What each one is
GoAccess
GoAccess reads your web server's access log files and turns them into traffic statistics such as hits, visitors, bandwidth, and slow requests. It shows the results live in a terminal window or in an HTML dashboard in your browser. System administrators and DevOps staff typically use it to monitor traffic and spot problems quickly.
linux-dash
linux-dash is a small web page you run on a Linux machine to view its system information in a browser. The README describes it as a simple, low-overhead dashboard, and says it ships with server versions in Node.js, Go, Python, and PHP. It is meant to be easy to drop in and run.
Best for
GoAccess
- System administrators who want quick traffic stats over SSH
- DevOps engineers monitoring Nginx, Apache, or similar servers
- People who prefer working in the terminal
- Anyone checking which pages are slowing down a site using response time tracking
linux-dash
- People who want a quick browser view of a Linux server's health
- Developers running a small personal or lab machine
- Anyone who wants a lightweight monitor with little setup
Strengths
GoAccess
- Real-time display, with terminal panels updated every 200 ms and HTML every second
- Works with many log formats, including Apache, Nginx, CloudFront, and Caddy JSON
- Only needs ncurses as a dependency, and is written in C
linux-dash
- The README says it is small, under 400KB on disk with .git removed
- Install is described as a simple clone-and-run process
- Includes server implementations in several languages, so you can pick one
Not ideal for
GoAccess
- People who need JavaScript-based website analytics for visitors' browsers, since it reads server logs instead (inferred from its log-file design)
- Windows-only users, because the README says Windows support is only through Cygwin
linux-dash
- Production servers exposed to the internet, because the README says it provides no security or authentication and recommends protecting it with your own measure
- Teams needing alerting, history, or multi-server monitoring, which the README does not mention
Trade-offs
GoAccess
- Some distribution packages may be an outdated version, according to the README
- Analysis depends on your log format and an optional GeoIP database for country data
linux-dash
- No built-in security or authentication; the README strongly advises protecting it yourself
- The last push date in the metadata is April 2024, so maintenance activity may be limited
- The README is truncated and does not list detailed dashboard metrics
Getting started
GoAccess
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/allinurl/goaccess.gitEnter the directory
cd goaccesslinux-dash
Clone the repo
git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/afaqurk/linux-dash.gitGo to the server directory
cd linux-dash/app/serverFrequently asked questions
What is the difference between GoAccess and linux-dash?
GoAccess: Open-source log analyzer that shows live web traffic stats in your terminal or a browser dashboard. linux-dash: A simple, low-overhead web dashboard that shows system stats for a Linux machine. GoAccess suits system administrators who want quick traffic stats over ssh, while linux-dash suits people who want a quick browser view of a linux server's health.
Are GoAccess and linux-dash free?
GoAccess: Free and open source. linux-dash: Free and open source.
Which is easier to set up, GoAccess or linux-dash?
linux-dash is easier to get started with (rated beginner); GoAccess is rated intermediate and usually needs more setup.
Is GoAccess or linux-dash more popular?
GoAccess has more GitHub stars (21.1k) than linux-dash (10.6k). Popularity isn't the same as fit — check which one matches your use case above.
What are other alternatives to GoAccess and linux-dash?
Other options people compare them with include Umami.
Keep comparing
Built from our catalogue entries for both products: open-source details come from each project's README (AI-assisted, refreshed weekly) and GitHub data; AI-tool details are editorial. Spotted something wrong? Let us know from either product's page.