Want a better Home Assistant dashboard in 2026? You have a few real options. Stay on the built-in Sections view. Build your own look with Mushroom or Bubble Card from HACS. Or install a dedicated dashboard app like GlassHome or the open-source Magic Frame.
One disclosure: GlassHome is mine. I still kept this fair, and I cover where each option fits and where it might not. The best pick comes down to how much you want to build, who uses the dashboard, and where it hangs.
At a glance
| Option | Best for | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Sections (built-in) | Staying built-in, zero install, full openness | Free |
| Mushroom | Assembling your own modern look from great parts | Free (HACS) |
| Bubble Card | Mobile-first pop-up interactions | Free (HACS) |
| GlassHome | A finished look, wall tablets, the whole family | Free tier $0; PRO $19.99 one-time (early bird) |
| Magic Frame | An open-source tablet and photo-frame hybrid | Free (self-host) |
Home Assistant Sections (the built-in default)
Since 2024.3, the Sections view gives you a real drag-and-drop grid with a visual editor. The Areas dashboard can even build a clean starting layout from your rooms. No YAML needed.
- Strengths: built in, free, and open-source. Deep config power. Works with everything in HA. Huge community.
- Trade-offs: it leans functional over polished, so a designed look still means finding, installing, and theming HACS cards. And it was never meant for wall tablets, kiosks, per-user views, or guests. That is simply not the job it set out to do.
- Best for: tinkerers, and anyone who wants free, open, and built-in.
Mushroom (HACS card collection)
Mushroom is one of the most popular ways to upgrade the look of Lovelace. It is a free, well-kept set of clean, minimal cards for lights, climate, media, people, and more, and it is lovely work.
- Strengths: beautiful cards. Well maintained. Themeable. Big community.
- Trade-offs: it is a card set, not a whole dashboard, and it does not try to be. You still place the cards, build the layout, and theme it yourself. There is no wall, kiosk, or household mode.
- Best for: people who enjoy building their own dashboard and want better-looking parts.
Bubble Card (HACS card collection)
Bubble Card adds sleek pop-up and header cards with expandable buttons. It shines on phones.
- Strengths: polished mobile-first controls. Clean look. Popular.
- Trade-offs: same do-it-yourself model as Mushroom, and a narrower focus by design. It is an interaction style, not a full dashboard.
- Best for: phone-first users who want modern pop-up controls in their current dashboard.
GlassHome (dedicated dashboard app)
GlassHome is a separate app that connects to Home Assistant. Instead of assembling cards, you get a finished product. It gives you one clean visual style, drag-and-drop layouts, and room-by-room navigation. It also adds kiosk pairing for wall tablets, per-user themes, and guest access. There is a widget store with an SDK and CLI. Everything runs on your network. Nothing goes through our servers.
- Strengths: looks finished out of the box. Wall-tablet and family features. A widget store instead of HACS hunting. 30-second setup. Local-first.
- Trade-offs: it is a separate app to install. The dashboard itself is closed-source, though the SDK, CLI, UI library, and widgets are open. The community is small, and it is one person building it (me).
- Best for: families, wall tablets, and anyone who wants HA to look bought, not built. The local tier is free. PRO is a one-time $19.99 early bird ($39.99 after launch).
Magic Frame (open-source dashboard app)
Magic Frame is a newer self-hosted app, in the same class as GlassHome. It is a dashboard for tablets, wall monitors, and picture frames, with deep Home Assistant ties. It has a drag-and-drop editor and syncs live across screens. It also works as a photo frame, pulling wallpapers from a local Immich library. One tap turns the tablet from art into a control panel. Everything runs locally, with no cloud or account.
- Strengths: open-source and free at home. A photo frame and dashboard in one. Immich wallpapers. Live multi-screen sync. No YAML. It also ties into Google and Microsoft calendars and Todoist.
- Trade-offs: it uses a Polyform Noncommercial license, so it is free at home but needs a separate license to sell or embed. It is young, with a small community, and the iOS app is still in beta. There is no widget store or SDK yet.
- Best for: tinkerers who want a free, open-source tablet and photo frame in one, and who like to self-host and follow a new project.
Also worth knowing
Dwains Dashboard (HACS) builds a full themed dashboard from your areas and entities. It is one of the closest community options to a finished product. The trade-off: you fit into its layout instead of designing your own.
Button Card (HACS) is an endlessly customizable card for YAML and JavaScript fans. If you love templating, it is for you. It is the opposite of no-config.
Tileboard and other JSON-based wall panels still work. But they are aging and config-file driven, and most kiosk builders have moved on.
How to choose
You can also combine them. GlassHome runs next to the native dashboard. A common setup: GlassHome for the household and the wall tablet, plus a hand-built Sections or Mushroom dashboard for whoever runs HA.
- Want zero install and full openness: stay on Sections.
- Enjoy the craft and want better parts: Mushroom (plus Bubble Card on phones).
- Want an auto-generated full dashboard and accept its structure: Dwains.
- Want a finished, designed product for the wall and the family: GlassHome.
- Want an open-source tablet and photo-frame hybrid you self-host: Magic Frame.
FAQ
Do I need anything beyond the default dashboard?
Not always. Sections is good now. You need more when you want a designed look, wall-tablet or kiosk behavior, or per-person views.
Can I combine these options?
Yes. Mushroom and Bubble Card live inside the native dashboard. GlassHome runs next to it on its own port. Nothing replaces anything.
Does GlassHome replace Home Assistant?
No. Home Assistant stays the engine. GlassHome is just a dashboard that connects to it. Your existing dashboards keep working.
Is GlassHome free?
Yes, there is a free tier for local use. PRO is a one-time $19.99 early bird ($39.99 after launch). It is not a subscription.
See it for yourself
Free, runs on your network, no account needed.
Prefer to read first? Browse the docs.