Desktop Environment Comparison
eylenburg.github.io/de_comparison.htmThis page compares desktop environments for Linux and Unix, with macOS and Windows included for reference.
Looking for something like Reference Card? Here are 24 alternatives, ranked by how closely they match it on purpose, features and platforms. Of these, 5 are free or have a free plan and 6 are open source.
This i3 reference card lists keyboard shortcuts for common window manager actions.
| # | Alternative | Pricing | Open source | Platforms |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Desktop Environment Comparison | — | Not stated | Linux, macOS, Web |
| 2 | We Are Wayland Now | — | Not stated | Web |
| 3 | MechaKeys | Freemium | Not stated | Web |
| 4 | awesomewm | — | Not stated | Web |
| 5 | Window Manager Index | — | Not stated | Web, Windows |
| 6 | Qtile | — | Not stated | Web, Windows |
| 7 | xmonad | — | Not stated | Web, Windows |
| 8 | dwm | — | Not stated | Web, Windows |
| 9 | herbstluftwm | — | Not stated | Web, Windows |
| 10 | Extension Manager | — | Not stated | Web |
This page compares desktop environments for Linux and Unix, with macOS and Windows included for reference.
This guide tracks Wayland support and lists alternative applications for common desktop tasks, such as launchers and screenshot tools.
MechaKeys simulates mechanical keyboard sounds on a desktop, with free and paid sound packs.
Awesome is a highly configurable and extensible window manager for X, described as fast and framework-based.
The ArchWiki explains window managers and links to a comparison of tiling window managers.
Configure Qtile with Python and use its full-featured tiling window manager for arranging windows.
xmonad provides a dynamically tiling window manager for X11, written and configured in Haskell.
Manage windows on X11 with dwm, a dynamic window manager from suckless.org with customization information.
herbstluftwm arranges windows through a manual tiling window manager for the X window system.
Extension Manager browses, installs, and manages GNOME Extensions, with search and extension details in the app.
MechvibesDX rewrites the Mechvibes keyboard sound app in Rust and Dioxus.
backiee provides Windows wallpaper downloads, live wallpapers, and interactive widgets.
Dynamic Theme updates Windows wallpaper or lock screen images from Bing or Windows Spotlight.
Arrange desktop windows as leaves in a binary tree with bspwm, a tiling window manager that responds to X events.
i3 is a tiling window manager for X11 with documented code and Xinerama support.
Manage and synchronize dotfiles across multiple machines with chezmoi, which emphasizes secure handling.
dotfiles.github.io explains how dotfiles can help back up, restore, and synchronize preferences and settings.
river separates the Wayland compositor from the window manager, allowing a compatible manager to be chosen.
The awesome project provides a window manager for the desktop with a Lua configuration interface.
Vin Star Theme offers third-party themes for Windows and some Windows software.
FluentFlyout adds media controls and a taskbar widget to Windows 11, with a flyout for playback controls.
Sweezy Cursors offers animated cursor designs for Chrome and Windows, including themes drawn from games and anime.
MoeWalls provides live and animated wallpapers for Windows and Mac, with categories and resolution filters.
UltraUXThemePatcher modifies Windows system files to enable third-party themes, according to its project page.
Alternatives are suggested from the purpose and features described in our listings. Different pages for the same product appear once. Read each description to check whether it fits your task. How we choose alternatives · Suggest an alternative