A lightweight notification daemon for Wayland. Works on Sway.
Open source
24 alternativesDunst
Dunst provides a lightweight, customizable notification daemon for desktop environments.
About Dunst
Dunst is a notification daemon for desktop environments. It displays notifications and controls how they appear and behave. Its configuration is set through a file, which controls fonts, icons, timeouts, shortcuts, and colors. Rules can change how notifications matching a specified pattern look or behave, and scripts can run when matching notifications arrive.
Dunst is available in many package repositories. If a package is not available for a distribution, the project describes building it from source with make or Meson. The homepage lists required libraries, some of which are optional and depend on whether the user wants Wayland, X11, or dunstify support. Documentation is provided as man pages, with guides and an FAQ on the project wiki and website.
Key features
- Configuration file controls fonts, icons, timeouts, shortcuts, and colors
- Scripts can run on notifications that match a specified pattern
- Rules change the look or behavior of notifications matching a pattern
- Pause mode saves notifications to read later
- Numeric pause level lets urgent notifications through while less urgent ones stay paused
- Keyboard shortcut replays the last notification and shows notification history
Best for: Users of Linux desktop environments who want to control how notifications look, behave, and when they appear.
Good for
- Configurable through a configuration file, as described on the homepage
- Pause levels allow selective notifications while others remain paused
- Available in many package repositories
Watch out for
- Some features depend on optional libraries such as libnotify, Wayland, or X11 components
- Dependency package names differ depending on the distribution
- Documentation is spread across man pages, a wiki, and an FAQ
Dunst at a glance
- Category
- Software & Utilities › Linux & Mac Apps
- Type
- Open-source project
- Pricing
- Not confirmed. Check the site
- Open source
- Not stated
- Language
- English
- Last checked
- Oct 6, 2026 · Online when checked
- Listed
- Oct 5, 2026
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Dunst FAQ
How can Dunst be installed?
Dunst is available in many package repositories. If it is not available for a distribution, it can be built from source using make or Meson.
Where are the configuration options documented?
The dunst(5) man page explains all configuration options. The dunst(1) man page covers general instructions for running Dunst.
Can notifications be viewed after they disappear?
A keyboard shortcut replays the last notification, and repeated use shows the notification history.
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