The best Desktop Environment alternative to elementary OS is Fedora, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 100 alternatives to elementary OS and five of them are Desktop Environments so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Desktop Environment alternatives to elementary OS are EndeavourOS, Ultramarine Linux, RebornOS and blackPanther OS.
elementary OS alternatives are mainly Linux Distros, but if you're looking for
Operating Systems or Desktop Environments you can filter on that. You can also filter by region, for example
EU-based alternatives if you prefer software developed in the European Union. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to elementary OS.
Fedora MIGHT be a good Elementary OS. Fedora's 2016 release is its most polished and usable version yet. But if you're looking for an Ubuntu-, Debian- or any kind of distro suitable for complete beginners, Fedora shoots just a little wide of the mark. Try Elementary, Mint, Kubuntu or even Manjaro (yes, you hard that right: they're very beginner friendly these days).