GNOME AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Desktop Environments

The best Desktop Environment alternative to GNOME is KDE Plasma, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 25 alternatives to GNOME and many of them are Desktop Environments so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Desktop Environment alternatives to GNOME are Xfce, Cinnamon, Budgie and MATE.

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GNOME alternatives are mainly Desktop Environments but may also be Window Managers or Application Launchers.  Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of GNOME.
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GNOME alternatives page was last updated Apr 11, 2024
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  1. KDE Plasma icon
    KDE Plasma icon

    KDE Plasma

     408 likes
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    Plasma is a cross-device work environment by the KDE Community where trust is put on the user's capacity to best define their own workflow and preferences.

    26 KDE Plasma alternatives
    A typical Plasma desktop looks like this

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • postmarketOS
    KDE Plasma 5.16
    Panel Settings
    +1
    Plasma Widgets

    Properties

    1.  Customizable
    2.  Lightweight
    3.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    4.  Privacy focused
    5.  No Tracking
    6.  Ad-free

    Features

    1.  Desktop Environment
    2.  Themes
    3.  Transparency
    4.  Blurry transparency
    5.  Dark Mode
    6.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    7.  Full-Text Search
    8.  Support for scripting
    9.  Optimized for Fastboot mode
    KDE Plasma iconGNOME Icon

    KDE Plasma VS GNOME

    Is KDE Plasma a good alternative to GNOME?
     
    Comments about KDE Plasma as an Alternative to GNOME
     
       
    kiminariyamamoto

    High configurability and more options than GNOME.

    Top positive comment •Mar 25, 2018
    5
    Guest

    It actually cares about it's users

    Positive comment •Nov 30, 2023
    0
    Paul

    As stable and lightweight as GNOME, but way more customizable, which is why I prefer KDE over GNOME.

    Positive comment •Oct 14, 2023
    0
    Show more comments
    3 of 9 comments
    GNOME Icon
    KDE Plasma icon

    • Almost everyone thinks KDE Plasma is a great GNOME alternative.

    • KDE Plasma is the most popular Linux alternative to GNOME.

    • KDE Plasma is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to GNOME.

    • KDE Plasma is Free and Open SourceGNOME is also Free and Open Source
    • KDE Plasma is Customizable, Lightweight and Privacy focusedGNOME is not according to our users
  2. Xfce icon
    Xfce icon

    Xfce

     368 likes
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    Xfce (pronounced as four individual letters) is a free software desktop environment for Unix and other Unix-like platforms, such as Linux, Solaris and BSD. It aims to be fast and lightweight, while still being visually appealing and easy to use.

    26 Xfce alternatives
    Xfce 4.14

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    Xfce screenshot 1
    Xfce screenshot 2

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Customizable
    3.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    4.  No registration required
    5.  Works Offline
    6.  Ad-free
    7.  No Tracking
    8.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Desktop Environment
    2.  Modular System
    3.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    4.  Dark Mode
    Xfce iconGNOME Icon

    Xfce VS GNOME

    Is Xfce a good alternative to GNOME?
     
    Comments about Xfce as an Alternative to GNOME
     
    Daltro Auguso Campanher de Souza

    Good library-agnostic (Gtk/Qt) environment, specially for those who didn't want fancy UI or a too much refined UX. It's just classic desktop, and works good.

    Comment •Sep 27, 2022
    1
    Roman Rokon

    Low resource usage & very stable

    Positive comment •Feb 5, 2020
    2
    Guest

    Lightweight, nice and fast

    Positive comment •Sep 7, 2016
    1
    GNOME Icon
    Xfce icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Xfce is a great GNOME alternative.

    • Xfce is Free and Open SourceGNOME is also Free and Open Source
    • Xfce is Lightweight, Customizable and Privacy focusedGNOME is not according to our users
  4. Cinnamon icon
    Cinnamon icon

    Cinnamon

     191 likes
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    Cinnamon is a Linux desktop which provides advanced innovative features and a traditional user experience. The desktop layout is similar to GNOME 2. The underlying technology is forked from GNOME Shell.

    24 Cinnamon alternatives
    Cinnamon 4.2

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  No Tracking
    3.  Lightweight
    4.  Ad-free

    Features

    1.  Dark Mode
    2.  High-dpi support
    Cinnamon iconGNOME Icon

    Cinnamon VS GNOME

    Is Cinnamon a good alternative to GNOME?
     
    Comments about Cinnamon as an Alternative to GNOME
     
    Guest

    Very handy, working well, great applets and themes. Little too high on resources though. This is my personal favourite.

    Positive comment •Sep 7, 2016
    1
    Guest

    Very customizable. Resource friendly. Very responsive.

    Positive comment •Oct 23, 2017
    -2
    GNOME Icon
    Cinnamon icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Cinnamon is a great GNOME alternative.

    • Cinnamon is Free and Open SourceGNOME is also Free and Open Source
    • Cinnamon is Privacy focused and LightweightGNOME is not according to our users
  5. Budgie icon
    Budgie icon

    Budgie

     43 likes
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    The Budgie Desktop is a feature-rich, modern desktop designed to keep out the way of the user. It consists of a number of components to provide a more complete desktop experience.

    25 Budgie alternatives
    A screenshot of the Budgie desktop running on Solus Linux. The Budgie settings manager is on the right, made specifically to customize the desktop. The rest of the settings are handled by the Gnome settings manager.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    The Budgie Run Dialog provides the means to quickly find an application in a popup window. This window by default is activated with the ALT+F2 keyboard shortcut, providing keyboard driven launcher facilities.
    The main Budgie menu provides a quick and easy to use menu, suitable for both mouse and keyboard driven users.
    +1
    The Raven side panel provides an all-in-one center for accessing your calendar, controlling sound output and input, media playback and more. Raven also enables you to access missed notifications.

    Properties

    1.  No registration required
    2.  Support for Themes
    3.  Works Offline
    4.  Privacy focused
    5.  No Tracking
    6.  Ad-free

    Features

    1.  Dark Mode
    2.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    3.  Support for Keyboard Shortcuts
    Budgie iconGNOME Icon

    Budgie VS GNOME

    Is Budgie a good alternative to GNOME?
     
    Comments about Budgie as an Alternative to GNOME
     
    Guest

    Good looking, easy to use, feature rich, low resource usage, low RAM usage,

    Positive comment •Jun 28, 2017
    2
    Snow Code

    Budgie has a great look and can be customized very easily. Also Budgie is a great choice for low-end devices that cannot support GNOME while still having a kind of GNOME feel.

    Positive comment •Mar 20, 2020
    0
    Aaron C.

    Budgie is amazing, it's like a lighter weight, more customizable version of Gnome, with the same utilities and everything. I loved using it with Manjaro, but I switched to Fedora for unrelated reasons, and it's not in the official repositories yet (it is coming soon in Fedora 37 though) If you use a Debian (Ubuntu, Mint, etc.) or Arch (Manjaro, etc.) based distro, I highly recommend Budgie right now!

    Positive comment •Jun 23, 2022
    0
    GNOME Icon
    Budgie icon

    • Almost everyone thinks Budgie is a great GNOME alternative.

    • Budgie is Free and Open SourceGNOME is also Free and Open Source
    • Budgie is Privacy focusedGNOME is not according to our users
  6. MATE icon
    MATE icon

    MATE

     141 likes
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    Many users of GNOME 2 dislike GNOME 3. MATE is a fork of the good old GNOME 2. It provides an intuitive and attractive desktop environment using traditional metaphors for Linux and other Unix-like operating systems.

    23 MATE alternatives
    MATE screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • FreeBSD
    • OpenIndiana
    • GhostBSD
    MATE screenshot 1
    MATE screenshot 2
    +1
    MATE screenshot 3
    MATE iconGNOME Icon

    MATE VS GNOME

    Is MATE a good alternative to GNOME?
     
    Comments about MATE as an Alternative to GNOME
     
    John Fastman

    Mate is an open source desktop environment forked from GNOME 2. That happened because GNOME 3 was not to some people's liking; it drastically changed how the desktop experience is organized. Mate is highly customizable, relatively light on resources, a tiny bit dated now, but very usable and gives XFCE a run for its money.

    Positive comment •Apr 3, 2017
    -1
    GNOME Icon
    MATE icon

    • Almost everyone thinks MATE is a great GNOME alternative.

    • MATE is Free and Open SourceGNOME is also Free and Open Source
  7. COSMIC icon
    COSMIC icon

    COSMIC

     12 likes
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    COSMIC is the name for the main shell components in Pop_Shell.

    33 COSMIC alternatives
    COSMIC screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    COSMIC screenshot 1
    COSMIC screenshot 2
    +5
    COSMIC screenshot 3

    Properties

    1.  Ad-free
    2.  Privacy focused
    3.  No registration required
    4.  No Tracking

    Features

    1.  Dark Mode
    2.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    3.  Dock
    COSMIC iconGNOME Icon

    COSMIC VS GNOME

    Is COSMIC a good alternative to GNOME?
     
  9. LXQt icon
    LXQt icon

    LXQt

     49 likes
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    LXQt is the Qt port and the upcoming version of LXDE, the Lightweight Desktop Environment. It is the product of the merge between the LXDE-Qt and the .

    26 LXQt alternatives
    LXQt screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    LXQt screenshot 1
    LXQt screenshot 2

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Ad-free
    3.  Privacy focused
    4.  No registration required
    5.  No Tracking

    Features

    1.  Desktop Environment
    2.  QT Based
    3.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    4.  Dark Mode
    5.  X server
    LXQt iconGNOME Icon

    LXQt VS GNOME

    Is LXQt a good alternative to GNOME?
     
  10. LXDE icon
    LXDE icon

    LXDE

     120 likes
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    The "Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment" is an extremely fast-performing and energy-saving desktop environment.

    27 LXDE alternatives
    Screenshot of the LXDE desktop. It's simple, lightweight, fast, modern, internationalized, and standard-compliant.

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  X server
    LXPanel Provides the common features of a desktop panel. The panel can generate menu for installed applications automatically from *.desktop files.
    PCManFM - lightweight and feature-rich file manager with tabs and volume-management support
    +1
    LXDE on FreeBSD
    LXDE iconGNOME Icon

    LXDE VS GNOME

    Is LXDE a good alternative to GNOME?
     
8 of 21 GNOME alternatives