Jay AlternativesWindow Managers and other similar apps like Jay

Jay is described as 'A Wayland compositor' and is a Window Manager in the os & utilities category. There are more than 50 alternatives to Jay for a variety of platforms, including Linux, BSD, Wayland, Mac and Windows apps. The best Jay alternative is Hyprland, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Jay are i3, Openbox, Sway and Sxmo.

Jay
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A Wayland compositor.

More about Jay
Jay alternatives page was last updated May 11, 2024
  1. Hyprland icon
     12 likes

    Hyprland is a dynamic tiling Wayland compositor based on wlroots that doesn't sacrifice on its looks.

    73 Hyprland alternatives
    Hyprland screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions

    Features

    1.  Support for scripting
    2.  Tiling Window Manager
    3.  Compositor
    Hyprland icon

    Hyprland VS Jay

    Is Hyprland a good alternative to Jay?
     
    • Hyprland is the most popular Linux alternative to Jay.

    • Hyprland is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Jay.

    • Hyprland is Free and Open SourceJay is also Free and Open Source
    • Hyprland is LightweightJay is not according to our users
  2. i3 icon
     69 likes

    i3 is a dynamic tiling window manager with clean, readable and documented code, featuring extended Xinerama support, usage of libxcb instead of xlib and several improvements over wmii.

    74 i3 alternatives
    i3 with VIM, git, MPlayer, i3bar

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Tiling Window Manager
    2.  Tiling
    3.  X server
    4.  Built-in bar/panel
    5.  Mod Keys
    6.  Tabbed interface
    i3 icon

    i3 VS Jay

    Is i3 a good alternative to Jay?
     
  3. Openbox icon
     78 likes

    Openbox is a highly configurable, next generation window manager with extensive standards support.

    71 Openbox alternatives
    BlackWhite theme by lyrae @ box-look.org

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD

    Properties

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

    Features

    1.  Dark Mode
    2.  KDE
    Discontinued

    No actively developed anymore. Last commit was in 2015.

    Openbox icon

    Openbox VS Jay

    Is Openbox a good alternative to Jay?
     
  4. Sway icon
     16 likes

    Sway is a tiling Wayland compositor and a drop-in replacement for the i3 window manager for X11. It works with your existing i3 configuration and supports most of i3's features, plus a few extras.

    73 Sway alternatives
    Sway screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    2.  Wayland Support
    3.  Tiling Window Manager
    4.  Tiling Layouts
    5.  Tiling
    Sway icon

    Sway VS Jay

    Is Sway a good alternative to Jay?
     
  5. Sxmo icon
     2 likes

    A minimalist Linux smartphone environment that is truly yours to control. Sxmo, or Simple X Mobile, is a collection of simple and suckless X programs and scripts used together to create a fully functional mobile UI adhering to the Unix philosophy for the PinePhone and other...

    66 Sxmo alternatives
    Sxmo screenshot 1
    Sxmo screenshot 2
    Sxmo screenshot 3

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • postmarketOS
    • Linux Mobile

    Sxmo Features

    1.  Support for scripting
    2.  Support for Gestures
    3.  SSH
    4.  Tiling Window Manager
    Sxmo icon

    Sxmo VS Jay

    Is Sxmo a good alternative to Jay?
     
  6. Fluxbox icon
     33 likes

    Fluxbox is a window manager for X that was based on the Blackbox 0.61.1 code. It is very light on resources and easy to handle but yet full of features to make an easy, and extremely fast, desktop experience. It is built using C++ and licensed under the MIT license.

    69 Fluxbox alternatives
    fluxbox with a custom theme

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • C++
    Fluxbox icon

    Fluxbox VS Jay

    Is Fluxbox a good alternative to Jay?
     
  7. bspwm icon
     10 likes

    A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning.

    68 bspwm alternatives
    bspwm screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    3.  Ad-free

    Features

    1.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    2.  Support for scripting
    3.  Dark Mode
    4.  Tiling
    5.  Tiling Window Manager
    bspwm icon

    bspwm VS Jay

    Is bspwm a good alternative to Jay?
     
  8. awesome icon
     34 likes

    awesome is a highly configurable, next generation framework window manager for X. It is very fast, extensible and licensed under the GNU GPLv2 license.

    76 awesome alternatives
    awesome screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD

    awesome Features

    1.  X server
    2.  Tiling
    3.  Extensible window manager
    awesome icon

    awesome VS Jay

    Is awesome a good alternative to Jay?
     
  9. Qtile icon
     8 likes

    A full-featured, hackable tiling window manager written and configured in Python.

    70 Qtile alternatives
    Qtile screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux

    Qtile Features

    1.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    2.  Support for scripting
    3.  Command line interface
    4.  Tiling
    5.  Extensible window manager
    Qtile icon

    Qtile VS Jay

    Is Qtile a good alternative to Jay?
     
  10. IceWM icon
     11 likes

    IceWM is a Window Manager for X Window System. It is fast and memory-efficient, and it provides many different looks including Windows'95, OS/2 Warp 3,4, Motif.

    65 IceWM alternatives
    IceWM screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD

    IceWM Features

    1.  X server
    IceWM icon

    IceWM VS Jay

    Is IceWM a good alternative to Jay?
     
  11. dwm icon
     24 likes

    dwm is a dynamic window manager for X. It manages windows in tiled, monocle and floating layouts. All of the layouts can be applied dynamically, optimising the environment for the application in use and the task performed.

    75 dwm alternatives
    dwm screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    2.  X server
    dwm icon

    dwm VS Jay

    Is dwm a good alternative to Jay?
     
  12. Amethyst icon
     20 likes

    Amethyst is a tiling window manager for Mac similar to the xmonad tiling window manager popular on Linux. Amethyst is written in Objective-C and has configurable shortcuts, multi-monitor support, multiple layouts, and the option to float certain applications.

    92 Amethyst alternatives
    Amethyst screenshot 1

    License model

    • FreeOpen Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac

    Amethyst Features

    1.  Snap windows
    2.  Tiling Layouts
    3.  Customize Windows
    4.  Multi Column View
    5.  Autostart
    6.  Mouse tracking
    7.  Application whitelisting
    8.  Floating windows
    9.  Toggle
    10.  Support for Keyboard Shortcuts
    Amethyst icon

    Amethyst VS Jay

    Is Amethyst a good alternative to Jay?
     
    • Amethyst is the most popular Mac alternative to Jay.

    • Amethyst is Free and Open SourceJay is also Free and Open Source
12 of 53 Jay alternatives