Noctalia AlternativesDesktop Environments and other similar apps like Noctalia

Noctalia is described as 'Beautiful, minimal desktop shell for Wayland built with Quickshell. It’s designed with a “quiet by design” philosophy, providing a complete desktop experience that stays out of your way' and is a desktop environment in the os & utilities category. There are more than 25 alternatives to Noctalia for a variety of platforms, including Windows, Linux, BSD, Mac and Linux Mobile apps. The best Noctalia alternative is KDE Plasma, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Noctalia are Xfce, Seelen UI, Open Shell and LXQt.

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Noctalia alternatives are mainly Desktop Environments, but if you're looking for Window Managers or File Managers you can filter on that. These are just examples - use the filter bar below to find more specific alternatives to Noctalia.
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Alternatives list

  1. KDE Plasma icon
     465 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.

    30 KDE Plasma alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • postmarketOS
     
    • KDE Plasma is the most popular Linux alternative to Noctalia.

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

    • KDE Plasma is Free and Open SourceNoctalia is also Free and Open Source
    • KDE Plasma is LightweightNoctalia is not according to our users
  2. Xfce icon
     378 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.

    29 Xfce alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  3. Seelen UI icon
     41 likes
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    Web-based customizable desktop environment integrated with Windows 10/11 offers tiling window manager, intuitive configuration, widget and menu adjustments, theme personalization, taskbar layout options, wallpaper management, streamlined multitasking, and workflow optimization.

    11 Seelen UI alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
    • Seelen UI is the most popular Windows alternative to Noctalia.

    • Seelen UI is Free and Open SourceNoctalia is also Free and Open Source
    • Seelen UI is LightweightNoctalia is not according to our users
  4. Open Shell icon
     110 likes
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    Open Shell is a fork of the Classic Shell project for Windows that getting back the classic start menu to modern versions of Microsoft Windows.

    40 Open Shell alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  5. LXQt icon
     54 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 .

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  6. LXDE icon
     122 likes
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    The "Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment" is an extremely fast-performing and energy-saving desktop environment.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
     
  7. Budgie icon
     46 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.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Linux
     
  8. Cairo Shell icon
     52 likes
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    Cairo is a desktop environment for Windows. Its goal is to develop a desktop experience that increases productivity and advances current technology standards.

    38 Cairo Shell alternatives

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Windows
     
  9. VirtuaWin icon
     80 likes
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    VirtuaWin is a virtual desktop manager for the Windows operating system (Win9x/ME/NT/Win2K/XP/Win2003/Vista/Win7/Win10). A virtual desktop manager lets you organize applications over several virtual desktops (also called ‘workspaces’).

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    Alerts

    • Discontinued

    Platforms

    • Windows
    • PortableApps.com
     
  10. Tokie icon
     8 likes
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    A document, a database, and a browser, all in your folders.

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
    • Tokie is the most popular Mac alternative to Noctalia.

    • Tokie is the most popular commercial alternative to Noctalia.

    • Tokie is Paid and ProprietaryNoctalia is Free and Open Source
    • Tokie is LightweightNoctalia is not according to our users
  11. Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    The finest replacement for Finder with powerful tools to streamline your workflow, enhance productivity, and keep everything organized at your fingertips.

    Cost / License

    • Pay once
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
     
  12. Enlightenment icon
     52 likes
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    Enlightenment is a Window Manager, Compositor and Minimal Desktop for Linux (the primary platform), BSD and any other compatible UNIX system.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
     
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