Sway Alternatives

Alternatives list

1. C

   C

   Cardboard (Wayland compositor)

    Like

   Cardboard is a unique, scrollable tiling Wayland compositor designed with laptops in mind. Based on wlroots.

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

   Application type

   • Wayland Compositor

   Platforms

   • Linux
   • Wayland

   C

   

   Good alternative?Is this a good alternative to Sway?

    
2. 

   

   Whim

    Like

   Whim is a hackable, pluggable and scriptable dynamic window manager for Windows 10 and 11, built using WinUI 3, .NET, and C# scripting.

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (MIT)

   Application type

   • Window Manager

   Origin

   • Sweden
   • EU

   Platforms

   • Windows

   • Sweden
   • EU

   

   More about Whim  

   

   Good alternative?Is Whim a good alternative to Sway?

    
4. 

   

   spectrwm

    11 likes

   spectrwm is a small dynamic tiling window manager for X11. It tries to stay out of the way so that valuable screen real estate can be used for much more important stuff. It has sane defaults and does not require one to learn a language to do any configuration.

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Application type

   • Window Manager

   Platforms

   • Mac
   • Linux
   • BSD

   

   

   

   More about spectrwm  

   

   Good alternative?Is spectrwm a good alternative to Sway?

    
5. 

   

   PaperWM

    Like

   PaperWM is an experimental Gnome Shell extension providing scrollable tiling of windows and per monitor workspaces. It's inspired by paper notebooks and tiling window managers. Supports Gnome Shell 3.28 and 3.30 on X11 and wayland.

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

   Application type

   • Window Manager

   Platforms

   • Linux
   • GNOME

   

   

   

   +1

   

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   Good alternative?Is PaperWM a good alternative to Sway?

    
6. 

   

   wmii

    9 likes

   wmii is a small, dynamic window manager for X11. It is scriptable, has a 9p filesystem interface and supports classic and tiling (acme-like) window management. It aims to maintain a small and clean (read hackable and beautiful) codebase.

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Application type

   • Window Manager

   Platforms

   • Linux

   

   More about wmii  

   

   Good alternative?Is wmii a good alternative to Sway?

    
8. R

   R

   Rift

    4 likes

   Rift is a tiling window manager for macOS that focuses on performance and usability.

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source

   Application type

   • Window Manager

   Platforms

   • Mac

   

   

   

   More about Rift  

   R

   

   Good alternative?Is Rift a good alternative to Sway?

    
9. 

   

   MouseTiler

    2 likes

   The fastest, simplest tiler for KDE Plasma 6+ that gives you full freedom at your fingertip. No need to remember dozens of keyboard shortcuts or be limited by a fixed tile layout.

   Cost / License

   • Free
   • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

   Application type

   • Window Manager

   Platforms

   • Linux
   • KDE Plasma

   

   

   

   More about MouseTiler  

   

   Good alternative?Is MouseTiler a good alternative to Sway?

    
10. 

    

    GridWM (Grid Window Manager)

     3 likes

    Stack Window Manager With Manual Grid Tiling Layout Extended Desktop Area Left Hand Keyboard + Right Hand Mouse.

    Cost / License

    • Paid
    • Proprietary

    Application type

    • Window Manager

    Platforms

    • Windows

    

    

    

    +1

    

    More about GridWM (Grid Window Manager)  

    

    Good alternative?Is this a good alternative to Sway?

     
11. 

    

    xfwm4

     1 like

    Xfwm4 is the window manager for Xfce. Xfwm4 can be run stand-alone, but if used this way, the Xfce Settings Manager will be required as a GUI to make configuration changes.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (GPL-2.0)

    Application type

    • Window Manager

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD

    

    Good alternative?Is xfwm4 a good alternative to Sway?

     
12. 

    

    Xlambda

     Like

    Xlambda is an X window manager that is extensible in Guile.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source

    Application type

    • Window Manager

    Platforms

    • Linux

    

    Good alternative?Is Xlambda a good alternative to Sway?

     
13. 

    

    river

     4 likes

    Wayland compositor featuring dynamic tiling and Master&Stack layout, offering configuration through riverctl tool with tag system for window management, customizable with rivertile and user layout generators, allowing flexible workspace setup without traditional workspaces.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (GPL-3.0)

    Application typeApplication types

    • Window Manager
    • Wayland Compositor

    Platforms

    • Linux

    

    

    More about river  

    

    Good alternative?Is river a good alternative to Sway?

     
14. W

    W

    Wmderland

     Like

    Heavily Inspired by i3wm. Wmderland aims to simplify the core functionalities of i3wm, and bundle in the essential features required for a modern but minimal Tiling Window Manager.

    Cost / License

    • Free
    • Open Source (MIT)

    Application type

    • Window Manager

    Platforms

    • Linux

    

    More about Wmderland  

    W

    

    Good alternative?Is Wmderland a good alternative to Sway?