Unity Desktop Environment AlternativesOnly apps categorised as Window Managers

The best Window Manager alternative to Unity Desktop Environment 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 Unity Desktop Environment and eight of them are Window Managers so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Window Manager alternatives to Unity Desktop Environment are GNOME, Xfce, Cinnamon and LXQt.

Unity Desktop Environment iconUnity Desktop Environment
  54
  • ...

Unity is a shell interface for the Gnome desktop environment developed by Canonical Ltd for its Ubuntu operating system. It...

More about Unity Desktop Environment
More about Unity Desktop Environment
Unity Desktop Environment alternatives page was last updated May 6, 2022
Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard
Alternatives
  1. KDE Plasma icon

    KDE Plasma

     432 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • DE flagGermany
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    • KDE Plasma
    • postmarketOS
    A typical Plasma desktop looks like this

    Properties

    1.  Customizable
    2.  Lightweight
    3.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Desktop Environment
    2.  Themes
    3.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    4.  Transparency
    5.  Blurry transparency
    6.  Dark Mode
    7.  No Tracking
    8.  Ad-free
    9.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    10.  Full-Text Search
    11.  No registration required
    12.  Support for scripting

    KDE Plasma VS Unity Desktop Environment

     

    • KDE Plasma is the most popular Linux alternative to Unity Desktop Environment.

    • KDE Plasma is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Unity Desktop Environment.

    • KDE Plasma is Free and Open SourceUnity Desktop Environment is also Free and Open Source
    • KDE Plasma is Customizable, Lightweight and Privacy focusedUnity Desktop Environment is not according to our users
  2. GNOME icon

    GNOME

     488 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    An easy and elegant way to use your computer, GNOME is designed to help you have the best possible computing experience.

    30 GNOME alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • US flagUnited States

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    GNOME 40

    Properties

    1.  Clean design
    2.  Optimal performance
    3.  Privacy focused
    4.  Lightweight
    5.  User friendly

    Features

    1.  Desktop Environment
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    3.  Dark Mode
    4.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    5.  Ad-free
    6.  No Tracking
    7.  No registration required
    8.  Rolling Release
    9.  Themes

    GNOME VS Unity Desktop Environment

     
  4. Xfce icon

    Xfce

     372 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    Xfce 4.14

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Customizable
    3.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Desktop Environment
    2.  Extensible by Plugins/Extensions
    3.  Modular System
    4.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    5.  Works Offline
    6.  Ad-free
    7.  No registration required
    8.  Dark Mode
    9.  No Tracking

    Xfce VS Unity Desktop Environment

     
  5. Cinnamon icon

    Cinnamon

     192 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • IE flagIreland
    • European Union flagEU

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    Cinnamon 4.2

    Properties

    1.  Privacy focused
    2.  Lightweight
    3.  Customizable

    Features

    1.  Dark Mode
    2.  High-dpi support
    3.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    4.  No Tracking
    5.  Ad-free

    Cinnamon VS Unity Desktop Environment

     
  6. LXQt icon

    LXQt

     49 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Country of Origin

    • TW flagTaiwan

    Platforms

    • Linux
    • BSD
    LXQt screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  Desktop Environment
    2.  QT Based
    3.  Ad-free
    4.  No registration required
    5.  No Tracking
    6.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    7.  Dark Mode
    8.  X server

    LXQt VS Unity Desktop Environment

     
  7. Budgie icon

    Budgie

     44 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    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

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Linux
    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.

    Properties

    1.  Support for Themes
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  No registration required
    2.  Works Offline
    3.  No Tracking
    4.  Dark Mode
    5.  Support for Multiple Monitors
    6.  Ad-free
    7.  Support for Keyboard Shortcuts

    Budgie VS Unity Desktop Environment

     
  9. Enlightenment icon

    Enlightenment

     51 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

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

    25 Enlightenment alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    Enlightenment screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight

    Features

    1.  Wayland Support
    2.  X server

    Enlightenment VS Unity Desktop Environment

     

    • Enlightenment is the most popular Mac alternative to Unity Desktop Environment.

    • Enlightenment is Free and Open SourceUnity Desktop Environment is also Free and Open Source
    • Enlightenment is LightweightUnity Desktop Environment is not according to our users
  10. Bluetile icon

    Bluetile

     8 likes
    Copy a direct link to this comment to your clipboard

    Bluetile is a tiling window manager for Linux, designed to integrate with the GNOME desktop environment. It provides both a traditional, stacking layout mode as well as tiling layouts where windows are arranged to use the entire screen without overlapping.

    87 Bluetile alternatives

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Linux
    Bluetile screenshot 1
    Discontinued

    The last commit on this software is ten years ago and the GNOME desktop has moved on. Notably, it is now difficult to replace the default window manager in GNOME.

    Bluetile Features

    1.  Snap windows

    Bluetile VS Unity Desktop Environment

     
8 of 8 Unity Desktop Environment alternatives