A window manager is software that manages the windows that applications bring up. For example, when you start an application, there will be a window manager running in the background, responsible for the placement and appearance of windows.
It is important not to confuse a window manager with a desktop environment. A desktop environment typically consists of icons, windows, toolbars, folders, wallpapers, and desktop widgets. They provide a collection of libraries and applications made to operate cohesively together. A desktop environment contains its own window manager.
There are a few different types of window managers. This article focuses on stacking Wayland compositors. We cover tiling Wayland compositors in a separate article.
A compositing window manager, or compositor, is a window manager that provides applications with a separate and independent buffer for each window. The window manager then processes and combines, or composites, output from these separate buffers onto a common desktop. It also controls how they display and interact with each other, and with the rest of the desktop environment.
Here’s our verdict captured in a legendary LinuxLinks-style ratings chart. All of the software featured here is free and open source.
Let’s explore the stacking Wayland compositors at hand. For each title we have compiled its own portal page, a full description with an in-depth analysis of its features, together with links to relevant resources.
| Stacking Wayland Compositors | |
|---|---|
| KWin | Window manager for the KDE Plasma Desktop |
| Mutter | Wayland display server, X11 window manager and compositor library |
| Wayfire | 3D Wayland compositor, inspired by Compiz |
| labwc | Lab Wayland Compositor |
| Waybox | Minimalist Wayland compositor |
| Enlightenment | Window manager and desktop environment |
| wlmaker | Wayland compositor inspired by Window Maker |
| Weston | Lightweight and functional Wayland compositor |
| COSMIC Comp | Wayland compositor for the COSMIC desktop environment |
| Miriway | Mir based Wayland compositor |
| Woodland | wlroots-based window-stacking compositor for Wayland |
| hikari | Actively developed on FreeBSD but also supports Linux |
| croissant | Written in C |
| Otto | Visually focused desktop system and Wayland compositor |
| Hopalong | Simple Wayland compositor with a feature set that’s comparable to XFWM |
This article has been updated to reflect the changes outlined in our recent announcement.
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What about Hyprland?
Hyprland is a tiling Wayland compositor and is covered in a separate roundup (see the main body of the article for a link). BTW, Hyprland came in the top 3!