Comparison of tiling window managers

This article provides an unbiased comparison of the most popular tiling window managers (as opposed to floating window managers).

Comparison table

The following table lists the most popular tiling window managers alongside notable features, providing readers with a quick overview.

Window Manager	Written in	Configured with	Management style	System tray support	On-the-fly reload	Information bars	Compositing	Default layouts	Pixel usage	External control	Library	Multiple (n) monitor behavior	ICCCM/EWMH compliant	Maintenance
Awesome	C	Lua	Dynamic	Built-in	Yes	Built-in, images and text	External	max, nh-stack (and invert), nv-stack (and invert), free	Variable borders, optional h-tab titles	dbus (if enabled)	XCB	n-tags (workspaces). Per default 9 are enabled. Example	Yes	Active
bspwm	C	Anything	Hybrid	None	Yes	Can write internal state to a FIFO	External	v-split, h-split	Variable borders	via bspc	XCB	Monitors hold Desktops	Yes	Active
dwm	C	C (recompile)	Dynamic	Optional Patch	Optional	Built-in, reads from root window name	External	v-stack, max		via dwmfifo	Xlib	n regions, 9 workspaces fixed to each region	No	Active
FrankenWM	C	C (recompile)	Dynamic	None	No	No, outputs information to stdout, which can easily be parsed and displayed by an external monitor or panel (dzen2, conky, etc)	External	v-stack (and invert), h-stack (and invert), dual-v/h-stack, grid, fibonacci (vh-stack), rows, columns, max, free	Variable borders		XCB		No	Active
herbstluftwm	C++	Text	Manual	None	Yes			rows, columns	1-pix borders	commands via herbstclient	Xlib	n regions, 9 workspaces visible in any region		Active
i3	C	Text	Manual	i3bar	Yes (Layout is preserved)	text piped to i3bar (i3status/conky and others can be used)	External	tree, v-split, h-split, stacked, tabbed, max, can be nested infinitely	None, 1-pix or 2-pix, optional titlebars, can hide edge borders	commands via ipc (or i3-msg, which uses ipc)	XCB	n regions	Yes	Active
LeftWM	Rust	RON (user settings) / Anything (themes)	Dynamic	None	Yes	Yes, many options through theme system	External	v-stack, columns, rows	Variable based on theme	supports _NET_ACTIVE_WINDOW and sending commands to a named pipe	Xlib	Workspaces and monitors are not tied. Many workspaces for monitor or many monitors for workspace	Yes	Active
Notion	C, Lua	Lua, compatible with Ion3 configs	Manual	trayion, stalonetray	Yes	configurable	?	h-tab, max	Configurable borders and titlebars/tabs	EWMH, arbitrary Lua scripts which have access to the rich internal API	Xlib	n workspaces on each monitor. Supports on-the-fly changes in topology		Active
qtile	Python	Python	Dynamic	Yes	Yes	Yes	External	tree, v-split, h-split, stacked, tabbed, max	No borders, although customizable	Hooks, Server mode	XCB			Active
Ratpoison	C	Text	Manual	None	Yes	Yes	External	max					No	Active
Snapwm	C	Reloadable Text	Dynamic	None	Yes	Built-in, reads from root window name	External	nVertical, Fullscreen, nHorizontal, Grid, Center Stacking	Variable borders, no titles		Xlib	Number of desktops distributed evenly between monitors		Active
Spectrwm	C	Text	Dynamic	None	Yes	Built-in, reads from user script	No	nv-stack, nh-stack, max	1-pix borders, no titles		XCB	n regions, 10 workspaces visible in any region	No	Active
Stumpwm	Lisp	Lisp	Manual	None	Yes	Yes	No				Xlib		No	Active
xmonad	Haskell	Haskell	Dynamic	None	Yes	No	Yes, with xmonad-contrib and an external manager	nv-stack, nh-stack, max	Variable borders, no titles	via XMonad-Hooks-ServerMode	Xlib	n regions, 9 workspaces visible in any region	Yes / ?	Active
Window Manager	Written in	Configured with	Management style	System tray support	On-the-fly reload	Information bars	Compositing	Default layouts	Pixel usage	External control	Library	Multiple (n) monitor behavior	ICCCM/EWMH compliant	Maintenance

Tip: External control can also be achieved by programs like xdotool which simulate keystrokes.

Management style

Dynamic management emphasizes automatic management of window layouts for speed and simplicity. Manual management emphasizes manual adjustment of layout and sizing with potentially more precise control, at the cost of more time spent moving and sizing windows.

Layouts

A number of common layout types appear in several tiling WMs, although the terminology varies somewhat.

• max: one window shown fullscreen (with or without a status bar, title and borders). Aka: monocle (dwm, monsterwm).
• h-stack: master area in top half, other windows stack up horizontally in the bottom half. The master area may be resizable. May be inverted top-bottom (wmfs). Aka: bottom stack (dwm), bstack(monsterwm).
• v-stack: master area in left half, other windows stack up vertically in the right half. The master area may be resizable. May be inverted left-right (wmfs). Aka: tile (dwm, monsterwm).
• nh-stack: h-stack allowing >=1 windows in master area. Aka: nbstack (dwm)
• nv-stack: v-stack allowing >=1 windows in master area. Aka: ntile (dwm)
• mirror-h: nh-stack with stacks above and below the master area
• mirror-v: nv-stack with stacks to the left and right of the master area
• h-tab: one window shown fullscreen with all window titles shown horizontally (like browser tabs)
• v-tab: one window shown fullscreen with all window titles shown vertically. Aka: stack (wmii).
• h-split: a keybinding splits the current window horizontally creating space for another
• v-split: a keybinding splits the current window vertically creating space for another
• columns: manual layout style which treats windows as belonging to vertical columns
• rows: manual layout style which treats windows as belonging to horizontal rows
• grid: window positions and sizes based on a regular NxM grid. May be automatic (like wmfs, monsterwm) or manual (like Subtle).

Key bindings

Tiling window managers are usually designed to be used entirely with the keyboard or with keyboard & mouse. This is for speed (reaching for and moving a mouse is slow) and ease of use. Sensible key bindings are crucial to making workflow fast and efficient. Some default sets are better than others, but generally the keys can be rebound as desired by the user.

See also

• List of tiling Wayland compositors
• Comparison of extensible window managers compares window managers "extensible" by scripting, like xmonad and Sawfish.