Software Alternatives & Reviews

GNOME VS KDE Plasma Desktop

Compare GNOME VS KDE Plasma Desktop and see what are their differences

GNOME logo GNOME

An easy and elegant way to use your computer, GNOME is designed to put you in control and get things done.

KDE Plasma Desktop logo KDE Plasma Desktop

Plasma Workspaces is the umbrella term for all graphical environments provided by KDE.
  • GNOME Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-12
  • KDE Plasma Desktop Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-08-06

GNOME videos

Ojambo - Review Gedit Editor (vs 0016)

More videos:

  • Review - Linux Text Editors - Intro to Vim, Gedit, and Nano
  • Review - Ojambo - Gedit Advanced Editor Review (vs 0071)

KDE Plasma Desktop videos

KDE Plasma 5 Deep Dive (Late 2019) | Linux Desktop Reviews

More videos:

  • Review - KDE Plasma Workspaces
  • Review - Trying Out KDE Plasma 5.15
  • Review - Kubuntu 18.04 Review: KDE Plasma at its Best

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to GNOME and KDE Plasma Desktop)
Text Editors
100 100%
0% 0
Linux
26 26%
74% 74
IDE
100 100%
0% 0
Operating Systems
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using GNOME and KDE Plasma Desktop. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare GNOME and KDE Plasma Desktop

GNOME Reviews

Top 10 Free CSV Readers in 2023!
gedit: A text editor that comes pre-installed with many Linux distributions and has a CSV plugin that allows you to view and edit CSV files.
Source: www.retable.io
9 Best Linux Desktop Environments to Use in 2023
GNOME (GNU Network Object Model Environment) is a free and open-source software initiative that aims to create network-independent programs based on open-source technologies. Currently, GNOME is the most used Linux desktop environment.
Source: geekflare.com
The 8 Best Ubuntu Desktop Environments (22.04 Jammy Jellyfish Linux)
GNOME Flashback is a trimmed version of GNOME 3 shell based on GNOME 2 desktop. It is a lightweight desktop to help you to get the most out of any low profile PC.
Source: linuxconfig.org
6 Best Linux Desktop Environments to Try in 2022
GNOME is a very popular Linux desktop environment. Many Linux distros use GNOME. GNOME is simple to use and can be customized. The modern and touch-feature-enabled user interface provides an amazing experience. Also, the GNOME desktop can extend its functionalities via GNOME Shell extensions.
Top 10 Best Desktop Environments in 2020
MATE was created as a response to the drop in user experience when Gnome 3.x was launched. Being a fork, it’s very similar to Gnome’s predecessor and adds more features along with additional community support. This desktop environment caught attention when Linux Mint used MATE instead of Gnome 3 for its user interface.

KDE Plasma Desktop Reviews

9 Best Linux Desktop Environments to Use in 2023
After GNOME, the most widely used Linux desktop environment is KDE Plasma. This KDE Plasma desktop environment comes with various tools and services to fulfill almost any demand. It includes applications like Dolphin, the default and most powerful file system manager, and KGeoTag, a photo Photo geotagging program. It features Oxygen icons by default, which have a pleasing...
Source: geekflare.com
The 8 Best Ubuntu Desktop Environments (22.04 Jammy Jellyfish Linux)
KDE Plasma desktop is a widget-based environment which makes it very adaptable. You can move, add or remove anything you like to make it suit your style as well as possible. Plasma is fast and efficient. It uses only few resources and is full of well designed features.
Source: linuxconfig.org

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, KDE Plasma Desktop should be more popular than GNOME. It has been mentiond 66 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

GNOME mentions (22)

  • How to obtain a Mac-style taskbar
    The gnome extensions manager can't download extensions from gnome.org, but the extensions manager on flathub can, in addition to the usual extension settings. Source: 5 months ago
  • Gnome-extensions site down?
    Looks like all of gnome.org is down. I can't get to extensions or anything else. Source: 11 months ago
  • GNOME 44 is out now
    Just update. New release includes some features you maybe want, and general improvements. https://gnome.org. Source: 12 months ago
  • Building own server for the first time, and using Linux for the first time
    Using Xorg and a Window/Desktop Manager (maybe you heard of gnome), you're able to have a functional desktop like Windows. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Introducing GNOME 44, “Kuala Lumpur”
    That third graph doesn't do a good job of accurately assigning commits to organization. For example, two the largest GNOME contributors for Red Hat are Florian Müllner and Jonas Ådahl. Both of them don't commit using a redhat.com email address. Instead they use gnome.org and gmail.com respectively. So they are incorrectly assigned in the third graph to either Personal or other where they should be with Red Hat. Source: about 1 year ago
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KDE Plasma Desktop mentions (66)

  • Unlocking the Cutting Edge: Exploring Plasma 6 Beta, Secure Knowledge Management, and the Latest Tools for Linux Enthusiasts
    Plasma 6 - Beta 1 is the latest iteration of the KDE desktop environment, known for its flexibility and customization options. Beta releases are crucial for ironing out bugs and streamlining new features before the final release. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • Apps cannot read files from Google Drive on KDE Neon
    Recently I installed KDE Plasma. I was pleased to see the KDE-KIO integration for Google Drive. Source: 10 months ago
  • Should i switch?
    I'm glad to hear that you use Krita (and I may assume you use Blender for animations). Both are free and open source software that is available on Linux (even better, Krita is made by the KDE project, makers of all sorts of open source projects, including Plasma, one of the most complete user interfaces for Linux out there). Source: 11 months ago
  • Gamer migrating to Linux
    Because of this, I recommend using Fedora (either the default edition, which uses the GNOME desktop, or Fedora KDE, which uses the KDE Plasma desktop, like the Steam Deck). It ships up-to-date software, and it's very polished. (Note that, due to the US software patents, support/hardware acceleration for some media codecs isn't included by default. You should add the RPMFusion repo and set up the codecs after... Source: 11 months ago
  • Questions I have about Linux, from someone who wants to switch from Windows 10
    KDE Plasma is developed by KDE, another international group of developers that make all sorts of cool software for Linux, macOS, Windows, and mobile platforms. Plasma is their flagship project. Their motto is "simple by default, powerful when needed". At first glance it may seem a copy of Windows, with a bottom panel sporting a start menu on the left and a system tray with a clock on the right, but don't get... Source: 11 months ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing GNOME and KDE Plasma Desktop, you can also consider the following products

Notepad++ - A free source code editor which supports several programming languages running under the MS Windows environment.

Xfce - Xfce is a lightweight desktop environment for UNIX-like operating systems. It aims to be fast and low on system resources, while still being visually appealing and user friendly.

Sublime Text - Sublime Text is a sophisticated text editor for code, html and prose - any kind of text file. You'll love the slick user interface and extraordinary features. Fully customizable with macros, and syntax highlighting for most major languages.

LXQt - The LXQt team is proud to announce the release of qtermwidget and qterminal, both in version 0. 8. 0. Read more..

Visual Studio Code - Build and debug modern web and cloud applications, by Microsoft

LXDE - Why will you like it? Less resource needs. You can use it on your less-pricey embedded board or salvaged computer. Component-based design. Don't want something in LXDE, or you don't want to use LXDE but only part of it?