Software Alternatives & Reviews

KDE neon VS Xfce

Compare KDE neon VS Xfce and see what are their differences

KDE neon logo KDE neon

KDE neon is the intersection of these needs using a stable Ubuntu long-term release as its core, packaging the hottest software fresh from the KDE Community ovens.

Xfce logo 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.
  • KDE neon Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-20
  • Xfce Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-07-04

KDE neon videos

KDE Neon 2019 - My Top Distro & Why

More videos:

  • Review - Review: KDE Neon
  • Review - Kubuntu 20.04 VS KDE Neon

Xfce videos

Fully functional? - Xfce 4.14 First Impressions

More videos:

  • Review - Debian 10 XFCE Review
  • Review - Xfce Desktop Overview

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to KDE neon and Xfce)
Linux
44 44%
56% 56
Operating Systems
49 49%
51% 51
Linux Distribution
100 100%
0% 0
Desktop Environments
17 17%
83% 83

User comments

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Reviews

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

KDE neon Reviews

12 Best Linux Distros You Should Use
KDE Neon is known to provide a flagship KDE experience, and it delivers! It’s a culmination of the latest from KDE Plasma while maintaining the stability thanks to the Ubuntu LTS base. The latest software from KDE always makes its way to Neon first and is a great way of trying out the latest features that the Desktop Environment has to offer while avoiding butchering the...
Source: beebom.com
Best Top 20 Ubuntu Linux Alternatives (Pros and Cons)
KDE neon is a KDE-developed Linux alternative distribution based on the current Ubuntu long-term support (LTS) release and the software includes a collection of additional software repositories containing the newest 64-bit versions of the Plasma 5 desktop environment/framework, the Qt 5 toolkit, and other suitable KDE software.

Xfce Reviews

9 Best Linux Desktop Environments to Use in 2023
XFCE is compatible with a wide range of Linux distros. Xfce does not offer sophisticated modifications, yet it is the most performance-oriented desktop environment. It’s a compact desktop environment with a comprehensive user interface. XFCE can be installed on a variety of UNIX systems. It has been reported to compile on Ubuntu, NetBSD, Solaris, Cygwin, OpenBSD, and macOS...
Source: geekflare.com
The 8 Best Ubuntu Desktop Environments (22.04 Jammy Jellyfish Linux)
Cinnamon desktop is another fork of the GNOME desktop. It has a rather conservative design and is similar to Xfce. It is uncomplicated to learn and from this reason might be a good choice for someone who is new to Linux.
Source: linuxconfig.org
Top 10 Best Desktop Environments in 2020
Lightweight and Low-resource can be considered the same, but in this case, there’s a difference. XFCE is a lightweight desktop environment even with a whole lot of built-in customizations and UI perks. LXDE, on the other hand, is a DE that is built to be as low-resource as possible. You certainly can add animations, but they need to be downloaded separately.
The 12 Best Linux Desktop Environments
At first look, Xfce looks a bit older and boring, but we assure you that your mindset will change after unpacking it because it is one of the best Linux lightweight desktop environments available. Xfce is becoming one of the most reliable choices, but it has a comparatively small team for development that results in late updates. Nowadays, many users think that Xfce is an...
Source: linuxhint.com
The Best Desktop Environments For Linux (We Tested Them So That You Don’t Have To)
Xfce is light on resources but proves to provide a feature-rich user experience. If you need a performance-centric desktop environment without needing advanced customizations, Xfce is a great choice to go with.
Source: itsfoss.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, KDE neon should be more popular than Xfce. It has been mentiond 69 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.

KDE neon mentions (69)

  • [Totk] PSA: Linux helps a ton on my low end box
    Ubuntu is one of the distro of Linux. I personally recommend KDE neon because it’s windows user friendly and has live cd available ie you can boot from usb drive and play around with it before you install it. KDE neon is using the same desktop user interface as steamos. Source: 11 months ago
  • is there a kde distro based on Mint?
    They are talking about this: https://neon.kde.org/. Source: 11 months ago
  • I had to jump ship to mint. May God forgive me.
    For anyone interested in trying the KDE, I highly recommend KDE Neon. Even if you choose to move on to a different distro for the long-term, I found it to be an excellent introduction to what KDE is capable of. Source: 12 months ago
  • Tips & Tricks for Productivity with BOOX (Obsidian, Syncthing, Weylus, RustDesk, Termux, KDE Connect, ZeroTier) + 2 Bonus Screensavers
    I use KDE Neon OS on my laptop/workstation, and KDE Connect is a fantastic app that allows me to connect my phone and BOOX Tab Ultra to my computer. It’s a versatile app that can do a lot of things! It can do much more, but it does the following things very well: multimedia control (volume control, previous/next track, ...), share phone notifications (e.g. Reply to chat messages on laptop), share clipboard... Source: about 1 year ago
  • This popped up on my moms comp. Is it real?
    Got mine from neon.kde.org for free and legally. Source: about 1 year ago
View more

Xfce mentions (19)

  • distro hopping
    Pick up your Desktop Environment based on your computer's specs, NOT on your visual preferences. (HINT: XFCE consumes way less system resources than GNOME and KDE). Source: 6 months ago
  • Lightweight dev tools.
    It’s a bit of an interesting challenge and has forced me to re-examine some of my tool usage. I started by a minimal install of Debian “bookworm” with the XFCE Desktop Environment which chews through much fewer resources than the default GNOME 43 based environment (although more than LXDE - but there still has to be room for aesthetics). - Source: dev.to / 9 months ago
  • I Still Use Windows 95 (archived, 2008)
    Luckily you can get an efficient, clean Desktop Environment that works well and is actively developed: Xfce ( https://xfce.org/ ) I think you will like it. It has a very early-2000's feel IMO. - Source: Hacker News / 12 months ago
  • best lightweight linux distro for old laptop and gaming
    Well, it depends. It was better experience than FreeBSD 7.2 that's for sure. :) It was running Xorg with https://i3wm.org, a web-server, XMPP-server, PostgreSQL, few bots and dovecot / postfix (e-mail server). It was doing fine routing internet for 2PCs and a WiFi router for 10 years until its HDD died. For gaming... erm... I was able to play something like Theme Hospital or Syndicate Wars in dosbox. You have to... Source: about 1 year ago
  • Only one of the four XFCE4's desktop/workspace got hung and now I can't use wallpaper
    Another resource for help might be xfce.org. It's a low traffic site, but responsive. Source: about 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing KDE neon and Xfce, you can also consider the following products

Linux Mint - Linux Mint is one of the most popular desktop Linux distributions and used by millions of people.

KDE Plasma Desktop - Plasma Workspaces is the umbrella term for all graphical environments provided by KDE.

Manjaro - Manjaro Linux is a linux distribution which is based on arch linux. It uses the PACMAN package manager.

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?

Kubuntu - Linux operating system distribution derived from Ubuntu but with KDE environment.

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