Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Labwc VS qtile

Compare Labwc VS qtile and see what are their differences

Labwc logo Labwc

Labwc stands for Lab Wayland Compositor, where lab can mean any of the following:

qtile logo qtile

Qtile is a full-featured, hackable tiling window manager written in Python.
  • Labwc Landing page
    Landing page //
    2025-03-03
  • qtile Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-14

Labwc features and specs

  • Lightweight
    Labwc is designed to be a lightweight and minimalistic window manager, which can result in faster performance and lower resource usage compared to more feature-rich desktop environments.
  • Wayland Support
    Labwc is built to work with the Wayland display server protocol, offering a modern alternative to the X11 protocol. This can lead to better performance and security.
  • Customization
    The window manager allows for a high degree of customization, letting users tailor their environment to fit their workflow and preferences using configuration files.
  • Active Development
    Labwc is actively maintained, meaning that users can expect regular updates and improvements as well as support for newer technologies and bug fixes.
  • Compliance with standards
    Labwc adheres to the wlroots standard, ensuring compatibility and potentially easier integration with other Wayland-based systems and software.

Possible disadvantages of Labwc

  • Limited Features
    As a minimalist window manager, Labwc does not include many of the advanced features and tools found in full desktop environments. Users requiring these features might find it lacking.
  • Learning Curve
    Users unfamiliar with minimalist window managers or Wayland might face an initial learning curve, as working with configuration files and manual settings can be complex.
  • Wayland Limitations
    While Wayland offers advantages, some users may encounter issues due to the lack of support for certain legacy applications, which might still depend on X11.
  • Community and Support
    As a niche project, Labwc might not have as large a community or as many third-party resources (like themes or plugins) compared to more established environments.
  • Hardware Compatibility
    Users with older hardware may face compatibility issues, as Labwcโ€™s reliance on Wayland may not be as accommodating of older graphics infrastructure as X11.

qtile features and specs

  • Highly Customizable
    Qtile is written in Python, which makes it highly customizable and easy to script. Users can define their own layouts, widgets, and keybindings.
  • Lightweight
    Qtile is designed to be minimalistic and lightweight, which helps in maintaining a low system resource footprint.
  • Active Community
    It has an active open-source community, which means regular updates, a wealth of shared configurations, and user-contributed extensions.
  • Flexibility
    Qtile allows dynamic management of windows, making it flexible for various workflows whether you prefer tiling, stacking, or floating window layouts.
  • Multi-Monitor Support
    It offers excellent support for multi-monitor setups, enabling independent workspaces on each screen.
  • Extensive Documentation
    Qtile provides comprehensive documentation that makes setup and customization more straightforward for both beginners and advanced users.

Possible disadvantages of qtile

  • Steep Learning Curve
    Due to its high degree of customization and flexibility, new users might find it difficult to get started compared to more traditional desktop environments.
  • Limited Out-of-the-Box Experience
    The default configuration is minimal, requiring users to spend time tweaking and configuring to meet their specific needs.
  • Dependency on Python
    Because itโ€™s based on Python, performance can be slower compared to window managers written in lower-level languages such as C.
  • Possible Bugs
    As with any open-source project, there can be occasional bugs or regressions in updates, especially considering the highly customizable nature of Qtile.

Analysis of qtile

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Qtile is a good window manager, especially for users who prefer customization and scripting capabilities.

Why this product is good

  • Qtile is a highly configurable tiling window manager written in Python, which makes it attractive to those who are familiar with the language. It provides the flexibility to customize window layouts, key bindings, and startup behavior according to personal preferences. Additionally, its active community and comprehensive documentation make it easier for new users to get started.

Recommended for

    Qtile is recommended for Python programmers, Linux enthusiasts who enjoy customizing their desktop environment, and users looking for a keyboard-driven tiling window manager that can be extensively tailored to their workflow.

Labwc videos

labwc release video 0.6.0

More videos:

  • Review - Even More Wayland Compositors! LabWC & DWL

qtile videos

Obscure Window Manager Project - Qtile

More videos:

  • Review - I tried Qtile (a tiling window manager written in python)
  • Review - Qtile review

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Labwc and qtile)
Window Manager
25 25%
75% 75
Linux
32 32%
68% 68
Utilities
29 29%
71% 71
Operating Systems
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Labwc and qtile

Labwc Reviews

We have no reviews of Labwc yet.
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qtile Reviews

Top 13 Best Tiling Window Managers For Linux In 2022
Custom layouts, commands, and widgets are simple to create in Qtile. It may also be remotely scripted to create workspaces, update status bar widgets, and manipulate windows, among other things. It comes with extensive documentation in case you have any questions.
Source: www.hubtech.org
13 Best Tiling Window Managers for Linux
Qtile features easy to write custom layouts, commands, and widgets. It can also be scripted remotely in order to set up workspaces, update status bar widgets, manipulate windows, etc. It has comprehensive documentation in case you need clarification along the way.
Source: www.tecmint.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, qtile should be more popular than Labwc. It has been mentiond 6 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.

Labwc mentions (1)

  • KDE is now my favorite desktop
    I recommend that you try labwc. It's lean and supports Openbox themes. I switched from X11 and LXDE to Sway and had a good experience. But Sway was my slippery slope to labwc. https://github.com/labwc/labwc. - Source: Hacker News / 16 days ago

qtile mentions (6)

  • Qtile Logs in to a Blank Screen
    Yes, all the dependencies listed in qtile.org are installed. Source: over 2 years ago
  • docs.qtile.org down? Any information to be found?
    I think yesterday qtile.org itself seemed to be working properly. Now it is also offline. Source: over 2 years ago
  • New to Linux and qtile, need help.
    Try python -m py_compile ~/.config/qtile/config.py first. You can find this from https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Qtile#Installation which you should be using as your main resource along with qtile.org. Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Free/Total Disk Space Widget?
    I was just curious if there is a Qtile widget that would show how much space I have left on my SSD. I looked through the Qtile widgets on qtile.org and couldn't seem to find anything like this which is actually kind of odd to me. Source: about 3 years ago
  • Issue with installing Qtile?
    I possess followed installation guide fromโ€โ€โ€Žโ€โ€โ€Žโ€โ€โ€Žโ€โ€โ€Žยญthe qtile.org. Error occurs when I type command startx. https://preview.redd.it/6x0qri1b4n361.png?width=801&format=png&auto=webp&s=bee71e4eb593c08b56f9fd07b30e9c9eca6fd00f. Source: almost 4 years ago
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What are some alternatives?

When comparing Labwc and qtile, you can also consider the following products

Hyprland - Hyprland is a dynamic tiling Wayland compositor that doesn't sacrifice on its looks. - GitHub - vaxerski/Hyprland: Hyprland is a dynamic tiling Wayland compositor that doesn't sacrifice on ...

i3 - A dynamic tiling window manager designed for X11, inspired by wmii, and written in C.

Wayfire - Wayland compositor with 3d effects.

bspwm - A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

Sway - Sway is a drop-in replacement for the i3 window manager, but for Wayland instead of X11.

dwm - dwm is a dynamic window manager for X. It manages windows in tiled, monocle and floating layouts. All of the layouts can be applied dynamically, optimising the environment for the application in use and the task performed.