Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

LXDE VS Labwc

Compare LXDE VS Labwc and see what are their differences

LXDE logo 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?

Labwc logo Labwc

Labwc stands for Lab Wayland Compositor, where lab can mean any of the following:
  • LXDE Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-20
  • Labwc Landing page
    Landing page //
    2025-03-03

LXDE features and specs

  • Lightweight
    LXDE is designed to be lightweight, making it ideal for older hardware and systems with limited resources.
  • Fast Performance
    Due to its low-resource usage, LXDE provides fast and responsive performance even on less powerful machines.
  • Customizable
    LXDE is highly customizable, allowing users to modify the interface and functionalities to suit their needs.
  • Low Memory Usage
    LXDE uses significantly less memory compared to more feature-rich desktop environments, maximizing available system RAM.
  • Modular Components
    LXDE consists of modular components that can be used independently or replaced, offering flexibility to users and developers.

Possible disadvantages of LXDE

  • Basic Appearance
    LXDE's default appearance is considered quite basic and lacks the visual polish seen in more modern desktop environments.
  • Fewer Features
    LXDE sacrifices some features and functionality to maintain its lightweight footprint, which may limit advanced user needs.
  • Inconsistent User Experience
    Due to its modularity and simplicity, there might be inconsistencies in user experience compared to more integrated environments.
  • Development Pace
    The development and updates of LXDE are slower compared to other desktop environments, potentially leading to a lack of new features and slower bug fixes.
  • Limited App Integration
    Some applications may not integrate as seamlessly with LXDE as they do with other desktop environments like GNOME or KDE.

Labwc features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

LXDE videos

Desktop December - LXDE Review

More videos:

  • Review - Lubuntu 18.04 LTS Review - Perhaps the last with LXDE

Labwc videos

labwc release video 0.6.0

More videos:

  • Review - Even More Wayland Compositors! LabWC & DWL

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to LXDE and Labwc)
Linux
85 85%
15% 15
Window Manager
66 66%
34% 34
Desktop Environments
100 100%
0% 0
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 LXDE and Labwc

LXDE Reviews

9 Best Linux Desktop Environments to Use in 2023
Another elegant and portable desktop environment is LXDE. LXDE stands for Lightweight X11 Desktop Environment. It uses minimal RAM compared to other desktop environments since it uses so few resources. LXDE is better suited to cloud workstations with older specifications, such as netbooks or outdated hardware.
Source: geekflare.com
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
LXDE is a user-friendly, energy-efficient, and lightweight Linux desktop environment. It is based on the GTK+, so LXDE can be a good alternative to Xfce if it runs slower on your system. It proves that LXDE is supported for all distros. Therefore it can be supported on older machines too.
Source: linuxhint.com

Labwc Reviews

We have no reviews of Labwc yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, LXDE seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 1 time 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.

LXDE mentions (1)

  • Touchpad Settings on Qtile with GUI App
    That said, you can look into lxinput https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Openbox#GUI_configuration https://lxde.org or... I don't know if kde-config-touchpad is still valid. Source: over 2 years ago

Labwc mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Labwc yet. Tracking of Labwc recommendations started around Mar 2025.

What are some alternatives?

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

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.

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 ...

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

Wayfire - Wayland compositor with 3d effects.

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

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