Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

qtile VS Labwc

Compare qtile VS Labwc and see what are their differences

qtile logo qtile

Qtile is a full-featured, hackable tiling window manager written in Python.

Labwc logo Labwc

Labwc stands for Lab Wayland Compositor, where lab can mean any of the following:
  • qtile Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-06-14
  • Labwc Landing page
    Landing page //
    2025-03-03

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 it’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.

Labwc features and specs

No features have been listed yet.

qtile videos

Obscure Window Manager Project - Qtile

More videos:

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

Labwc videos

labwc release video 0.6.0

More videos:

  • Review - Even More Wayland Compositors! LabWC & DWL

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to qtile and Labwc)
Window Manager
85 85%
15% 15
Linux
81 81%
19% 19
Utilities
79 79%
21% 21
Productivity
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 qtile and Labwc

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

Labwc Reviews

We have no reviews of Labwc yet.
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, qtile seems to be more popular. 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.

qtile mentions (6)

  • Qtile Logs in to a Blank Screen
    Yes, all the dependencies listed in qtile.org are installed. Source: almost 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: almost 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: over 2 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: almost 3 years ago
  • Issue with installing Qtile?
    I possess followed installation guide from‏‏‎‏‏‎‏‏‎‏‏‎­the qtile.org. Error occurs when I type command startx. https://preview.redd.it/6x0qri1b4n361.png?width=801&format=png&auto=webp&s=bee71e4eb593c08b56f9fd07b30e9c9eca6fd00f. Source: over 3 years ago
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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 qtile and Labwc, you can also consider the following products

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

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 ...

bspwm - A tiling window manager based on binary space partitioning

Wayfire - Wayland compositor with 3d effects.

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.

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