Xmonad VS Xfce

Compare Xmonad VS Xfce and see what are their differences

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Xmonad

xmonad is a dynamically tiling X11 window manager that is written and configured in Haskell.

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.

Landing page //
2022-04-01

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2023-07-04

Xmonad

Website: xmonad.org
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Xfce

Website: xfce.org
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Xmonad features and specs

Highly Customizable
Xmonad is written in Haskell and allows for extensive customization. Users can write custom configurations and extensions to tailor the window manager to their exact needs.
Efficient and Minimalist
Xmonad is designed to be efficient and lightweight. It uses minimal system resources, making it ideal for older hardware or systems where performance is a priority.
Keyboard-Centric
Xmonad is optimized for keyboard operation, providing a highly efficient and fast way to manage windows without relying on a mouse, which can improve productivity.
Tiling Window Manager
As a tiling window manager, Xmonad automatically arranges windows to use screen space efficiently, reducing the need to manually resize and position windows.
Stable and Reliable
Xmonad is known for its stability and reliability, with a strong track record of stable releases and robust performance.

Possible disadvantages of Xmonad

Steep Learning Curve
New users may find Xmonad difficult to learn due to its reliance on Haskell for customization and a lack of graphical configuration tools.
Limited Out-of-the-Box Functionality
Xmonad comes with a very basic setup by default, requiring significant configuration and customization to fully utilize its capabilities.
Haskell Knowledge Required
Customization of Xmonad requires knowledge of Haskell, which can be a barrier for users unfamiliar with the language.
Sparse Community and Documentation
Compared to more popular window managers, Xmonad has a smaller community and less extensive documentation, which can make troubleshooting and learning more challenging.
Not Newbie-Friendly
Xmonad is not the most user-friendly option for beginners. Its lack of GUI tools and reliance on command-line configuration can be intimidating for new users.

Xfce features and specs

Lightweight
Xfce is known for its minimal resource usage, making it an excellent choice for older machines and systems with limited resources.
Fast Performance
Due to its lightweight nature, Xfce provides fast and responsive performance, even on less powerful hardware.
Highly Customizable
Xfce offers a high degree of customization, allowing users to tweak the desktop environment to fit their preferences.
Stable and Reliable
Xfce has a reputation for being stable and reliable, reducing the likelihood of crashes and other issues.
Active Development
The project benefits from an active community of developers and regular updates, which helps keep the desktop environment secure and up-to-date.
Good Balance
Xfce strikes a good balance between functionality and simplicity, providing essential features without becoming bloatware.
Low Learning Curve
Thanks to its intuitive interface, Xfce is relatively easy for new users to pick up and understand quickly.

Possible disadvantages of Xfce

Limited Eye Candy
Compared to more modern desktop environments like GNOME or KDE Plasma, Xfce may appear less visually appealing due to fewer graphical effects.
Less Out-of-the-box Functionality
While customizable, Xfce might require additional configuration and setup to provide some of the advanced functionalities available in other desktop environments.
Limited Applications
Xfce does not come with as many pre-installed applications as some other desktop environments, potentially requiring users to spend additional time installing needed software.
Less Innovation
Being conservative in its design, Xfce tends to be slower in adopting cutting-edge features or trends compared to other, more dynamic environments.
Fragmented Ecosystem
Some may find the ecosystem fragmented because different distributions may package Xfce differently, leading to inconsistencies across different Linux distributions.

Analysis of Xmonad

Overall verdict

Xmonad is highly regarded within the Linux and BSD communities, especially among users who prefer or don't mind configuring their environments through coding. It is considered a reliable tool for those who value efficiency and are comfortable with or interested in writing Haskell code for customization. While it has a steep learning curve due to the necessity of understanding Haskell for complex configurations, its performance and flexibility make it a strong choice for the right user.

Why this product is good

Xmonad is a dynamically tiling window manager written in Haskell, known for its minimalism, stability, and high customization options. It efficiently manages windows and is ideal for keyboard-driven workflows. Users appreciate its lightweight nature and ability to extend its functionality through Haskell scripts. Being a tiling window manager, it automatically organizes windows to make the best use of screen space, which can significantly enhance productivity for power users.

Recommended for

Developers and programmers who appreciate Haskell or are interested in learning more about it.
Linux or BSD users seeking a highly customizable and efficient window manager.
Power users who prefer or are comfortable with keyboard-driven interfaces and have the willingness to spend time configuring their setup.
Users who value system performance and resource efficiency, as Xmonad uses minimal system resources.

Analysis of Xfce

Overall verdict

Xfce is considered a good desktop environment, especially for those who prioritize speed and efficiency over the latest visual effects. It successfully delivers a stable and traditional user experience while being highly customizable and lightweight.

Why this product is good

Xfce is a widely praised desktop environment for its lightweight and resource-efficient nature, making it an excellent choice for older hardware or systems with limited resources. It provides a clean, customizable, and user-friendly interface that balances simplicity and functionality. The modular design of Xfce allows users to choose only the components they need, further optimizing performance. Additionally, Xfce is known for its stability and reliability, contributing to its reputation as a solid choice for both novice and advanced users.

Recommended for

Users with older or less powerful computers
Individuals who value system performance and speed
People who prefer a simple and straightforward interface
Linux users looking for a reliable and stable desktop environment
Those who want a highly customizable desktop experience without sacrificing performance

Xmonad videos

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Xmonad Review

Xfce videos

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Fully functional? - Xfce 4.14 First Impressions

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Xmonad and Xfce)

Xfce

Window Manager

62 62%

Window Manager

38% 38

Linux

29 29%

Linux

71% 71

Operating Systems

0 0%

Operating Systems

100% 100

Utilities

100 100%

Utilities

0% 0

User comments

Share your experience with using Xmonad and Xfce. For example, how are they different and which one is better?

Reviews

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

Xmonad Reviews

Top 13 Best Tiling Window Managers For Linux In 2022

XMonad is a dynamic tiling X11 window manager that allows you to automate window finding and alignment. It may be customised with its own extension library, which includes choices for status bars and window decorations. It’s also simple to set up, stable, and minimal.

Source: www.hubtech.org

13 Best Tiling Window Managers for Linux

spectrwm is a small, dynamic, xmonad, and dwm-inspired reparenting and tiling window manager built for X11 to be fast, compact, and concise. It was created with the aim of solving the issues of xmonad and dwm face.

Source: www.tecmint.com

5 Great Tiling Window Managers for Linux

Xmonad is a tiling window manager written in Haskell. Like most (if not all) window managers, it comes with no frills or window decorations. The keyboard shortcuts are top notch. It works out-of-the-box and is very user friendly. On top of all that, Xmonad sports a fairly big extension library (which can add on even more functionality).

Source: www.maketecheasier.com

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.

Source: www.journaldev.com

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

Xfce might be a bit more popular than Xmonad. We know about 19 links to it since March 2021 and only 15 links to Xmonad. 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.

Xmonad mentions (15)

Rubywm: An X11 window manager in pure Ruby
If you want tiling, but i3 requires too much manual work, you might like the more managed layouts that are the default in XMonad: https://xmonad.org/ XMonad works fine with multiple monitors. Each monitor displays one of the many virtual desktops. The normal keys for desktops and for windows work pretty intuitively with multiple monitors. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
[Media] shrs: a shell that is configurable and extensible in rust
Hey everyone 👋 ! I'm currently working on a rust library for building and configuring your own shell! It's inspired by projects like xmonad and penrose where the configuration of the program is done in code. This means that for example, instead of using Bash's arcane syntax for configuring the prompt, it can be configured instead using a rust builder pattern! The project itself is still at a very young stage, so... Source: about 2 years ago
What LaTeX setup do you use?
There are a few other things I could mention, but there are more like side issues, and not relevant to my actual LaTeX setup. First and foremost—and thus perhaps noteworthy after all—is bibliography management with arxiv-citation (see here for more words). This is integrated very well with the XMonad window manager, which makes it even more of a joy to use. Source: about 2 years ago
How to map arrows keys to CapsLock+(h,i,j,k) shortcuts in i3
Another way to do it (and works on Linux and other platforms) is with XMonad, defining Caps Lock as a layer key. Source: almost 3 years ago
Can ISTP like abstract things and theories?
I tried it once, it was alright. https://xmonad.org/ But I prefer to build my own. Source: almost 3 years ago

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: over 1 year 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 / almost 2 years 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 / about 2 years 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 2 years 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 2 years ago

What are some alternatives?

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

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.

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

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

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

awesome - A dynamic window manager for the X Window System developed in the C and Lua programming languages.

Openbox - Openbox is a highly configurable, next generation window manager with extensive standards support.

KDE Plasma Desktop vs Xmonad