Alternatives to Eww

Create custom desktop widgets using declarative configuration and styling. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.

Replacements

Listings that take over the same core job as Eww.

  • AGS

    Scaffolding CLI for building custom Linux desktop shells and widgets.

    FreeOpen sourceLinuxCommand line

    AGS is a scaffolding CLI for building full custom Linux desktop shells and widgets, relying on scripting rather than Eww's declarative configuration.

  • Waybar

    Add a customizable status bar to compatible Wayland desktops.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Waybar is limited to a status bar with workspace and system modules for supported Wayland compositors, instead of arbitrary widgets, though it still accepts custom styling and scripts.

  • Polybar

    Build a configurable status bar for an X11 desktop.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Polybar narrows the job to a configurable X11 status bar with modules and custom scripts, rather than general desktop widgets.

Also worth comparing

These listings name Eww as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.

  • Ironbar

    A customisable GTK4 status bar for Wayland compositors, written in Rust.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Eww builds panels and other widgets from declarative configuration and styling, and you maintain the scripts that feed it information.

  • Lemonbar

    Featherweight, scriptable status bar for X11 built on xcb.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Eww builds panels and other desktop widgets with declarative configuration and styling, displaying script output, instead of a single scripted bar.

  • nwg-panel

    Add desktop panels to Sway and Hyprland using GTK.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Eww builds panels and widgets from declarative configuration and styling, which gives more layout freedom but means writing the widget configuration and maintaining the scripts it uses.

  • Quickshell

    A QtQuick toolkit for building your own status bars, widgets, lockscreens and desktop shells.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Eww builds panels and desktop widgets from declarative configuration and styling, displaying information from scripts you maintain, under the MIT license.

  • Rainmeter

    Puts customisable widgets on the Windows desktop, from hardware meters and clocks to full audio visualisers.

    FreeOpen sourceWindows

    Eww creates custom desktop widgets and panels on Linux with declarative configuration and styling, so it requires moving away from Windows.

  • Tint2

    Lightweight panel and taskbar for Linux and BSD window managers.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Eww builds panels and other widgets from declarative configuration and styling, which is more flexible than Tint2 but requires maintaining widget configuration and scripts.

  • xmobar

    A minimalist text-based status bar for X11, written in Haskell and often paired with xmonad.

    FreeOpen sourceLinux

    Eww builds custom panels and widgets from declarative configuration and styling under MIT, requiring you to write widget configuration and maintain its scripts.

  • Zebar

    A tool for building custom taskbars, desktop widgets and popups on Windows, macOS and Linux.

    FreeOpen sourceWindowsmacOSLinux

    Eww creates custom Linux desktop widgets and panels from declarative configuration and styling, displaying information from scripts, under MIT.

  • Übersicht

    Put script-driven widgets on the macOS desktop.

    FreeOpen sourcemacOS

    Eww builds desktop widgets and panels on Linux instead of macOS, using declarative configuration and styling rather than web technologies, and is released under the MIT license.

Similar software

Related functionality, not a direct replacement.