Alternatives to GNOME
Use a Linux desktop organized around an activities overview and workspaces. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
GNOME
Use a Linux desktop organized around an activities overview and workspaces.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as GNOME.
KDE Plasma
Use a full Linux desktop with configurable panels, widgets and window behavior.
KDE Plasma replaces the activities overview with configurable panels and widgets, offering extensive appearance settings and integration with KDE applications.
Cinnamon
Use a Linux desktop with a traditional application menu, panel and system tray.
Cinnamon uses a traditional application menu, panel and system tray instead of an overview, and supports applets, desklets and extensions.
Xfce
Use a modular desktop environment built around traditional panels and windows.
Xfce is a modular desktop built around traditional panels and windows, with a settings manager, and its available version depends on your distribution.
COSMIC
Use System76's desktop environment with configurable workspaces and window tiling.
COSMIC is System76's desktop with configurable workspaces and both tiling and floating workflows, requiring a distribution and graphics stack that support its current release.
Budgie
A free and open source Linux desktop environment with its own panel, application menu and window management.
Budgie is a simple desktop with its own panel and application menu, designed to stay out of the way while remaining customisable.
MATE
A traditional desktop environment for Linux and other Unix-like systems that continues the GNOME 2 design.
MATE continues the classic GNOME 2 layout and is packaged in many distributions, though full releases arrive only every few years.
Also worth comparing
These listings name GNOME as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Enlightenment
A window manager, compositor and minimal desktop for Linux, BSD and other UNIX systems.
GNOME organises the desktop around an activities overview and workspaces with consistent settings, though shell extensions must match the installed version.
LXQt
A lightweight, modular Qt-based desktop environment for Linux and BSD with X11 and Wayland sessions.
GNOME organises the desktop around an activities overview and workspaces with integrated settings, and is heavier than LXQt with version-matched extensions.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Dash to Dock
Keep GNOME's application dash visible as a configurable dock.
Dash to Panel
Combine GNOME application shortcuts and the system tray in one panel.
Forge
A GNOME Shell extension that adds i3 and sway style tiling window management to the desktop.
Pop Shell
A keyboard-driven GNOME Shell extension from System76 that adds automatic tiling window management.
PaperWM
A GNOME Shell extension that tiles windows side by side on a horizontally scrolling strip.
Tiling Shell
A GNOME Shell extension that adds FancyZones-style tiling layouts and Windows 11 style snap assistance.
