Alternatives to LXQt
A lightweight, modular Qt-based desktop environment for Linux and BSD with X11 and Wayland sessions. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
LXQt
A lightweight, modular Qt-based desktop environment for Linux and BSD with X11 and Wayland sessions.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as LXQt.
Xfce
Use a modular desktop environment built around traditional panels and windows.
Xfce is a modular GTK-based desktop with traditional panels and a settings manager, whose available components depend on your distribution.
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, is packaged in many distributions and translated into many languages, with full releases every few years.
KDE Plasma
Use a full Linux desktop with configurable panels, widgets and window behavior.
KDE Plasma is also Qt-based but offers a fuller desktop with extensive appearance settings and KDE application integration, at higher resource use.
GNOME
Use a Linux desktop organized around an activities overview and workspaces.
GNOME organises the desktop around an activities overview and workspaces with integrated settings, and is heavier than LXQt with version-matched extensions.
Cinnamon
Use a Linux desktop with a traditional application menu, panel and system tray.
Cinnamon offers a traditional menu, panel and system tray with applets, desklets and extensions, under GPL-2.0.
Budgie
A free and open source Linux desktop environment with its own panel, application menu and window management.
Budgie is a simple, tidy desktop with its own panel and application menu, usually installed through a distribution.
Enlightenment
A window manager, compositor and minimal desktop for Linux, BSD and other UNIX systems.
Enlightenment combines window manager, compositor and minimal shell on EFL, runs on Linux and BSD, and has only experimental Wayland support.
COSMIC
Use System76's desktop environment with configurable workspaces and window tiling.
COSMIC is System76's desktop with configurable workspaces and tiling or floating workflows, requiring a distribution and graphics stack that support it.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Openbox
Manage X11 windows with a configurable stacking window manager.
labwc
A lightweight wlroots-based stacking Wayland compositor inspired by Openbox.
IceWM
A lightweight X11 window manager with a taskbar, workspaces and a familiar Windows-like layout.
BunsenLabs Linux
A Debian-based distribution with a preconfigured, lightweight Openbox desktop, continuing CrunchBang Linux.
xfce4-panel
Configurable panel for the Xfce desktop with plugins and applets.
