Alternatives to Waybar
Add a customizable status bar to compatible Wayland desktops. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
Waybar
Add a customizable status bar to compatible Wayland desktops.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as Waybar.
nwg-panel
Add desktop panels to Sway and Hyprland using GTK.
nwg-panel is a GTK panel built for Sway and Hyprland that combines launchers, workspace controls and status modules, but it targets fewer compositors than Waybar.
Polybar
Build a configurable status bar for an X11 desktop.
Polybar offers a similar module and script-based status bar, but it runs on X11 desktops rather than Wayland compositors, so it suits i3 or bspwm setups instead.
Eww
Create custom desktop widgets using declarative configuration and styling.
Eww builds bars and other desktop widgets from declarative configuration and styling, giving more layout freedom than Waybar but requiring you to write and maintain the widget scripts.
AGS
Scaffolding CLI for building custom Linux desktop shells and widgets.
AGS is a scaffolding CLI for fully custom Linux desktop shells and widgets, so a bar becomes something you script yourself rather than configure from ready modules.
Lemonbar
Featherweight, scriptable status bar for X11 built on xcb.
Lemonbar is a featherweight X11 status bar with no built-in configuration, so everything is scripted externally and it does not run on Wayland like Waybar does.
Tint2
Lightweight panel and taskbar for Linux and BSD window managers.
Tint2 is a lightweight panel and taskbar configured through a plain text file, aimed at minimal Linux and BSD window manager setups rather than Wayland compositors specifically.
Also worth comparing
These listings name Waybar as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
Ironbar
A customisable GTK4 status bar for Wayland compositors, written in Rust.
Waybar is a customizable Wayland status bar with workspace and system-status modules, custom styling and scripts, open source under the MIT license.
Quickshell
A QtQuick toolkit for building your own status bars, widgets, lockscreens and desktop shells.
Waybar is a customizable Wayland status bar with workspace and system modules, offering a finished bar rather than building lockscreens or full shells.
xfce4-panel
Configurable panel for the Xfce desktop with plugins and applets.
Waybar is a customizable status bar for compatible Wayland compositors, so switching from xfce4-panel also means moving away from Xfce's X11-based desktop.
xmobar
A minimalist text-based status bar for X11, written in Haskell and often paired with xmonad.
Waybar is a customizable status bar for Wayland compositors rather than X11, with workspace and system-status modules and custom styling.
Zebar
A tool for building custom taskbars, desktop widgets and popups on Windows, macOS and Linux.
Waybar is a Linux status bar for Wayland compositors with workspace and system-status modules, custom styling and scripts, under MIT.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
Sway
Use an i3-style tiling workflow on Wayland.
Hyprland
Arrange Linux application windows with a configurable tiling Wayland compositor.
Qtile
Configure a tiling window manager using Python.
i3
Arrange X11 windows in a keyboard-controlled tiling workspace.
niri
A scrollable-tiling Wayland compositor that places windows in columns on an endless horizontal strip.
rofi
A keyboard-driven window switcher, application launcher and dmenu replacement for Linux desktops.
