Compare software

awesome vs spectrwm: catalog facts
awesome	spectrwm
Best for: Build a keyboard-driven X11 desktop with a window manager configured in Lua	Best for: Linux and BSD users who want a minimal tiling window manager
Free Free and open source. Hosting, hardware and any external services are separate.	Free Free and open source.
Linux	Linux
Supports tiling and floating layouts Exposes programmable widgets and window rules	Small and lightweight with few dependencies Single plain-text configuration file All 3 strengths for spectrwm Small and lightweight with few dependencies Single plain-text configuration file Runs on Linux and the BSDs
Extensive customization requires editing Lua configuration.	X11 only, no Wayland support Keyboard-centric workflow has a learning curve
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: GPL-2.0	License: ISC
Not stated if an account is needed	No account needed
Not stated if it works offline	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for awesome awesomewm.org github.com/awesomeWM/awesome Catalog checked September 22, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for spectrwm github.com/conformal/spectrwm Catalog checked September 23, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.