Compare software

Cagebreak vs river: catalog facts
Cagebreak	river
Best for: Ratpoison fans who want a keyboard-only tiling compositor on Wayland	Best for: Linux users who want to build or choose their own Wayland window manager
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and open source.
Linux	Linux
Fully keyboard-driven tiling on Wayland Signed releases with documented hashes All 3 strengths for Cagebreak Fully keyboard-driven tiling on Wayland Signed releases with documented hashes Man pages and example configurations included	Window management policy is a separate, replaceable program Documented window management protocol All 3 strengths for river Window management policy is a separate, replaceable program Documented window management protocol Actively developed with regular releases
Minimal by design, with no decorations or visual extras Smaller user base than sway or Hyprland	Needs a separate window manager to be useful Building from source requires the Zig toolchain All 3 limitations for river Needs a separate window manager to be useful Building from source requires the Zig toolchain Older configurations belong to river-classic
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: MIT	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Cagebreak github.com/project-repo/cagebreak Catalog checked October 1, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for river isaacfreund.com/software/river Catalog checked September 23, 2026

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