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Forge vs Pop Shell: catalog facts
Forge	Pop Shell
Best for: GNOME users who want i3 or sway style tiling without switching desktops	Best for: GNOME users who want keyboard-driven auto-tiling without leaving GNOME
Free Free to use; the source is published on GitHub.	Free Free to use; the source is published on GitHub by System76.
Linux	Linux
i3 and sway style tiling inside a regular GNOME session Keeps the GNOME desktop instead of replacing it All 3 strengths for Forge i3 and sway style tiling inside a regular GNOME session Keeps the GNOME desktop instead of replacing it Source code published on GitHub	Automatic tiling inside a regular GNOME session Keyboard-driven window navigation All 3 strengths for Pop Shell Automatic tiling inside a regular GNOME session Keyboard-driven window navigation Backed by System76 and shipped with Pop!_OS
Project is looking for a new maintainer Works only with GNOME Shell All 3 limitations for Forge Project is looking for a new maintainer Works only with GNOME Shell Extension compatibility can lag behind new GNOME releases	Works only with GNOME Shell Development follows the GNOME version used by Pop!_OS
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Forge github.com/forge-ext/forge Catalog checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Pop Shell github.com/pop-os/shell Catalog checked September 23, 2026

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