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herbstluftwm vs bspwm: catalog facts
herbstluftwm	bspwm
Best for: X11 users who want scriptable, manually controlled tiling	Best for: Manage X11 windows as the leaves of a binary tree
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and open source. Hosting, hardware and any external services are separate.
Linux	Linux
Settings change live without restarting Tiling and floating layers on every tag All 3 strengths for herbstluftwm Settings change live without restarting Tiling and floating layers on every tag Virtual monitors for splitting large screens	Separates window management from keyboard bindings Can be controlled through shell commands
X11 only Manual tiling means arranging frames yourself	Requires separate tools for key bindings and desktop panels.
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License not stated	License: BSD-2-Clause
No account needed	Not stated if an account is needed
Offline features available	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for herbstluftwm herbstluftwm.org Catalog checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for bspwm github.com/baskerville/bspwm Catalog checked September 22, 2026

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