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i3 vs spectrwm: catalog facts
i3	spectrwm
Best for: Arrange X11 windows in a keyboard-controlled tiling workspace	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
Uses a tree-based window layout Supports workspaces and configurable key bindings	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
Runs on X11 rather than Wayland.	X11 only, no Wayland support Keyboard-centric workflow has a learning curve
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: BSD-3-Clause	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 i3 i3wm.org github.com/i3/i3 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.