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nwg-menu vs Whisker Menu: catalog facts
nwg-menu	Whisker Menu
Best for: Sway and wlroots users who want a start-menu style app menu	Best for: Xfce desktop users who want a searchable start menu
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and distributed as an Xfce panel plugin.
Linux	Linux
Start-menu layout with simplified categories Works as an nwg-panel plugin or standalone All 3 strengths for nwg-menu Start-menu layout with simplified categories Works as an nwg-panel plugin or standalone Styled through a CSS file	Search starts as soon as the menu opens and also matches descriptions Favorites, recently used and category browsing in one menu All 3 strengths for Whisker Menu Search starts as soon as the menu opens and also matches descriptions Favorites, recently used and category browsing in one menu Drag and drop to reorder favorites
Standalone use needs command-line arguments Aimed at sway and wlroots compositors	Only works as a plugin for the Xfce panel
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Not 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 nwg-menu github.com/nwg-piotr/nwg-menu Catalog checked October 1, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Whisker Menu docs.xfce.org/panel-plugins/xfce4-whiskermenu-plugin/start Catalog checked October 2, 2026

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