Compare software

river vs Jay: catalog facts
river	Jay
Best for: Linux users who want to build or choose their own Wayland window manager	Best for: Linux users who want an i3-style tiling compositor on Wayland
Free Free and open source.	Free Free to build and use from its public repository.
Linux	Linux
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	i3-like tiling on Wayland Vulkan rendering All 4 strengths for Jay i3-like tiling on Wayland Vulkan rendering Configurable through TOML or Rust Active development with regular commits
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	Linux only Smaller user base than Sway or Hyprland
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 river isaacfreund.com/software/river Catalog checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Jay github.com/mahkoh/jay Catalog checked October 2, 2026

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