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spectrwm vs Qtile: catalog facts
spectrwm	Qtile
Best for: Linux and BSD users who want a minimal tiling window manager	Best for: Configure a tiling window manager using Python
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and open source. Hosting, hardware and any external services are separate.
Linux	Linux
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	Supports programmable layouts and widgets Offers X11 and Wayland back ends
X11 only, no Wayland support Keyboard-centric workflow has a learning curve	Configuration and troubleshooting require some Python knowledge.
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: ISC	License: MIT
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 spectrwm github.com/conformal/spectrwm Catalog checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Qtile qtile.org github.com/qtile/qtile Catalog checked September 22, 2026

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