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spectrwm vs StumpWM: catalog facts
spectrwm	StumpWM
Best for: Linux and BSD users who want a minimal tiling window manager	Best for: Lisp users who want a tiling window manager they can reprogram while it runs
Free Free and open source.	Free Free and open source.
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	Can be reconfigured live from Common Lisp Fully keyboard-driven tiling All 4 strengths for StumpWM Can be reconfigured live from Common Lisp Fully keyboard-driven tiling Module collection in stumpwm-contrib Versioned manuals in several formats
X11 only, no Wayland support Keyboard-centric workflow has a learning curve	X11 only, no Wayland support Customisation requires learning Common Lisp All 3 limitations for StumpWM X11 only, no Wayland support Customisation requires learning Common Lisp Minimal look with no built-in decorations
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: ISC	License: GPL-2.0
No account needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Offline features available
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 StumpWM stumpwm.github.io Catalog checked September 24, 2026

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