Compare software

wmenu vs dmenu: catalog facts
wmenu	dmenu
Best for: Wayland users who want a dmenu-style menu for scripts and keybindings	Best for: Minimal X setups and tiling window manager users who script their own menus
Free Free; source code is published on Codeberg.	Free Free to download from suckless.org.
Linux, Command line	Linux
Familiar dmenu behavior on Wayland Small C program with few moving parts All 4 strengths for wmenu Familiar dmenu behavior on Wayland Small C program with few moving parts Password mode for masked input Scriptable through standard input and output	Very small and fast Scriptable for any list-selection task All 3 strengths for dmenu Very small and fast Scriptable for any list-selection task Pairs naturally with dwm and other tiling window managers
Wayland only No built-in app discovery; needs a script or wrapper to launch apps All 3 limitations for wmenu Wayland only No built-in app discovery; needs a script or wrapper to launch apps Built from source with Meson unless packaged by your distribution	X only, no native Wayland support Customizing it means editing source and recompiling
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 wmenu codeberg.org/adnano/wmenu Catalog checked September 24, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for dmenu tools.suckless.org/dmenu Catalog checked September 23, 2026

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