Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Hyprland VS Sway

Compare Hyprland VS Sway and see what are their differences

Hyprland logo Hyprland

Hyprland is a dynamic tiling Wayland compositor that doesn't sacrifice on its looks. - GitHub - vaxerski/Hyprland: Hyprland is a dynamic tiling Wayland compositor that doesn't sacrifice on ...

Sway logo Sway

Sway is a drop-in replacement for the i3 window manager, but for Wayland instead of X11.
  • Hyprland Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-22
  • Sway Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-03-20

Hyprland features and specs

  • Dynamic Tiling
    Hyprland offers dynamic tiling, allowing windows to be organized automatically and efficiently on your screen based on your workflow.
  • Wayland Support
    Hyprland is built on Wayland, providing smoother graphics, better performance, and modern features as opposed to older technologies like X11.
  • Customization
    The environment provides extensive customization options, enabling users to tailor the interface and behavior to their preferences.
  • Active Development
    Hyprland has an active and growing developer community, ensuring regular updates and improvements to the software.
  • Low Resource Usage
    Hyprland is designed to be lightweight, making it efficient in terms of resource usage, which is beneficial for older or less powerful hardware.

Possible disadvantages of Hyprland

  • Early Development
    Hyprland is relatively new and may lack some stability and features found in more mature window managers.
  • Compatibility Issues
    As an early-stage Wayland compositor, some applications might face compatibility issues, particularly those heavily reliant on X11.
  • Learning Curve
    Users new to tiling window managers or Wayland might face a steep learning curve when transitioning to Hyprland.
  • Limited Documentation
    Documentation can be sparse or incomplete, making it challenging for new users to find help or resources.
  • Feature Gaps
    Certain functionalities present in well-established window managers might be missing or underdeveloped in Hyprland.

Sway features and specs

  • Wayland Compatibility
    Sway is a compositor for Wayland, providing better performance and security compared to the X11 system.
  • i3 Compatibility
    Sway is designed to be compatible with i3 window manager configurations, making it easy for i3 users to transition.
  • Lightweight
    Sway is known for being lightweight and efficient, using fewer system resources compared to other compositors.
  • Customizability
    Similar to i3, Sway offers extensive customization options for users to tailor their environment.
  • Active Development
    Sway has an active development community, ensuring regular updates, bug fixes, and new features.
  • Enhances Security
    Being built on Wayland, Sway provides better isolation of processes, improving overall system security.

Possible disadvantages of Sway

  • Limited Application Support
    Some applications, especially older ones, may not be fully compatible with Wayland, causing issues when running on Sway.
  • Steeper Learning Curve
    New users, particularly those unfamiliar with i3, might find Sway's configuration and usage initially challenging.
  • Wayland Limitations
    Wayland, while improving, still lacks some features and extensions available in X11, which might affect some workflows.
  • Hardware Compatibility
    Wayland compositors like Sway can sometimes have issues with specific hardware, particularly older or less common configurations.
  • Fewer Tiling Window Manager Users
    The number of users preferring tiling window managers is smaller, potentially making it harder to find community support compared to more popular desktop environments.

Hyprland videos

No Hyprland videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

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Sway videos

Sway beats Powerpoint for these 4 reasons (Microsoft Office 365).

More videos:

  • Review - VOD REVIEW: IS FAZE SWAY BEING COACHED 🎮 BY FAZE BIZZLE WORTH IT? (Full Game)
  • Review - Microsoft Sway Hands On Review!
  • Review - Sway by Mitchell Bubble
  • Tutorial - SWAY HOUSE TOUR FORTNITE

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Hyprland and Sway)
Linux
37 37%
63% 63
Health And Fitness
0 0%
100% 100
Window Manager
23 23%
77% 77
Utilities
100 100%
0% 0

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Hyprland and Sway

Hyprland Reviews

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Sway Reviews

Top 13 Best Tiling Window Managers For Linux In 2022
Sway is a tiling Wayland i3-compatible window manager that dynamically arranges app windows to rationally maximise desktop space. It is free, open-source, and lightweight. By default, it arranges windows in a grid and supports practically all of the i3 commands.
Source: www.hubtech.org
13 Best Tiling Window Managers for Linux
Sway is a free, open-source, and lightweight tiling Wayland i3-compatible window manager that automatically arranges app windows to logically maximize desktop space. It arranges windows into a grid by default and supports almost all the commands included in i3.
Source: www.tecmint.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Sway seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 53 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Hyprland mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Hyprland yet. Tracking of Hyprland recommendations started around Apr 2022.

Sway mentions (53)

  • Pomodoro Timer: Waybar and uair
    I am currently using uair integrated in to my Waybar running on my sway window manager. I use it similar to the way I use watson (both as a CLI tool with Waybar integrations), so it is a good fit for me. - Source: dev.to / 5 months ago
  • "We understand" ;)
    This is partially why I use tools like i3 (/ sway). I like the tool; it works extremely well for me; the design has stayed the same for 20 years; there's no profit motive to come along and fuck everything up. It just works. It is boring in the best way possible. Source: about 1 year ago
  • Framework 13 with AMD Ryzen 7040 Series Makes for a Great Linux Laptop
    I've tested using i3 but never fully got into it. But my plan for the F13 is to try out Hyprland[0] and perhaps Sway[1]. [0] https://hyprland.org/ [1] https://swaywm.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Rethinking Window Management in Gnome
    Sway does all those things very well: https://swaywm.org/. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
  • Just ran Sway on openSUSE. Complete noob. I need help.
    Read the manual on https://swaywm.org/. There are tons of youtube videos showcasing basic configuration and usage. This is extremely basic stuff you need to do yourself. Source: over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Hyprland and Sway, you can also consider the following products

i3 - A dynamic tiling window manager designed for X11, inspired by wmii, and written in C.

Openbox - Openbox is a highly configurable, next generation window manager with extensive standards support.

Pacifica - Stress and anxiety relief through beautiful CBT tools

Wayfire - Wayland compositor with 3d effects.

awesome - A dynamic window manager for the X Window System developed in the C and Lua programming languages.

KDE Plasma Desktop - Plasma Workspaces is the umbrella term for all graphical environments provided by KDE.