Waybox AlternativesWindow Managers & Wayland Compositors like Waybox

Waybox is described as 'An openbox clone on Wayland (WIP)' and is a Window Manager in the os & utilities category. There are more than 10 alternatives to Waybox for a variety of platforms, including Linux, Wayland, X11, FreeBSD and BSD apps. The best Waybox alternative is Hyprland, which is both free and Open Source. Other great apps like Waybox are niri, Sway, GlazeWM and river.

More about Waybox

Waybox alternatives page was last updated Nov 26, 2025

Hyprland
37 likes
An independent tiling Wayland compositor written in C++. Noteworthy features of Hyprland include dynamic tiling, tabbed windows, a clean and readable C++ code-base, and a custom renderer that provides window animations, rounded corners, and Dual-Kawase Blur on transparent windows.
26 Hyprland alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (BSD-3-Clause)
Application types
Window Manager
Wayland Compositor
Platforms
Linux
BSD
openSUSE
Arch Linux
Gentoo
Fedora
Ubuntu
Debian
FreeBSD
Alpine Linux
Slackware
Wayland
+3
Is Hyprland a good alternative to Waybox?
Hyprland is the most popular Linux alternative to Waybox.
Hyprland is the most popular Open Source & free alternative to Waybox.
Hyprland is Free and Open SourceWaybox is also Free and Open Source
Hyprland is Customizable and LightweightWaybox is not according to our users
niri
10 likes
Windows are arranged in columns on an infinite strip going to the right. Opening a new window never causes existing windows to resize.
77 niri alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Application type
Window Manager
Origin
Russia
Platforms
Linux
Wayland
Is niri a good alternative to Waybox?
Sway
22 likes
Sway is a Tiling Wayland Compositor and a drop-in replacement for the i3 window manager for X11. It works with your existing i3 configuration and supports most of i3's features, plus a few extras.
26 Sway alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (MIT)
Application type
Wayland Compositor
Origin
International
Platforms
Linux
Is Sway a good alternative to Waybox?
GlazeWM
8 likes
A tiling window manager for Windows inspired by i3 and Polybar.
31 GlazeWM alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Application type
Window Manager
Platforms
Windows
Rust
Is GlazeWM a good alternative to Waybox?
GlazeWM is the most popular Windows alternative to Waybox.
GlazeWM is Free and Open SourceWaybox is also Free and Open Source
GlazeWM is LightweightWaybox is not according to our users
river
4 likes
Wayland compositor featuring dynamic tiling and Master&Stack layout, offering configuration through riverctl tool with tag system for window management, customizable with rivertile and user layout generators, allowing flexible workspace setup without traditional workspaces.
23 river alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-3.0)
Application types
Window Manager
Wayland Compositor
Platforms
Linux
Is river a good alternative to Waybox?
Wayfire
7 likes
Wayfire is a 3D Wayland compositor, inspired by Compiz and based on wlroots. It aims to create a customizable, extendable and lightweight environment without sacrificing its appearance.
27 Wayfire alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (MIT)
Application types
Window Manager
Wayland Compositor
Origin
Bulgaria
EU
Platforms
Linux
FreeBSD
Is Wayfire a good alternative to Waybox?
SwayFX
3 likes
Sway is an incredible window manager, and certainly one of the most well established wayland window managers. However, it is restricted to only include the functionality that existed in i3. This fork ditches the simple wlr_renderer, and replaces it with our fx_renderer, capable...
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (MIT)
Application type
Window Manager
Platforms
Linux
Arch Linux
Gentoo Linux
Fedora
Nix Package Manager
Sway
FreeBSD
Wayland
Is SwayFX a good alternative to Waybox?
Japokwm
2 likes
A dynamic tiling Wayland compositor (forked from dwl) that makes it a breeze to create custom layouts with a simple configuration. 🚀
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (BSD-2-Clause)
Application type
Window Manager
Platforms
Linux
Is Japokwm a good alternative to Waybox?
mangowc
1 like
wayland compositor base wlroots and scenefx(dwm but wayland).
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Application type
Wayland Compositor
Platforms
Wayland
Linux
Is mangowc a good alternative to Waybox?
term.everything
1 like
Run any GUI app in the terminal?.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (AGPL-3.0)
Application type
Wayland Compositor
Platforms
Linux
+1
Is term.everything a good alternative to Waybox?
Labwc
2 likes
Labwc stands for Lab Wayland Compositor, where lab can mean any of the following:
25 Labwc alternatives
Cost / License
Free
Open Source (GPL-2.0)
Application types
Window Manager
Wayland Compositor
Platforms
Linux
Is Labwc a good alternative to Waybox?
hikari
2 likes
hikari [ja. Light] is a stacking Wayland compositor which is actively developed on FreeBSD but also supports Linux.
Cost / License
Free
Open Source
Platforms
Linux
BSD
+2
Is hikari a good alternative to Waybox?