Tiling window managers aren’t exactly a new concept. They’ve been here for quite some time now, with i3 and bspwm being some of the older ones out there (but still very much a favorite!).
Every tiling window manager seems to do its own thing, be it custom layouts or a user-defined configuration file to control each and every part of the window manager.
This makes it really hard to jump into it as a beginner, and while some options are a lot easier, a tiling window manager is in no way close to being as accessible as a traditional desktop interface, like KDE Plasma.
With so many options, keeping track of it all can be exhausting. I felt the same way too, back in my early days of distro-hopping and desktop swapping. After going through the most popular picks out there, I feel like I finally have a winner.
i3
Old but gold
Chances are you’ve probably heard of i3. It’s been one of the oldest tiling window managers, and still remains a popular choice to this day. It also uses a manual tiling system, splitting your display into equally-sized windows (that is, unless you use a script like autotiling).
This is also one of the easier ones to configure options within this list. The i3 configuration file uses a pretty basic syntax that has barely seen any changes, and somehow still manages to feel feature complete all these years later.
In my experience, i3 was dead simple to set up, but the fact that it was based on Xorg instead of Wayland made me switch out almost immediately. Not that Xorg is terrible, there are actually still a few things that Xorg does better than Wayland. However, multi-monitor support is something that is a heck of a lot better on Wayland compositors, so I had to reluctantly move on from i3.
Sway
i3 but Wayland
Enter Sway, the next logical choice for i3 users. Sway really is a Wayland-centric drop-in replacement for i3, right down to its core design philosophy. It is dead simple in both its config and implementation, and goes for that truly minimal feel.
There’s not a lot to see in Sway, and you won’t go finding many built-in features or even animations for that matter. Despite this, Sway is a rock-solid window manager that manages to get the essentials right, and this stability is ideal for a lot of people.
Coincidentally, Sway also happens to be my most used tiling window manager, and part of it is thanks to its simplicity. Sway is incredibly easy to set up and integrate services (such as volume OSD and media controls) into. Although I did end up moving away, experimenting with the more exotic options out there.
Hyprland
Maybe a bit too complex
We move on to Hyprland next, which is a lot more opinionated, like Gnome. Jumping ship from Sway was a real eye-opener, and Hyprland does have an enormous amount of customization options, including multiple tiling presets, eye candy (blur and fade effects, to name a few) and every feature set you could think of.
Hyprland also comes with its own set of dependencies and programs, which serve as alternatives to existing Wayland applications.
Unfortunately for me, Hyprland just wasn’t worth it. It’s esoteric nature and kind of convoluted configuration syntax had me scratching my head at times, which ultimately caused me to abandon it.
Yes, it is possible to simplify the entire process by using a Quickshell-based solution, but it is not indicative of the vanilla experience. Hyprland is also bleeding edge, and not a very good pick for stability.
Niri
Just right
Niri is a rather interesting tiling window manager. Instead of going for the traditional tiling layout, it goes for a scrolling one. In other words, presented windows scroll past in an infinite strip, which makes for a very interesting workflow.
This turned out to be perfect for my particular setup, and I’ve been rocking Niri since, and so far I haven’t had a reason to switch out. Even if xwayland-satellite is not a perfect solution for xwayland apps.
It’s also pretty recent, and has just about enough features to not feel as stripped down as Sway or i3. The configuration file is also pretty easy to set up (and doesn’t see a lot of changes). Niri is also entirely compatible with Quickshell, which can provide a desktop-like experience.
What made me stick with Niri
Now, I won’t deny that tiling window managers are more of a personal choice — after all, not every workflow will appeal to everyone. That being said, Niri fulfills all three of my needs — a rock solid, mostly unchanged config over updates, superb multi-monitor and docking support (without the use of something like kanshi!) and finally, a minimal look that doesn’t compromise entirely on eye candy.
It’s pretty much perfect for my laptop and monitors, and the scrolling layout just seems to make a whole lot more sense for an ultrawide display.
