Which desktop does each Linux distro use?
KDE Plasma and GNOME are each offered by 27 of 55 Linux distros with a set desktop, then Xfce (24). KDE Plasma is the most common default, on 19 distros.
Default desktop Also offered
What the data shows
- KDE Plasma: offered by 27 distros (49%), the default on 19.
- GNOME: offered by 27 distros (49%), the default on 13.
- Xfce: offered by 24 distros (44%), the default on 9.
- Cinnamon: offered by 8 distros (15%), the default on 2.
- LXQt: offered by 7 distros (13%), the default on 2.
- Arch Linux, Gentoo Linux and Raspberry Pi OS have no set desktop: you choose one during or after installation.
Every distro and its desktops
A filled dot is the default desktop; an open dot is another official edition or option. Distros are in ranking order.
| Distro | KDE Plasma | GNOME | Xfce | Cinnamon | LXQt | MATE | Lightweight window managers | Hyprland | COSMIC | Other |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ubuntu | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Debian | Offered | Default | Offered | Offered | Offered | Offered | No | No | No | |
| Linux Mint | No | No | Offered | Default | No | Offered | No | No | No | |
| Kali Linux | Offered | Offered | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| CachyOS | Default | Offered | Offered | Offered | Offered | Offered | Offered | Offered | Offered | niri, Budgie |
| SteamOS | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Omarchy | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Default | No | |
| Bazzite | Default | Offered | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| NixOS | Offered | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Zorin OS | No | Default | Offered | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Manjaro | Default | Offered | Offered | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Pop!_OS | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Default | |
| Kubuntu | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| openSUSE Tumbleweed | Default | Offered | Offered | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| MX Linux | Offered | No | Default | No | No | No | Offered | No | No | |
| EndeavourOS | Default | Offered | Offered | Offered | Offered | No | No | No | No | Budgie |
| elementary OS | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Pantheon |
| Garuda Linux | Default | Offered | Offered | Offered | No | No | Offered | Offered | Offered | |
| Nobara Project | Default | Offered | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Fedora Workstation | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Red Hat Enterprise Linux | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Tails | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Slackware | Default | No | Offered | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Alpine Linux | Offered | Offered | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Fedora Asahi Remix | Default | Offered | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Artix Linux | Default | No | Offered | Offered | Offered | Offered | No | No | No | |
| Void Linux | No | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Qubes OS | No | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Rocky Linux | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| AlmaLinux | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Lubuntu | No | No | No | No | Default | No | No | No | No | |
| antiX | No | No | No | No | No | No | Default | No | No | |
| Puppy Linux | No | No | No | No | No | No | Default | No | No | |
| Devuan | Offered | No | Default | Offered | Offered | Offered | No | No | No | |
| Parrot OS | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| CentOS Stream | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Xubuntu | No | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| deepin | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Deepin Desktop (DDE) |
| Q4OS | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Trinity |
| Solus | Offered | Offered | Offered | No | No | No | No | No | No | Budgie |
| PCLinuxOS | Default | No | Offered | No | No | Offered | No | No | No | |
| Peppermint OS | No | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Mageia | Default | Offered | Offered | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Bodhi Linux | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Moksha |
| Linux Lite | No | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| KaOS | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | niri |
| SparkyLinux | Offered | No | Offered | No | Default | Offered | No | No | No | |
| Endless OS | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Fedora Silverblue | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| RakuOS | Default | Offered | No | No | No | No | No | No | Offered | niri |
| Nitrux | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Default | No | |
| Anatase | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| openSUSE Leap | Default | Offered | Offered | No | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Linux Mint Debian Edition | No | No | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | |
| Vanilla OS | No | Default | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
How this infographic is made
Desktops come from each distro’s distro.watch profile, which lists its official editions, spins and installer options. The first desktop listed is the default. Community spins and desktops you install yourself are not counted.
Related guides
Frequently asked questions
What is the most popular Linux desktop environment?
KDE Plasma and GNOME are tied: each ships on 27 of 55 distros with a set desktop. KDE Plasma is the default on the most distros (19).
Which Linux desktop is most like Windows?
KDE Plasma and Cinnamon both use a bottom taskbar with a start menu and system tray by default, the layout Windows users know.
Can I change the desktop after installing Linux?
Yes. Most distros let you install another desktop from their repositories and pick it on the login screen, but the default edition is usually the best tested.