XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

daffyduck · 2026-07-21 20:48:07

The big three DEs. All other DEs are much less popular.

I averaged it from the data below and got the results:

+-------------------+-------------------+
| Desktop Env.      | Estimated Share   |
+-------------------+-------------------+
| KDE Plasma        | 53.4%             |
| GNOME             | 27.9%             |
| Xfce              | 18.7%             |
+-------------------+-------------------+

Arch data (Arch doesn't have a default DE):
KDE: 43% GNOME: 17% Xfce: 9%
https://pkgstats.archlinux.de/fun/Deskt … ts/current

Debian data (but, GNOME is the default on Debian, so GNOME data in this table should be disregarded):
2026, Debian, stable, sources, by vote:
+------------------+----------------------+-----------------------+--------------+
| Metric | mutter (GNOME) | kwin (KDE Plasma) |xfwm4 (Xfce)|
+------------------+----------------------+-----------------------+--------------+
| Regular Users | 33,572 334.3% | 18,726 186.4% | 10,043 |
| Total Installs | 40,027 205.1% | 21,786 111.6% | 19,518 |
| Inactive/Old | 7,453 116.9% | 882 13.8% | 6,374 |
+------------------+----------------------+-----------------------+--------------+
https://popcon.debian.org/stable/index.html

eriefisher · 2026-07-21 21:48:02

Gnome is not the default on Debian. You can choose at install time or select the correct iso to download.

There has been a poll going on over at the Debian user Forum and Xfce was out front last I looked.

daffyduck · 2026-07-21 22:35:38

eriefisher wrote:

Gnome is not the default on Debian. You can choose at install time or select the correct iso to download.

Um... I'm defining "default" as anything that would even mildly suggest or recommend a particular DE.

Last time I used Debian GUI installer, "GNOME" was at the TOP of the list of available DEs in the installer. I take that to be the same as "default".
The issue is that you have to remove all biases, and placing one popular DE like GNOME on the top biases the selection heavily.

Also, as far as I can remember, GNOME is the only one that is configured properly on Debian out-of the box.
If you select XFCE on Debian, you will get no panels, and minimal or no keyboard shortcuts. You may even get no Whisker menu.
Also, Debian recommends GNOME over other desktops on multiple online pages, AFAIK.
I call that "biased". So, I have to disregard Debian's statistics for GNOME DE.

Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong on any factual data.

eriefisher · 2026-07-21 23:03:45

I'm curious when was the last time you installed Debian in this way?

If you install Xfce from scratch in Debian, as with most DE's you would get a basic stock Xfce configuration and yes there would be a panel. I don't believe Whiskermenu is there by default as it's a plugin. You can install Xfce a few ways. Just a straight up install xfce. This brings in a basic desktop as mentioned. You can use Task which will bring in Debian's configured desktop and backgrounds etc.
Myself I usually start with the minimum install and build out a desktop from there. I'm very specific as to what I install and use. I avoid Gnome packages at all costs unless I can avoid CSD and don't bring in a bunch of Gnome dependencies. I also keep QT/KDE stuff to an absolute minimum.

I think your information is quite old

daffyduck · 2026-07-21 23:07:15

I just realized that there is a separate popcon statistic for Ubuntu and derivatives:
https://popcon.ubuntu.com/by_vote

Unfortunately, I can only access old version of that page, from 2022.
Data:

#rank name                            inst  vote   old recent no-files (maintainer)
1547  xfwm4                         244373   202 244020     6   145 (Debian Xfce Maintainers)    
2207  kwin-common                    14478    92  14362     1    23                 
2208  kwin-x11                       14476    92  14362     1    21

"Votes" is a telemetry of how often a package is actually used.
Since the "vote" column is the one that matters, the 2022 Ubuntu data indicates that Xfce is more than twice as used as KDE plasma.
Ah, but of course, Mint is the very-popular Ubuntu derivative, and it has no KDE version, that's why KDE gets such low number of "votes".

If someone can access newer data (from 2026), I would be glad if it can be posted here.

Added later 08 min:

eriefisher wrote:

I'm curious when was the last time you installed Debian in this way?

Likely about 4 years ago. But, the truth is: I don't really remember what year was it.

I think your information is quite old

It doesn't matter whether it is old or not, it only matters whether GNOME is at the top in the installer's list, and whether all DEs are properly configured out of the box.
XFCE without Whisker menu: I consider that biased against XFCE.

Added later 25 min 02 s:
Regarding discrepancy of data Ubuntu vs. Arch, which show completely opposite statistics on DEs.

Here is one possible explanation: The Arch statistics is not just for Arch, but also for many of the important Arch derivatives, particularly Cachy OS. That would skew statistics towards KDE, because many Arch derivatives have KDE as the default or recommended DE.

So, the question: What do Arch DE statistics actually count? Just Arch, or Arch + derivatives? I don't know the answer, but I previously thought the statistics is for Arch without derivatives.

Last edited by daffyduck (2026-07-21 23:38:24)

aorlovsky · 2026-07-22 08:24:08

In this battle i will always pick XFCE

daffyduck · 2026-07-22 12:05:18

aorlovsky wrote:

In this battle i will always pick XFCE

I'm talking about statistics, rather than individual user preferences.

There is a striking discrepancy here: Arch statistics show a 5:1 ratio of KDE over XFCE,
yet on Ubuntu (including derivatives), that ratio is 1:2, as given by the "popcon" popularity contest.
This is a tenfold difference in ratios, and it remains unexplained.
While I understand your preference, individual choices don't help explain the discrepancy.

burgess_m · 2026-07-23 18:40:14

The Arch Linux statistics come from the data submitted by pkgstats - https://wiki.archlinux.org/title/Pkgstats

This is not enabled by default in Arch, and I am not aware that any of the derivatives enable it by default. So the data is based on only those systems where the user has chosen to enable it.

As for the high (and rising) numbers of KDE users on Arch (compared to other DEs), it's more likely that people are choosing horses for courses. KDE Plasma is updated every four months, as are the KDE Gear applications, and KDE Frameworks is updated monthly. The version of KDE Plasma (6.3.6) in Debian Stable is no longer supported upstream in KDE (see https://pointieststick.com/2026/07/19/w … -versions/ and https://bugs.kde.org/show_bug.cgi?id=519870).

So if you want the latest KDE, then rolling distros like Arch are a good option. For a DE like Xfce that has recently been releasing major versions every two years, Debian Stable is a good option.

I'm the exception that proves the rule - running Xfce on Arch Linux.

daffyduck · 2026-07-23 23:07:40

burgess_m wrote:

The Arch Linux statistics come from the data submitted by pkgstats
This is not enabled by default in Arch, and I am not aware that any of the derivatives enable it by default. So the data is based on only those systems where the user has chosen to enable it.

I agree.
Debian's "popcon" is similar in that it is opt-in; the GUI installer prominently asks the user if they want to participate, but it remains disabled by default.

Regarding Arch, I suspect the low Xfce usage is due to the user base. Arch users often prioritize cutting-edge features (like HDR for gaming), which Xfce lacks.
Additionally, Arch delivers upstream defaults without heavy customization. The difference is night and day when you compare the default Xfce experience on Arch versus a curated one like MX Linux.

Thanks for participating in the discussion and sharing your insight, burgess_m.

burgess_m · 2026-07-24 13:33:24

daffyduck wrote:

Regarding Arch, I suspect the low Xfce usage is due to the user base. Arch users often prioritize cutting-edge features (like HDR for gaming), which Xfce lacks.
Additionally, Arch delivers upstream defaults without heavy customization. The difference is night and day when you compare the default Xfce experience on Arch versus a curated one like MX Linux.

The Arch Linux pkgstats history https://pkgstats.archlinux.de/fun/Deskt … ts/history shows a steady increase in KDE users at the expense of all other DEs. While gaming is likely to be one factor (the Steam Deck uses Arch KDE for example), there has also been a sustained effort by KDE developers over this period to listen to user feedback and set goals for improvement, in addition to my point above about its frequent update schedule.

I like that Arch delivers Xfce without heavy customisation. This means that I can have a left panel with many of the same elements as that in MX Linux, plus the applicaitons I want, and not a large number that I uninstall. MX Linux is an excellent distro and I follow its weekly blog, but serves up far more than what I need.

daffyduck · 2026-07-24 15:40:43

burgess_m wrote:

The Arch Linux pkgstats history https://pkgstats.archlinux.de/fun/Deskt … ts/history shows a steady increase in KDE users at the expense of all other DEs. While gaming is likely to be one factor (the Steam Deck uses Arch KDE for example), there has also been a sustained effort by KDE developers over this period to listen to user feedback and set goals for improvement, in addition to my point above about its frequent update schedule.

That’s a fair point. According to Arch pkgstats, the ratio of KDE to Xfce users is 4.8:1 .
However, it is worth considering a second reliable data point: Debian's popcon. The picture there is quite different, with the ratio dropping to 1.9:1 .

To me, it suggests that the difference in popularity is more about the different types of people drawn to Arch versus Debian.

I like that Arch delivers Xfce without heavy customisation. This means that I can have a left panel with many of the same elements as that in MX Linux, plus the applicaitons I want, and not a large number that I uninstall.

It seems you and eriefisher share a similar minimalist philosophy. While that approach is appealing, I wonder if it's actually representative of the average Arch user. My suspicion is that the current majority of Arch users are "cutting-edge" gamers and maximalists. A user who opts for KDE is very likely a maximalist.

I'm definitely not on the cutting edge, I stick with Linux Mint. Unlike the minimalists, I really appreciate it when a distro provides a "batteries-included" Xfce config. I'd guess that most people prefer having things pre-configured and ready to go.

MX Linux is an excellent distro and I follow its weekly blog, but serves up far more than what I need.

I also like MX Linux (obviously!). I don't really mind having extra tools and software pre-installed. Even on Mint, I only uninstall a dozen or so packages; in fact, I’d actually prefer many more small command-line tools and libraries to be installed by default. A full installation of Mint is only about 10 GB, which I find perfectly acceptable.

scm · 2026-07-24 17:52:59

burgess_m wrote:

to listen to user feedback and set goals for improvement

they didn't want my feedback, to the point they banned me from their forums, which is why I'm now a XFCE user

RE: Post talking about "digital wallets"
I said, Just dont turn it into a digital ID.
....yada,yada, yada....
They said if I don't like the direction KDE was going I can fork off their "hard work".

Last edited by scm (2026-07-25 03:01:36)

daffyduck · 2026-07-25 14:19:04

It's a pity that not many distros collect and publish opt-in usage statistics for desktop environments. So far, I have only Arch and Debian.

Does anyone know of any other distro that publishes usage statistics on DEs?

mbonanomi · 2026-07-27 13:54:28

daffyduck wrote:

It's a pity that not many distros collect and publish opt-in usage statistics for desktop environments. So far, I have only Arch and Debian.
Does anyone know of any other distro that publishes usage statistics on DEs?

IMHO Arch and Debian stats tends to overestimate XFCE (or other DEs different from KDE/GNOME). I think Debian has many experienced Linux users that love a "classic" idea of desktop with menus, windows, buttons etc. XFCE, with it's stability and a slow and predictable development path is quite appreciated.

Arch Linux has a similar user base plus many other developers and users that love bleeding edge new stuff, tiling WMs, gaming kernels and so on. I guess Arch statistics will tend to overestimate Hyprland as well.

Most of the distros now have KDE / GNOME as defaults, and the general trend seems to prefer KDE over GNOME as main / flagship DE. XFCE was one of the most famous flavours/spin-offs (e.g. Xubuntu for Ubuntu) or even the flagship DE (Manjaro, MX Linux), but it seems to me that KDE Plasma now is conquering even this share of "classic desktop" people. To be honest, KDE Plasma has been improved qite a lot in terms of stability and resource usage, so I see the point: if you are a small distro developer and you can focus only on one single DE: go for KDE Plasma, it supports both x11 and Wayland and have a tremendous amount of new features every release.

When XFCE will support Wayland at the same level of stability that we see now on X11, I think it reach more people.

daffyduck · 2026-07-27 20:31:41

mbonanomi wrote:

IMHO Arch and Debian stats tends to overestimate XFCE (or other DEs different from KDE/GNOME).

That depends on whether you are measuring
"organic preference" (what would users choose on their own) or
"imposed prevalence" (current share driven by distro defaults).

I want hard data, for both of those measurements. I put little value on what people "feel". Data, with URL sources, and clearly explained methodology. Nothing else counts.

Arch Linux has a similar user base plus many other developers and users that love bleeding edge new stuff, tiling WMs, gaming kernels and so on.

I disagree. The statistics I shared strongly suggest that the Arch and Debian user bases are very different.

Most of the distros now have KDE / GNOME as defaults,

Mostly, yes. But Xfce is still the standard for MX Linux and Xubuntu, and is very popular on Mint.

and the general trend seems to prefer KDE over GNOME as main / flagship DE.

KDE has growth in smaller distros, but as long as Ubuntu, Fedora/RHEL, and Debian default to GNOME, GNOME will maintain the highest "imposed prevalence" share.

I suspect that GNOME's "organic preference" share is lower than Xfce's, although that's just my "feeling". Regarding hard data on "organic", we have only Arch, where GNOME to Xfce ratio is 1.9 : 1

When XFCE will support Wayland at the same level of stability that we see now on X11, I think it reach more people.

Agreed. Wayland is the primary blocker for greater Xfce adoption.

Added later 1 h 53 min 22 s:
Here is another hard data point.

Distrowatch 12 month ranking:

+------+--------------+------+-------------+--------------+
| Rank | Distribution | HPD* | Primary DE  | Secondary DE |
+------+--------------+------+-------------+--------------+
|  1   | CachyOS      | 3837 | KDE Plasma  | - many -     |
|  2   | Mint         | 2279 | Cinnamon    | XFCE         |
|  3   | MX Linux     | 1928 | XFCE        | KDE Plasma   |
|  4   | Debian       | 1473 | GNOME       | XFCE         |
|  5   | Pop!_OS      | 1348 | Cosmic      | - none -     |
|  6   | Zorin        | 1247 | GNOME       | - none -     |
|  7   | EndeavourOS  | 1146 | KDE Plasma  | XFCE         |
|  8   | Fedora       | 1114 | GNOME       | KDE Plasma   |
|  9   | Manjaro      | 1016 | KDE Plasma  | XFCE         |
| 10   | Ubuntu       | 1014 | GNOME       | - none -     |
| 11   | AnduinOS     |  858 | GNOME       | - none -     |
| 12   | Bazzite      |  746 | KDE Plasma  | GNOME        |
| 13   | openSUSE     |  711 | KDE Plasma  | GNOME        |
| 14   | Arch         |  643 | - many -    |              |
| 15   | Nobara       |  625 | KDE Plasma  | GNOME        |
+------+--------------+------+-------------+--------------+

HPD stands for Hits Per Day. It is the primary metric used by DistroWatch to rank Linux distributions.
The HPD is a simple average of web traffic, the total number of page views for a specific distribution's page on the DistroWatch website.
While not the best or highly accurate metric of popularity, it provides a useful snapshot of current interest. It is heavily influenced by emerging trends.

The Primary DE is the first ISO listed on the official download page or the installer's default.
The Secondary DE refers to any other official options offered prominently via a separate ISO or the installer menu.
"- none -" indicates no other choices at installation;
"- many -" indicates a wide variety of options.

Notice that GNOME doesn't appear at all in the first 3.

https://distrowatch.com/

mbonanomi · 2026-07-29 07:30:28

Gut feeling I have is that many Arch users could also be Debian users, simply Arch is preferred for desktops/laptop while Debian is preferred for servers or "base-load" machines: XFCE is a lightweight and full-featured choice in these cases. As you said, it's not supported by significant statistics, I just know many people with this kind of setup at home.

About major distros shipping KDE Plasma: Fedora officially presents both KDE Plasma and GNOME as their flagship solutions:
- Fedora Workstation with GNOME as "leading linux desktop"
- Fedora KDE Plasma as "next generation linux desktop"
But they have the exact same level of visibility on their home page. A few years ago I would never have imagined.

Suse, Debian and Arch-based distros give the same level of visibility to any dekstop environment at installation level if I am not wrong.

Mint and Ubuntu are not doing the same and they account for a huge share of Linux desktop users: Mint is not gonna change its mind due to Cinnamon development (and KDE development roadmap is too fast too Mint one, IMHO). Ubuntu... is Ubuntu! who knows what Canonical plans to do, but I guess the have too many thing both on front-end ann back-end that are GTK and GNOME stuff to even think about this switch. On Reddit and other FOSS communities Kubuntu with Minimal Installation is often regarded as a reasonable way of using Ubuntu core with no snaps, telemetry and bloatware. Same for Xubuntu of course, but KDE Plasma just feels better out of the box in a live usb environment.

Last edited by mbonanomi (2026-07-29 07:32:51)

daffyduck · 2026-07-29 15:21:33

mbonanomi wrote:

Suse, Debian and Arch-based distros give the same level of visibility to any dekstop environment at installation level if I am not wrong.

"visibility" is not the same as "unbiased". To see why, we need to compare these two cases:

Arch: Truly neutral. The installer offers an unbiased desktop selection and recommends no specific DE. If there is any bias at all, it's toward the "Awesome" desktop simply because it's first alphabetically, but that doesn't show up significantly in the statistics.

Debian: Heavily biased selection. GNOME is not only the first desktop offered, but it is also the only one selected by default. The consequences are clearly visible and highly significant in the popcon statistics: GNOME 54%, KDE 30%, and Xfce 16%.

Debian is a prime example of how your "same visibility" logic is flawed: the impact of the bias is large, even though you viewed the "visibility" as equal.

Gut feeling I have is that many Arch users could also be Debian users, simply Arch is preferred for desktops/laptop while Debian is preferred for servers or "base-load" machines: XFCE is a lightweight and full-featured choice in these cases. As you said, it's not supported by significant statistics, I just know many people with this kind of setup at home.

That's exactly the problem: you know a few dozen or maybe a hundred people, and that skews your perception. A sample size of 20 or 100 is insignificant compared to the Debian popcon statistics. Furthermore, your social circle is influenced by local (city) and national biases. Neither are your friends a representative sample of the general population, nor does you country well-represent the entire world.

Fedora officially presents both KDE Plasma and GNOME as their flagship solutions

While they are presented with equal visibility, GNOME is still listed first. This creates a bias toward GNOME, and the tendency for users to pick the first available option is often quite high.

Mint is not gonna change its mind due to Cinnamon development

But in the last two years, EndeavourOS and Manjaro did change their minds about Xfce, for the worse.

In fact, Xfce is struggling in the past two years, and its usage has likely plummeted. It went from being on equal footing with KDE and GNOME to dropping into third place.

Xfce Forum

Sub domains

#1 2026-07-21 20:48:07

XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#2 2026-07-21 21:48:02

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#3 2026-07-21 22:35:38

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#4 2026-07-21 23:03:45

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#5 2026-07-21 23:07:15

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#6 2026-07-22 08:24:08

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#7 2026-07-22 12:05:18

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#8 2026-07-23 18:40:14

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#9 2026-07-23 23:07:40

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#10 2026-07-24 13:33:24

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#11 2026-07-24 15:40:43

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#12 2026-07-24 17:52:59

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#13 2026-07-25 14:19:04

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#14 2026-07-27 13:54:28

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#15 2026-07-27 20:31:41

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#16 2026-07-29 07:30:28

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

#17 2026-07-29 15:21:33

Re: XFCE vs. GNOME vs. KDE

Board footer