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Enlightenment vs Openbox

Professional comparison and analysis to help you choose the right software solution for your needs.

Enlightenment icon
Enlightenment
Openbox icon
Openbox

Enlightenment vs Openbox: The Verdict

⚡ Summary:

Enlightenment: Enlightenment is a very lightweight and highly configurable desktop environment for Linux and BSD operating systems. It focuses on simplicity, elegance, and getting out of the way of the user.

Openbox: Openbox is a highly configurable, next generation window manager with extensive standards support. It is very fast, extensible and licensed under the GNU General Public License.

Both tools serve their respective audiences. Compare the features, pricing, and user ratings above to determine which best fits your needs.

Last updated: May 2026 · Comparison by Sugggest Editorial Team

Feature Enlightenment Openbox
Sugggest Score — —
Category Os & Utilities Os & Utilities
Pricing Open Source —

Product Overview

Enlightenment
Enlightenment

Description: Enlightenment is a very lightweight and highly configurable desktop environment for Linux and BSD operating systems. It focuses on simplicity, elegance, and getting out of the way of the user.

Type: software

Pricing: Open Source

Openbox
Openbox

Description: Openbox is a highly configurable, next generation window manager with extensive standards support. It is very fast, extensible and licensed under the GNU General Public License.

Type: software

Key Features Comparison

Enlightenment
Enlightenment Features
  • Highly configurable and customizable desktop environment
  • Very lightweight and fast
  • Supports compositing for graphical effects
  • Themeable look and feel
  • Virtual desktop support
  • Application launcher menu
  • System tray and notifications
  • Settings modules for configuring desktop
Openbox
Openbox Features
  • Highly configurable and customizable window manager
  • Supports modern standards like EWMH, NetWM
  • Very lightweight and fast
  • Keyboard driven operation
  • Themeable visual style
  • Supports multiple desktops/workspaces

Pros & Cons Analysis

Enlightenment
Enlightenment
Pros
  • Lightweight and fast
  • Very customizable
  • Good performance even on old hardware
  • Low resource usage
  • Very stable and mature codebase
  • Active development community
Cons
  • Steep learning curve due to high configurability
  • Less user-friendly than mainstream DEs like GNOME
  • Smaller user base and community than more popular DEs
  • Less integrated with common Linux desktop technologies
  • Less polished look and feel out of the box
Openbox
Openbox
Pros
  • Lightweight and fast
  • Very customizable
  • Good keyboard support
  • Low resource usage
  • Actively developed and maintained
Cons
  • Steep learning curve
  • Manual configuration required
  • Not many graphical configuration tools
  • Less features than full desktop environments

Pricing Comparison

Enlightenment
Enlightenment
  • Open Source
Openbox
Openbox
  • Not listed

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Learn More About Each Product

Enlightenment
Enlightenment
Reviews, pricing & alternatives →
Openbox
Openbox
Reviews, pricing & alternatives →

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