LXQt
Hacker ApprovedRanked 10 of 24 desktop environments by recommenders
Light, fast Linux desktop with low memory use that suits older hardware. Critics note it lacks Wayland support and has dated-looking visuals.
Light, fast Linux desktop with low memory use that suits older hardware. Critics note it lacks Wayland support and has dated-looking visuals.
17 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 15
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 88%
Recommended in 7 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 15 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 7.5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 7 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Low memory use on old hardware
“super snappy and complete. I use it on an old laptop (2012) and it still works great with a very low memory footprint”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “XFCE Is Great” “uses significantly less RAM than xfce”
Comment from 22 Jan 2026 in “200 MB RAM FreeBSD Desktop” Fast and snappy
“super snappy and complete. I use it on an old laptop (2012) and it still works great with a very low memory footprint”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “XFCE Is Great” “For people wanting the old-fashioned fast and simple GUI experience, I recommend LXQt.”
Comment from 5 Apr 2026 in “Ubuntu now requires more RAM than Windows 11” “If anything, UX is snappy.”
Comment from 5 Jan 2026 in “It's hard to justify Tahoe icons” Simple, light alternative to KDE
“For people wanting the old-fashioned fast and simple GUI experience, I recommend LXQt.”
Comment from 5 Apr 2026 in “Ubuntu now requires more RAM than Windows 11” “Also try LXDE and LXQT if you would like a 'lighter KDE' vibe”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “XFCE Is Great” Pairs well with Arch and NixOS
“I have that mostly set up with LXQT on NixOS on my Framework desktop. I love it”
Comment from 14 Nov 2025 in “EDE: Small and Fast Desktop Environment (2014)” “Instead of Mint I'd pick something like Alpine Linux with LXQT”
Comment from 18 Jul 2026 in “Reviving a 15-year-old netbook with Arch Linux” “I've been very pleased with Arch and LXQt”
Comment from 10 Apr 2026 in “How Microsoft Abuses Its Users”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Looks dated and clunky
“each time I fall back on LXQt with kwin and everything looks a bit uglier but just simply works”
Comment from 12 Jan 2026 in “XFCE Is Great” “in the middle with broken clunky features (where I am now with LXQt)”
Comment from 15 Oct 2026 in “Wayland desktop for Linux with skeuomorphic design” “AntiX or even LxQt is hideous despite consuming more resources”
Comment from 27 Jun 2026 in “Linux on Older Hardware: The Complete Revival Guide”
Other desktop environments people recommend
The four most recommended other desktop environments, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| KDE Plasma | 650 | 264 | 71% | 13 | 2 yrs79 owners | Approved |
| GNOME | 340 | 464 | 42% | 12 | 5 yrs29 owners | — |
| Xfce | 183 | 48 | 79% | 12 | 10 yrs29 owners | Approved |
| COSMIC desktop | 75 | 28 | 73% | 12 | 1 yr3 owners | Approved |
| LXQtThis page | 15 | 2 | 88% | 7 | — | Approved |
What people said
17 of the 21 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“in the middle with broken clunky features (where I am now with LXQt)”
“don't even bother comparing to light desktops like XFCE or LxQt”
“My LxQt task bar is 20 pixels high.”
“Instead of Mint I'd pick something like Alpine Linux with LXQT”
“AntiX or even LxQt is hideous despite consuming more resources”
“It made things easy for me when Plasma 6 broke a KWin script I was using”
“I've been very pleased with Arch and LXQt”
“For people wanting the old-fashioned fast and simple GUI experience, I recommend LXQt.”
“uses significantly less RAM than xfce”
“it can only do 'regular, italic, bold, bold italic' for font weights even when a font supports medium”
“each time I fall back on LXQt with kwin and everything looks a bit uglier but just simply works”
“super snappy and complete. I use it on an old laptop (2012) and it still works great with a very low memory footprint”
“Also try LXDE and LXQT if you would like a 'lighter KDE' vibe”
“If anything, UX is snappy.”
“Unfortunately, last time I checked, Wayland was not supported.”
“Xfce or LXQt are also great alternatives”
“I have that mostly set up with LXQT on NixOS on my Framework desktop. I love it”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.