Waybar

A customizable status bar for Wayland desktops like Sway and Hyprland.

Stars: 12.1k
Forks: 1.2k
Licence: MIT
Language: C++
Last update: 9 days ago
Type: App

What it is

Waybar is a top bar for Linux desktops that use Wayland, the newer display system that replaces X11. It shows workspaces, the clock, battery, network, audio, and many other status items, and you control what appears and how it looks through config and style files. It is aimed at people who run tiling window managers such as Sway and want a bar they can fully customize.

Show workspace indicators for your Sway or Hyprland session
Display battery, network, and audio status in the bar
Add custom scripts to show any information you choose
Show media playback information through the MPRIS module
Use the system tray to keep background app icons visible

Great for

Sway or Hyprland users who want a configurable status bar
People comfortable editing JSON and CSS-style config files
Users who want modules for battery, network, audio, or media on a Wayland setup
Tiling window manager users on wlroots-based compositors

Not ideal for

Users on X11, since the README describes it as a Wayland bar
Users who want a bar that works without editing config files, since it expects manual setup
Users on GNOME or KDE desktops, since it is built for Sway and wlroots-based compositors

Step-by-step guide: how to use WaybarInstall, first run, examples, tips and FAQs

Waybar alternatives Polybar vs Waybar eww vs Waybar Noctalia vs Waybar

How to get it

1
Clone and build from source
You'll need: Meson · Ninja · A C++ compiler · Build and runtime libraries listed in the README (gtkmm3, jsoncpp, libsigc++, fmt, wayland, spdlog, and others)
Clone the repository
git clone https://github.com/Alexays/Waybar
Enter the project folder
cd Waybar
Set up the build
meson setup build
Compile the project
ninja -C build
2
Run it
- Build the project with the commands above
- Run ./build/waybar to launch it without installing
- Copy the default config and stylesheet into ~/.config/waybar/ to customize
- Edit the config and restart Waybar to see changes
3
Get the most out of it
- Use the wiki Configuration and Styling guides to change modules and appearance
- Browse the community Examples page for ready-made setups
- Enable optional modules such as Network, Bluetooth, or PulseAudio by installing their listed dependencies
- Use the Custom scripts module to display information the built-in modules do not cover

Downloads

Source code (.zip)master branch · straight from GitHub Release 0.15.0Release notes and source

Strengths

Supports many compositors, including Sway, River, Hyprland, and Niri, per the README table
Large library of modules documented on the project wiki
Released under the MIT license, which permits free use and modification

Trade-offs

Setup requires editing config and style files, and the README points to a wiki for details
Many optional modules need extra libraries, so the dependency list is long
The latest release is 0.15.0 and the README notes no binaries are provided, so you typically build or install from a distribution package

How it compares

Project	Stars	Type	Level	Updated	Best for
Waybar (this)	12.1k	App	intermediate	9 days ago	Sway or Hyprland users who want a configurable status bar
eww	12.7k	App	intermediate	4 months ago	Linux users who run a tiling or minimal window manager and want custom bars or panels
polybar	15.4k	App	intermediate	1.1 years ago	Linux users who run a tiling window manager such as i3 or bspwm
sway	17.5k	App	intermediate	2 months ago	Linux users who already use i3 and want Wayland
webview	14.3k	Library	intermediate	16 days ago	C or C++ developers who want an HTML-based GUI without bundling a full browser framework

Stats synced from GitHub. The assessment above was drafted with AI from the project's README on 2026-10-29 and may miss recent changes — check the README before relying on a command. MIT licence: free to use, modify and distribute, including commercially, as long as you keep the copyright notice.