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SPECIFICTION
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ActiveDock vs dmenu

ActiveDock

noteifyapp.com

dmenu

tools.suckless.org

Side by side

FigureActiveDockdmenu
Price from—Free
Free plan—Yes
Free trial——
Open source—Yes
macOSYesYes
Linux—Yes
Self-hosted—Yes
Plans published21
Spec score · App Launcher Software8.0 (#13)8.7 (#5)
Spec score · App launchers7.1 (#35)8.6 (#7)
Spec score · App Launchers7.1 (#36)8.6 (#7)
Founded20112006
SupportThe maker invites questions, feedback, and support requests by email.The suckless community page identifies the dev mailing list as a place for dmenu users, development discussion, bug reports, and general discussion.

Plans

ActiveDock

  • ActiveDock 2 Single License$19.99, paid once
  • ActiveDock 2 Pro Lifetime$59.99, paid once

ActiveDock pricing →

dmenu

  • dmenuFree

dmenu pricing →

In their own words

ActiveDock

ActiveDock has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.

Visit noteifyapp.com

dmenu

dmenu is a free dynamic menu for X that handles large sets of user-defined menu items and can launch commands. It runs on Linux and was originally designed for the dwm window manager. Community scripts apply it to tasks such as browsing directories, managing clipboard contents, accessing passwords, and controlling music; contributed modifications are available in a patches collection. The project provides a browsable source repository and a Git clone command. Building requires Xlib header files, and the README describes building and installing with `make clean install`, with files placed in the `/usr/local` namespace by default. The listed release is dmenu 5.4, dated 2025-08-09. Its source uses the MIT/X Consortium License, which permits use, copying, modification, distribution, sublicensing, and sale of copies subject to its conditions, while disclaiming warranties. The suckless dev mailing list is identified as a venue for user questions, development discussion, bug reports, and general discussion.

Visit tools.suckless.org