Conky vs Fastfetch
Conky
conky.cc
Fastfetch
fastfetch.devSide by side
| Figure | Conky | Fastfetch |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Windows | — | Yes |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Linux | Yes | Yes |
| Android | — | Yes |
| Self-hosted | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 0 | 2 |
| Spec score · System Information Software | 7.7 (#13) | 8.7 (#3) |
| Build requirements | The compiling guide lists X11, Cairo, Lua, Imlib2, librsvg, ncurses, and libxml2 as examples of native libraries needed from the system package manager. | Current source builds require CMake with GCC 13 or newer or Clang 16 or newer; MSVC is unsupported. |
| Configuration | The default configuration file is located at ~/.config/conky/conky.conf or ${sysconfdir}/conky/conky.conf. | Configuration uses JSONC files and an official JSON schema that supports editor completion and validation. |
| License | The project states that Conky is licensed under GPLv3. | The project is distributed under the MIT License. |
| Operating systems | The project lists Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, DragonFlyBSD, NetBSD, Solaris, Haiku, and macOS as supported systems. | The maker lists native support for Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, and Android through Termux. |
| Purpose | Conky is a free, lightweight system monitor that displays information on a desktop or in other output formats. | Fastfetch displays operating system, hardware, and software information in a terminal alongside customizable logos. |
| Support | The project links to its wiki and Matrix chat and welcomes contributions from anyone. | The maker points visitors to documentation and the fastfetch-cli GitHub organization; the page does not state a dedicated support service. |
Plans
In their own words
Fastfetch
Fastfetch is a free, open-source command-line tool that displays operating system, hardware, and software details in a terminal alongside customizable logos. Its more than 75 modules cover information such as CPU, GPU, memory, disks, battery, TPM, audio, and Wi-Fi. It can display ASCII logos or render images through Kitty, Sixel, iTerm2, or Chafa protocols. Configuration uses JSONC, with an official schema for editor autocomplete and validation. The maker lists native support for Windows, macOS, Linux, BSD, and Android through Termux, and installation options including winget, Scoop, Homebrew, MacPorts, APT, Pacman, DNF, FreeBSD pkg, and Termux. Fastfetch can be integrated with Bash, Zsh, Fish, PowerShell, and Nushell startup setups and is compatible with Starship and Oh My Posh. Sample configurations can query music services for media information. The maker highlights terminal startup greetings, hardware auditing and diagnostics, and desktop screenshot showcases. It warns that unconditional output from a shell startup file can disrupt SCP, SFTP, and other non-interactive shell operations.