DeskDash vs Eww
DeskDash
desktop-dashboard.comEww
github.comSide by side
| Figure | DeskDash | Eww |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| Windows | Yes | — |
| Linux | — | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Desktop Widget Software | 7.6 (#12) | 7.6 (#13) |
| Integrations | The Weather and Forecast widgets use Open-Meteo without an API key; the marketplace also lists a Steam Recent widget. | The documentation gives examples of using xprop to track the focused desktop and playerctl to monitor the currently playing song. |
| Notable limit | The maker says Mac and Linux versions are planned for later; Windows is the first platform. | Window arguments are constant and cannot be updated after a window has opened. |
| Purpose | DeskDash places live, interactive widgets on the Windows desktop wallpaper, where they sit behind normal windows. | Eww is a standalone widget system written in Rust for creating custom widgets in any window manager. |
Plans
In their own words
DeskDash
DeskDash has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
Eww
Eww is a free, MIT-licensed widget system for Linux. It lets you build desktop widgets that work with any window manager, without depending on that manager. You define widget structure, window geometry, behavior, state, and data in the Yuck language. Styling uses CSS or SCSS through GTK’s CSS engine, whose web-CSS support is incomplete for some animations and layout properties. Built-in variables can expose CPU, RAM, disk, battery, network, and time information. Polling variables rerun shell scripts repeatedly, while listening variables update when script output produces a new line. Available widgets include labels, buttons, images, inputs, progress displays, calendars, graphs, tooltips, overlays, stacks, and layout containers. Documentation shows xprop and playerctl integrations. Separate build commands cover X11 and Wayland. Building requires Rust, Cargo, GTK3, Pango, Cairo, and GLib. Window arguments remain constant after opening.