What is Hyprland?

Updated

Hyprland is a dynamic tiling Wayland compositor. It runs as your Wayland session, meaning it replaces both the window manager and the display server layer you would get from X11, and it handles window placement automatically through tiling layouts. It is aimed at Linux users who want a modern, animated, highly configurable desktop without giving up responsiveness. If you are on X11, on a non-Linux system without Wayland support, or you prefer a traditional floating desktop you manage by hand, Hyprland is not the right fit.

What "compositor" means here

On Wayland, the compositor is the program that talks to the display hardware, draws windows, and manages input. There is no separate window manager sitting on top. So when you start Hyprland, you are starting your entire graphical session. That is why installation is usually a matter of installing the package and selecting it at login, rather than adding it to an existing desktop.

Core characteristics

The project describes itself as a "modern compositor with the looks" and highlights these traits:

  • Smooth — transitions, animations, and high responsiveness while staying lightweight.
  • Easy to configure — a live-reloading config with a simple format and sensible defaults, backed by documentation.
  • Dynamic tiling — automatic tiling that works out of the box, with multiple fine-tuneable layouts and more available as plugins.
  • Extensible — plugins, C++ bindings, and socket-based IPC let you control and extend the desktop from your own code or your favorite language.

Additional capabilities listed on the site include tearing support, window groups, special workspaces, global shortcuts for apps, and touchpad gestures.

What you can control

Hyprland is built around customization rather than a fixed workflow:

Area What it offers
Layouts Dynamic tiling with several layouts, extendable via plugins
Automation Socket-based IPC for scripting and external control
Extensions Official and community plugins, plus C++ bindings
Workflow features Window groups, special workspaces, global shortcuts, touchpad gestures
Config Live reloading, simple format, sensible defaults

If you want to script your desktop, drive it from another language over IPC, or write your own plugin, those paths are explicitly supported.

Installing it

The site lists package commands for several distributions:

  • Arch: pacman -S hyprland (AUR git version: hyprland-git)
  • NixOS: programs.hyprland.enable
  • FreeBSD: pkg install hyprland
  • openSUSE: zypper in hyprland, or install "hyprland" via YaST2 Software

Other options are available on the install page. After installing, you select Hyprland as your session at login. Expect to edit a config file to get your keybinds and preferences the way you want them — the defaults work, but the point of the compositor is that you tune it.

Support, plugins, and community

Hyprland has a wiki for setup and configuration, a plugin ecosystem (with a community list called Awesome Hyprland covering plugins, bindings, and apps), and a Discord community. The project also maintains a Hall of Fame for desktop customizations.

There is an optional paid tier, Hyprperks, described as first-party configurations, priority support, and support for development. The site calls it "fully optional." Pricing details are not stated on the page, so check the pricing page if the subscription matters to you.

When to choose Hyprland

Choose it if you are on Linux with Wayland, you want automatic tiling with polished animations, and you are comfortable editing a config and possibly scripting your environment. Look elsewhere if you need X11 compatibility, want a desktop you never touch configuration for, or your hardware or distribution does not support Wayland well.