When comparing Wayfire vs KWin, the Slant community recommends Wayfire for most people. In the question“What are the best Wayland compositors?” Wayfire is ranked 2nd while KWin is ranked 9th. The most important reason people chose Wayfire is:
The usage of a plugin system allows for a lot of customisability.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Plugin approach
The usage of a plugin system allows for a lot of customisability.
Pro Nice blur feature
The blur plugin makes this compositor look nice.
Pro Fastest compositor with earth.google.com/web
Pro Optional tiling
Wayfire has a basic tiling extension built in, and more advanced third party plugins like this one are available.
Pro Integrated compositing manager
KWin has built-in compositing with options on how it performs that can be changed by the user in the settings.
Pro Highly configurable
KWin has a very configurable environment. Just about any option that you would like to adjust will be available in the settings.
Pro Beautiful interface
KWin has an assortment of attractive desktop effects, creating a rather beautiful interface.
Pro Window effects
KWin offers an assortment of window effects, such as wobbly windows and window shadows/glow.
Pro Can be configured to be similar enough to Windows so it makes life easier for fresh converts
While kwin is far more powerful, it can be configured to be similar enough to Windows - for people who just changed operating systems and don't really want to learn something new, it works great
Pro Offers desktop workflow
In an age where everyone seems to be moving to touch interfaces, KDE remains one of the last DEs that still caters for desktop users.
Pro Effortless VSync
VSyncing with NVIDIA blobs can be tricky (the dreaded tearing) but with KWin, video and OpenGL games display flawlessly.
Pro Readable code
Much better than any GObject based mess.
Cons
Con Less configurable compared to x11 counterparts
The borders and title bars are less customizable. Outside colour change nothing else is possible. Plugin approach is a plus but as of now, no known plugin is available to change the appearance of window decoration. Firedecor is a good option but seems deprecated as it doesn't match the current Wayfire version.
Con Dependency issues
Hard to match builds with correct wlroots version. Building is difficult because wlroots version is either greater or lesser than the required version.
Con Plugins require working wayfire to build but with each update, the plugin becomes incompatible and unbuildable
The case with firedecor.
Con Cut/paste not reliable
Sometimes it works, sometimes not. But most of the time not.
Con Dependent on some KDE libraries
This makes stand-alone KWin somewhat inconvenient to set up, as opposed to openbox and awesome, to name but a few.
Con Some effects are slow and jerky
Some of KWins effects (such as present windows) can be a bit slow or jerky, resulting in uneven fluidity. This is no longer true on modern versions.
Con Not really useful as standalone WM
No panel, no menu - just no way to start applications.