Stop Hunting for GNOME Apps: This Curated List Has Done the Work for You
You just installed GNOME, or maybe you've been running it for years, and you're staring at a desktop that works fine—but you know there's more out there. Better apps, useful extensions, themes that don't look like they were abandoned in 2014. The problem isn't that these things don't exist. It's that finding the good ones means digging through forum threads, Reddit posts, and half-finished GitHub repos. That's where Awesome GNOME comes in.
What It Does
Awesome GNOME is a curated list of apps, extensions, modules, themes, and tools for the GNOME Desktop Environment. It's part of the broader "Awesome" list ecosystem—a collection of community-maintained indexes that gather the best resources for a given topic into one place.
GNOME itself is a desktop environment for Linux and Unix-like systems, built with GTK for applications and Clutter and JavaScript for the official desktop shell. The list organizes everything into clear categories: Applications (broken down into Internet and Networking, Office, Productivity and Time, Well Being, Multimedia, Graphics, Gaming, System and Customization, Utilities, Security and Privacy, Development and Design, and Others), Extensions (Docks and Panels, Customization and Tweaks, Menus, Applets, Windows, Visual Changes), Look and Feel (Icons, Cursors, Themes for non-GTK apps), Community, and Developer Resources (Libraries, Examples, Documentation).
The list uses two markers to help you quickly identify quality. Items marked as GNOME Core are officially maintained and distributed by the GNOME Project—either as part of the core application set or as extensions maintained as part of Classic mode. Items marked as GNOME Circle are championed by the GNOME Circle initiative, which aims to showcase the best apps and libraries for GNOME. These markers save you time by flagging what's officially supported versus what's community-driven.
Why It's Cool
It's opinionated, not exhaustive. Anyone can make a list of every GNOME app in existence. This one curates. The fact that entries get tagged as GNOME Core or GNOME Circle means someone's actually thinking about what belongs here. You're not wading through abandoned projects or half-baked ideas—you're looking at things that have some level of community validation.
The category structure matches how you actually think. Need a BitTorrent client? That's under Internet and Networking. Want to change how your windows behave? Windows extensions. Looking for icons that don't make your eyes bleed? Icons. The organization is logical, and the table of contents lets you jump straight to what you need.
It covers the full stack. This isn't just a list of apps. It includes extensions that change how your desktop behaves, themes for apps that don't use GTK (because let's be honest, those exist and they're often the ugliest part of your setup), and developer resources if you want to build your own GNOME tools. There's even a Community section and separate categories for Libraries, Examples, and Documentation.
The GNOME Circle tag is genuinely useful. If you're new to GNOME or just want to stick with well-supported software, filtering by GNOME Circle gives you a shortlist of apps that have been vetted by the community. It's like a recommendation from someone who actually knows what they're talking about.
It's practical. Look at the Internet and Networking section alone. You've got GNOME Web (the official browser), Fragments for BitTorrent, Newsflash for RSS, Polari for IRC, Fractal for Matrix, Dino for XMPP, Tuba for Mastodon and other federated networks, and even niche stuff like Geopard for Gemini protocol or Netsleuth for IP subnet calculations. These aren't hypothetical recommendations—they're real tools for real use cases.
How to Try It
There's nothing to install here. It's a list. You just use it.
- Head over to the repository: https://github.com/kazhnuz/awesome-gnome
- Browse the table of contents or scroll through the categories to find what you need.
- Click through to whichever app, extension, or theme catches your eye.
- Most entries link directly to the project's homepage, Flathub page, or GitLab/GitHub repo, so installation instructions are just a click away.
If you're looking for something specific—say, a YouTube client—you'll find Pipeline listed under Internet and Networking. Need to convert media files? Parabolic (a yt-dlp graphical frontend) is right there. Want a Discord client that isn't the official one? Dissent is listed, with the note that it prioritizes speed over feature completeness and supports user theming through CSS.
The list also links to the GNOME Circle initiative directly, so if you want to explore that further, you can.
Final Thoughts
Awesome GNOME isn't trying to be everything to everyone. It's a curated index, and it does that job well. If you're new to GNOME and feeling overwhelmed by the sheer number of options, this list gives you a solid starting point. If you're a longtime user who just wants to see what's out there without digging through forums, it's equally useful. The GNOME Core and GNOME Circle tags add a layer of trust that you don't get from a random search result, and the category structure means you can find what you need without scrolling endlessly.
It's not a replacement for reading documentation or checking whether a project is actively maintained—but it's a much better starting point than a blank search bar. Bookmark it, and the next time you need a tool for something specific, you'll know where to look.
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