Seelen UI and lumabar both put new bars on your Windows screen - and both happen to be built with Rust and Tauri. Beyond that, they set out to do very different jobs.
Seelen UI in short
Seelen UI is a free, open-source desktop environment for Windows 10 and 11. It brings a toolbar with live system stats, a dock, a tiling window manager with several layouts and keyboard navigation, an app launcher, its own Alt+Tab switcher, widgets for media, the calendar and notifications, video and interactive wallpapers, and themes. You can get it from the Microsoft Store or GitHub.
lumabar in short
lumabar does one thing: a dock for the top or bottom of the screen with your apps and 80+ live widgets. It doesn't manage your windows or change the desktop - it adds a bar you set up by clicking and dragging.
Side by side
| Seelen UI | lumabar | |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | A whole desktop environment | One widget dock |
| Window management | Tiling, layouts, Alt+Tab | None - Windows as usual |
| Widgets | System stats, media, calendar, notifications | 80+, including AI limits, revenue, GitHub, Gmail and stocks |
| Setup | Many options; keyboard-driven workflows | Click to add, drag to arrange |
| Price | Free, open source | One-time license |
| Windows | 10 and 11 | 10 and 11, 64- and 32-bit |
Day to day
Seelen UI changes how you work. Windows arrange themselves into layouts, you move between them from the keyboard, and the launcher, the switcher and the wallpaper are all Seelen's. If you've used a tiling window manager on Linux, it feels familiar quickly; if you haven't, expect some time to adjust.
lumabar changes nothing about how windows behave. It replaces the taskbar's row of icons with a dock you fill with live widgets, and stops there.
Setup and learning curve
Seelen UI has a lot of settings - layouts, gaps, shortcuts, themes and which parts are switched on - so it rewards time spent tuning it. lumabar's settings are a short list: style, size, clock format, what to do with the Windows taskbar and launch at startup. Widgets are added from a picker and moved by dragging.
Widgets
Seelen's widgets cover the system: media, the calendar, notifications and system stats. lumabar's 80+ widgets also reach into your accounts - Claude and ChatGPT limits, Stripe and Polar revenue, GitHub notifications, unread Gmail, stocks, DataFast visitors - each connected with your own read-only key or an existing local sign-in.
Price
Seelen UI is free and open source. lumabar is a one-time purchase with free updates and a 14-day money-back guarantee, so trying it costs nothing if it turns out not to be for you.
Choose Seelen UI if…
- You want a tiling window manager on Windows.
- You like to customize the whole desktop - the launcher, the switcher, the wallpaper.
- Free and open source matter to you.
Choose lumabar if…
- You want Windows to stay Windows, plus one great bar.
- You want live data - AI limits, revenue, GitHub, mail, stocks - not just system stats.
- You'd rather not learn a new way of working.
Using them together
Both apps add bars and manage the taskbar, so running both in full means two docks competing for the same edge. If Seelen's window manager is what you love, switch its dock and toolbar off and let lumabar be your bar - or the other way round.