



With the feedback and requests we got from our Best Linux Distros for Gaming list, we had to do another list of the best lightweight Linux distros. Actually, some of them fit both our categories. Sure, there are other similar lists our there, but this one has up-to-date info and we’ve personally tried and tested (almost) every distro on our old laptops. It took us 7 months to compile this list and a few weeks to update it with new data! We’ve seen new lists that included distros with their latest update being in 2005. Come on, how is that distro still relevant and good in 2020? And don’t get us started on how each list is just a rehashed version of the same 5 distros. We purposefully included many distros in our list so you have more options to choose from. All distros are free and can run on ~512MB RAM or less. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, just pick any distro.



You don’t have to throw away your old PCs and laptops. Install a lightweight Linux distro on them and they’re as good as new. Lightweight distros don’t even have to be used on old hardware. You can install them on some bleeding-edge hardware and get the ultimate performance. Most distros are portable and can run on a Live CD/USB, without a hard drive. Why should you use other OSes full of bloatware and unnecessary stuff when you can use a perfectly fine Linux alternative?

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Anyway, before we go on with the list, a few quick tips on how to choose the best one for you:

How to choose the best lightweight Linux distro for you

These guidelines should help, but if you’re feeling overwhelmed, just pick any distro from the list below and you’ll be fine.

Any Linux distro is better than Windows/OS X when it comes to old hardware. Linux distros and the software that runs on them are far more optimized and compatible with old(er) hardware. If you’re using Windows or OS X and it “feels slow”, switch to a Linux distro. You’re guaranteed to see an improvement in performance. Some older versions of Windows and OS X are fast for older hardware, but they don’t get any support or updates, unlike all distros listed here.

when it comes to old hardware. Linux distros and the software that runs on them are far more optimized and compatible with old(er) hardware. If you’re using Windows or OS X and it “feels slow”, switch to a Linux distro. You’re guaranteed to see an improvement in performance. Some older versions of Windows and OS X are fast for older hardware, but they don’t get any support or updates, unlike all distros listed here. Choosing the right lightweight distro will depend on what you’re going to use it for . Some distros are optimized for certain activities, ie. servers and gaming. Are you going to use it for everyday browsing? If so, have in mind that websites have evolved and although the browser and OS itself will perform better, the websites can still be bloated and slow down your Linux. If you’re going to use it for random office tasks like word processing, spreadsheets, or presentations – the lightweight Linux distros will work just fine. Maybe you’d like to use your old laptop as a media device and watch movies on it. You’re good to go, as long as the movie itself is not a full Blu-Ray rip.

. Some distros are optimized for certain activities, ie. servers and gaming. Are you going to use it for everyday browsing? If so, have in mind that websites have evolved and although the browser and OS itself will perform better, the websites can still be bloated and slow down your Linux. If you’re going to use it for random office tasks like word processing, spreadsheets, or presentations – the lightweight Linux distros will work just fine. Maybe you’d like to use your old laptop as a media device and watch movies on it. You’re good to go, as long as the movie itself is not a full Blu-Ray rip. Another guideline is how much you’re willing to sacrifice. How much OS features do you really need? You don’t really need all that fancy UI animations and 3D stuff. Some Linux distros do have great modern UIs, but they do require better hardware.

You don’t really need all that fancy UI animations and 3D stuff. Some Linux distros do have great modern UIs, but they do require better hardware. Previous e xperience is another big factor you need to consider before you choose a lightweight Linux distro. Are you a beginner? Then don’t use Arch Linux. Have you used Ubuntu before? Then get a lightweight distro based on Ubuntu. Got used to the Windows XP interface and want something similar? Sure, we have the perfect distro for you.

is another big factor you need to consider before you choose a lightweight Linux distro. Are you a beginner? Then don’t use Arch Linux. Have you used Ubuntu before? Then get a lightweight distro based on Ubuntu. Got used to the Windows XP interface and want something similar? Sure, we have the perfect distro for you. Pro-tip: do a bit of research for your hardware and see if the distro supports it. It most likely will, but just to be sure, you can do a quick google with your hardware model and the distro and you should get some results. Most distros can run on a cheap USB flash drive – you don’t even need an HDD/SSD. This is often referred to as a “Live CD/USB”. We’ll include a ‘minimum hardware requirements’ for each distro, so you can check if the hardware stats you have will support the distro. Most of these distros can run perfectly fine on a Raspberry Pi. Shop for Laptops, USB Flash Drives, and More at Newegg. Go to Newegg

Quick overview of the distros included in our list

Now (finally), onto the main part, the best lightweight Linux distros for old computers/laptops. Click on the distro’s name to find more info, screenshots, and download links.





Lubuntu

Lubuntu is one of the most popular and most widely used lightweight Linux distros out there. Some use it as their main Linux distro on their powerful hardware just because of its performance and beautiful UI.

Lubuntu minimum hardware requirements

It can run on just about anything.

Pentium 4, Pentium M, AMD K8 or newer CPU. At least 266 MHz

512 MB RAM

3 GB Disk Space (or more)

Anything more is just a plus. The requirements listed here are for the 16.04 LTS release, other releases may have slightly different requirements.

Lubuntu facts and features



The lightweight Ubuntu.

Based on Ubuntu, without any bloat

Has all the essential lightweight software pre-installed (office, browser, media players etc.)

Uses LXDE. Future releases will use LXQt

Great and active community support. There are also a couple of active social Lubuntu groups. You can find them here

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Lubuntu

LXLE

As an alternative to Lubuntu, we have LXLE. Based on Lubuntu, it has the performance optimizations of a lightweight distro with a beautiful UI.

LXLE minimum hardware requirements

Similar to Lubuntu.

Pentium 3 processor

At least 512 MB RAM

8 GB Disk Space

LXLE facts and features



Plug and go.

Easy to set up – just install it and you are ready to go. No complex configurations needed

Great for Windows XP/Vista/7 users

A wide variety of default apps pre-installed

Based on LXDE

Only has LTS releases

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download LXLE

Arch Linux

Flexible, lightweight and powerful Linux distro. Not recommended for beginners. The screenshot above is from an Arch Linux with the GNOME desktop environment (Elegant Theme).

Arch Linux minimum hardware requirements

Depends on what you’re going to use.

Any 64-compatible machine. Has to be 64-bit

Minimum 512 MB RAM

At least 1 GB Disk Space

Arch Linux facts and features



Make it your own.

Fully customizable – you choose which packages, desktop environments etc. you are going to use. You need to install them yourself

The official wiki has in-depth tutorials on just about anything

As lightweight as you make it be. You install only the packages and features you need. Nothing more.

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Arch Linux

ArchBang

If you want the power and flexibility of Arch Linux, but don’t want to do the complex set up and installation, you can use ArchBang. It’s based on Arch Linux and it’s inspired by CrunchBang.

ArchBang minimum hardware requirements

Lightweight and easy on the system.

i686 or x86_64 compatible machine



256MB RAM

700MB Disk Space

ArchBang facts and features

Arch Linux made easy easier.

Can be used as a fully featured desktop and as a Live OS

Best of both worlds – based on Arch Linux and inspired by CrunchBang

Openbox window manager

Rolling release

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download ArchBang

ArchLabs Linux

ArchLabs Linux is an Arch Linux-based distro inspired by BunsenLabs. They’ve evolved so much that they’re no longer a BunsenLabs clone now. It’s a rolling distro and it’s quite lightweight. It has an involved and very helpful community, no matter how small it is.

ArchLabs Linux minimum hardware requirements

Lightweight Arch Linux + BunsenLabs

x86-64 Processor (+1.4GHz recommended)



512MB RAM

5GB Disk Space

ArchLabs Linux facts and features

Various minimal desktop environments and styles to choose from

Easily installable using ABIF

Welcome script to help with installing additional Window and Desktop managers

Available window/desktop managers: Openbox, XFCE4, i3, Bspwm, and Awesome

Rolling release

Download ArchLabs Linux

Puppy Linux(es)

Very lightweight Linux distro that should not be installed on a hard disk. It should run on a live CD/USB Flash Drive.

Puppy Linux minimum hardware requirements

Extremely lightweight.

233MHZ processor

128MB RAM

512MB free hard drive space to create an optional save file.

No hard drive required

CD-ROM/DVD/SD Card or USB Port

Puppy Linux facts and features



Puppy Linux is not a single distro, but a collection of many distros with different purposes and different sets of software.

No hard drive required. Can run on a live CD/Flash Drive/SD Card

Many different Linux Puppy distros to choose from. The distro in the screenshot above is the “Puppy Linux – Tahrpup” distro

Puppy Linux runs in your PC’s memory, as opposed to running on your hard disk, which makes it extremely fast

It’s portable – you can save data on your live flash drive and run it on any other computer

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Puppy Linux

Linux Lite

Beautiful UI, easy to use and often used as a gateway from Windows to Linux.

Linux Lite minimum hardware requirements

Full of features, but quite lightweight.

700MHz processor

512MB RAM

VGA screen (1024×768 resolution)

At least 2GB Hard Disk Space

Linux Lite facts and features

Considering the UI – it’s a great alternative to the Windows OS

Based on the XFCE desktop environment

Ready to use out of the box. Everything you need is pre-installed

Every release is LTS (5 years of support and updates)

One of the best UIs on a lightweight Linux distro

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Linux Lite

KNOPPIX

Another live-only lightweight Linux distro. Bootable distro with a set of GNU/Linux apps and different software. Just plug the live USB/CD, start it, and you are good to go.

KNOPPIX minimum hardware requirements

One of the most lightweight distros.

Intel/AMD-compatible CPU (i486 and up)

At least 120MB RAM

Standard SVGA-compatible graphics chipset

2GB Disk Space (varies)

KNOPPIX facts and features

Plug and play.

Easy to use – just boot from CD/Flash Drive and use the distro

All the software you need is pre-installed (GIMP, Firefox, Open Office, MPlayer…)

Based on LXDE

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download KNOPPIX

Peppermint

The Desktop Cloud Linux. Integrate any Cloud-based (web) app into your Peppermint OS. Doesn’t have a lot of pre-installed apps so you can make Peppermint your own.

Peppermint minimum hardware requirements

Doesn’t need much, but it’s recommended to use more.

512MB RAM (1GB recommended)

Any processor based on Intel x86 architecture

At least 3.6GB Disk Space

Peppermint facts and features

The Desktop Cloud.

Easily integrated with web apps

Install the software you want – make Peppermint your own

Great UI – especially if you’re moving from Windows

Based on Lubuntu. LXDE desktop environment

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Peppermint

PCLinuxOS

“So cool ice cubes are jealous” – straight from their website. Easily booted from a Live CD/USB and easily installed on your hard drive. Various desktop environments to choose from and a great UI.

PCLinuxOS minimum hardware requirements

Doesn’t need much. But it would be great if you had more.

Any Intel, AMD or VIA x86/64 processor

512MB RAM (2GB recommended)

12GB Hard Disk Space

PCLinuxOS facts and features

Beautiful, cool, sleek, intuitive, easy.

You can install the KDE-based PCOS, LXDE-based PCOS or the Mate-based PCOS. There’s also an XFCE community release

Easily installed on a live CD/USB

Beginner-friendly with lots of desktop environment options

Download PCLinuxOS

Porteus

Porteus can run on a USB flash drive/CD/DVD or an SD card. It’s THE portable, lightweight Linux distro.

Porteus minimum hardware requirements

Extremely lightweight.

Any Intel, AMD or VIA x86/64 processor

256 MB RAM (can be different depending on which desktop environment you use)

No hard disk required. A flash drive with 512MB will work perfectly fine

Porteus facts and features

THE portable Linux.

Use it on portable storage devices – USB/CD/DVD/SD card

Different desktop environments to choose from: KDE, LXQt, Mate, Cinnamon and more

‘Persistent mode’ is available – save data directly on your rewritable removable storage device

15 seconds boot time

‘Porteus Kiosk‘ is a specialized edition that can be used on web terminals

Download Porteus

Trisquel Mini

Trisquel GNU/Linux is, in a nutshell, Ubuntu with only free software. The default version of Trisquel runs with GNOME, but it has a “Mini” edition which runs on LXDE, which is very lightweight.

Trisquel Mini minimum hardware requirements

The default version is lightweight, but the Mini version is more lightweight.

AMD K6 or Intel Pentium II

128MB RAM

3GB Disk Space

Trisquel Mini facts and features



Only free software.

Great for any kind of use – home, work, education etc.

Based on Ubuntu

Mini version runs with LXDE

Has different versions to choose from – including Trisquel Sugar TOAST which is designed to be used by children in learning environments

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Trisquel Mini

Manjaro Linux Xfce Edition

Another popular distro for advanced users is Manjaro – you can use the Xfce edition with a pre-installed desktop environment, which makes it easier to get started.

Manjaro Linux minimum hardware requirements

Not the most lightweight system, but very powerful and flexible.

1GHz processor

512MB RAM

30GB Hard Disk Space

Manjaro Linux facts and features



Flexible, fast and powerful.

Rolling release

Great for beginners and advanced users

Based on Arch Linux

Uses the Xfce edition (obviously)

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Manjaro Linux

Peach OSI

Lightweight Linux distro that resembles the Mac (OS X) interface. Free, beautiful, easy to use and fully-featured.

Peach OSI minimum hardware requirements

The minimum requirements can be different depending on which version you choose

700 MHz processor (Intel Celeron or better)

512MB RAM (1GB or more recommended)

8.6GB Disk Space

VGA capable of 1024×768 screen resolution

Peach OSI facts and features

Different versions (editions) to choose from.

Depending on your needs – you can choose from these versions: Peach TV, The Works, Barebones Multilingual, Netbook, Peach Kids, Peach Pi, Peach Pi TV

Multi-purpose lightweight OS. Use it as a desktop OS, for your home theater system, for your kids etc.

Based on Ubuntu, but highly customized

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Peach OSI

Raspbian

The OS built by Raspberry Pi that can easily run on a Pi.

Raspbian minimum hardware requirements

Lightweight, yet powerful.

1GHz Pentium processor. It can run on ARM-based processors too.

512 MB RAM

5GB Disk Space

Raspbian facts and features

Turn your Raspberry Pi into a fully-featured desktop PC.

Raspberry Pi’s own OS

Based on Debian (Raspbian)

Lots of pre-installed software (including proprietary software)

Can run as a ‘persistent live OS’ – saving data on your removable drive

Download Raspbian

Modern X

Based on openSUSE and the GNOME desktop environment. Lightweight and perfect for Windows/Mac users. Not to be confused with “Modern X OS”

Modern X minimum hardware requirements

Extremely lightweight.

366 MHz CPU

256MB RAM

3GB Disk Space

Modern X facts and features

Beginner-friendly gateway Linux distro for Windows and Mac users.

Uses the GNOME desktop environment, optimized for speed and Windows/Mac users

Different versions available

Can run on a live CD/USB/SD card

Download Modern X

Debian

We included lots of distros based on Debian, but we should definitely include Debian too. The Debian distro itself is very lightweight, stable and popular.

Debian minimum hardware requirements

Revive your old PC with an old, yet modern distro.

1GHz CPU

256MB RAM

10GB Disk Space

Debian facts and features

One of THE most popular Linux distros.

VERY active community and extensive documentation

Stable, easy to use

Uses only free software

You can use the Server version for your server

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Debian

Sparky Linux

Lightweight Linux distro with lots of editions to choose from. Based on Debian with a rolling-release cycle.

Sparky Linux minimum hardware requirements

If you use LXDE, LXQt or Openbox:

i686 / amd64 CPU

256MB RAM

10GB Disk Space

Sparky Linux facts and features

Has the most options to choose from.

Different editions available – Home, Special, CLI and Minimal

Desktop environments available – LXDE, Budgie, Enlightenment, JWM, Openbox, KDE, LXQt, MATE, Xfce…

Beginner-friendly and beautiful UIs

Rolling release cycle, based on the Testing branch of Debian

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Sparky Linux

SliTaz

SliTaz or Simple Light Incredible Temporary Autonomous Zone is a lightweight Linux distro that can be used both as a desktop OS and as a server.

SliTaz minimum hardware requirements

Depending on which version you use, the RAM requirement can be as low as 16MB. Requirements for the default (core) version are:

i486 or x86 Intel-compatible processors

192MB RAM

80MB Disk Space

SliTaz facts and features

Extremely lightweight server and/or desktop OS.

Can be used as a server and as a desktop OS

Rolling release

Use it as a Live OS or as a desktop OS

Easily runs on a Raspberry Pi

Can be booted and used from the web (internet)

Has 4 flavors: base, just-x, gtk-only and the full desktop

Download SliTaz

Elive

The extremely lightweight Linux distro with its own custom desktop environment. Revive your old PC with a beautiful OS with an intuitive UI.

Elive minimum hardware requirements

Fully-featured desktop OS that can run on just about anything.

300MHz CPU

128MB RAM

700MB Disk Space

Elive facts and features

Uses it’s own custom desktop environment.

Powered by Enlightenment

Based on Debian. Apart from all the apt packages, there are some custom software packages too

Pre-installed with all the apps you need – including games

Easily customizable and extendable with Enlightenment themes

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Elive

BunsenLabs Linux

BunsenLabs Linux is a distro based on Debian. A successor to CrunchBang, uses the Openbox window manager which makes it a beautiful and lightweight distro.

BunsenLabs Linux minimum hardware requirements

It uses Openbox, so very lightweight.

1GHz CPU

256MB RAM

10GB Disk Space

BunsenLabs Linux facts and features

The new (and improved) CrunchBang.

Based on Debian

Uses the Openbox window manager

Active and helpful community

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download BunsenLabs Linux

antiX

The lightweight distro perfect for both newcomers and experienced Linux users. Used as a desktop OS and as a Live OS.

antiX minimum hardware requirements

Light and beautiful.

Just about any CPU

192MB RAM is the absolute minimum. 256MB or more is recommended

2.8GB Disk Space

antiX facts and features



All-in-one lightweight distro.

Can be used as a Live OS with many live features

Can be used persistently on a Live USB

Fully featured as a Desktop OS

Based on Debian

Has different window managers to choose from: IceWM, Fluxbox, JWM and herbstluftwm

Download antiX

Slax Linux

A modular and portable lightweight Linux distro based on Slackware. Since it’s modular, you can install any software. Just download a module and copy it to Slax.

Slax minimum hardware requirements

Extremely lightweight, especially if you use the text-mode edition.

Any Intel/AMD CPU will work. i486 or newer CPU

48MB RAM for text-mode 256MB of RAM for KDE desktop

220MB Disk Space

Slax facts and features

Your pocket operating system

Modular, you can install any software

Has all the apps you need pre-installed

Portable via a Live CD/USB

Different editions to choose from, all with different purposes and features

Download Slax

Linux Mint

Linux Mint is one of the popular Linux distros overall. However, the MATE, Cinnamon and Xfce editions are quite lightweight, so they deserve a spot on our list. Note: the KDE edition is not lightweight.

Linux Mint minimum hardware requirements



Depends on the edition, but all are pretty lightweight.

700MHz CPU

512MB RAM

10GB Disk Space

Linux Mint facts and features



One of the most popular distros.

Very active community

Beautiful user interfaces

Stable, reliable

All the software you need pre-installed

Lots of different editions to choose from

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Linux Mint

wattOS



A lightweight, fully featured OS that you can use as a Desktop OS, as a Kiosk and just about anything. Based on Ubuntu and has two editions to choose from.

wattOS minimum hardware requirements

Depends on what version you use, but still very lightweight.

Any Intel or AMD CPU will work

192MB RAM for Microwatt. More if you use the LXDE edition

700MB Disk Space

wattOS facts and features

Lightweight and functional.

The Microwatt Edition of wattOS is extremely lightweight and based on the i3 tiling window manager

There’s also an LXDE edition which can be used as a fully featured desktop OS. Great for beginners

New version (R11) is coming soon this year

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download wattOS

Zorin OS Lite

A great alternative to Windows and Mac OS. The “Lite” version is relatively lightweight, but it’s still in beta.

Zorin OS Lite minimum hardware requirements

Light and ready to use out of the box.

700MHz Single Core

512MB RAM

8GB Disk Space

640×480 resolution

Zorin OS Lite facts and features



If you’re using Windows or Mac and want to switch to Linux on your old laptop.

All the software you need pre-installed

Different desktop layouts (themes) to choose from

Compatible with Windows apps via Wine (pre-installed)

Intuitive and beautiful UI

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Zorin OS Lite

Bodhi Linux

A minimalistic Linux distro with a custom-built window manager – Moksha, which only needs 100MB RAM to run.

Bodhi Linux minimum hardware requirements

Minimalistic and lightweight.

500MHz – any CPU

128MB minimum RAM

4GB Disk Space

Bodhi Linux facts and features

The Enlightened, Minimalistic, Lightweight Linux Distribution.

Has a custom “desktop environment” (window manager) – Moksha. The WM is very lightweight – needs only 100MB to run and it has every feature you’d need

Different versions/flavors to choose from

An active community ready to help

All the apps you need pre-installed

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Bodhi Linux

Tiny Core Linux

Tiny Core Linux (TCL) is THE most lightweight distro we have on our list. It’s portable too. Though, it’s not recommended for beginners. There’s extensive documentation, so if you want to learn more about it, you can.

Tiny Core Linux minimum hardware requirements

The most lightweight.

At least i486DX CPU

48MB RAM

11MB Disk Space (can be more or less, depending on which Core you use)

Tiny Core Linux facts and features



Fast, flexible and powerful. Not recommended for beginners.

Different “Cores” to choose from: piCore – for Raspberry Pis, Tiny Core – with a GUI, MicroCore – without a GUI and more

Extremely lightweight with lots of possibilities – customize it to your needs

Runs in RAM

Portable

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download Tiny Core Linux

CRUX

Lightweight distro using the Openbox window manager – recommended for advanced users only. It is not based on any other Linux distro.

CRUX minimum hardware requirements

Extremely lightweight if you preform a custom chroot installation.

x86-64 or newer CPUs. i686 (Pentium-Pro, Celeron, Pentium-III) or lower processor won’t work.

192MB RAM. 16MB if you preform a custom chroot installation

1000MB Disk Space – can vary depending on what you use

CRUX facts and features



Unlike any other.

Not based on any other distro

Uses the lightweight window manager Openbox

Doesn’t have a GUI installation

NOT recommended for beginners

Easily installable (and usable) via a USB flash drive.

Download CRUX

Conclusion and bonus distros

The distros above are our “main” lightweight Linux distros. It should be enough, but if you’d like to compare more distros and explore the vast world of lightweight Linux distros, move on to our Bonus list.

This list (including the bonus one) is quite large, so there must be some errors or typos, even though we reviewed it a couple of times. If you notice any errors, have any questions, or if you have a suggestion for a distro, please leave a comment!

We’ve invested a lot of our time and efforts into this post, so if you want to support us, you can do so by purchasing anything from the different affiliate links we have throughout our site. If you’re feeling generous, you can also donate and help us to continue writing more content like this. Contact us for more info. Thanks!

Bonus list includes:

Distros that run on 3 MB RAM, on a floppy disk!

Distros issued and maintained by the United States Department of Defense

Distros that completely run in RAM and can still be used after removing the live CD/USB

Distros used on web servers for web apps

Distros based on Slackware

Distros based on distros based on distros our main distros list has (is this a tongue twister?)

Distros NOT based on Linux. Although they are not based on Linux, they are still lightweight, free and/or both

…and more!

Go to the Bonus List →