Rainmeter

6.7easy start · #9 of 30
in Desktop Widget Software

Free to practise onyes
Free trialnot on record
Well documentedyes
Runs where you worknot on record

Runs on Windows.

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Rainmeter is ranked #9 of 30 in desktop widget software on The Geeks Club. It runs on Windows. There is a free plan.

Rainmeter plans and pricing

All plans

Rainmeter Free Windows 7 or above · distributed under GNU GPL v2 rainmeter.net · 4 Oct 2026

Compared on desktop widget software

Free plan: Yes
Supported platforms: windows
Widget categories: memory, battery, RSS feeds, weather forecasts, notes, to-do lists, application launchers, media-player controls
System monitoring: Yes
Custom layouts: Yes
Weather widgets: Yes
Feed widgets: Yes

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The record

Desktop customization: Rainmeter displays customizable desktop skins, from hardware usage meters to audio visualizers.
Skin features: Skins can show system information, RSS feeds and weather, keep notes and to-do lists, launch applications, and control media players.
Custom skin authoring: Users can create and edit skins using Rainmeter's skin language, meters, measures, plugins, and Lua scripting.
Windows support: Rainmeter runs on Windows 7 Service Pack 1 with Platform Update and above.
Portable installation: Portable installation keeps program, skin, and settings files in a chosen folder and makes no changes to the Windows Registry or Start menu.
Media players: NowPlaying can retrieve track information and control supported players including AIMP, iTunes, Winamp, and Windows Media Player; some players require extra plugins or have partial support.
Web data: Rainmeter measures and plugins can gather information from the system or the internet for display in skins.
Management and diagnostics: The Manage interface loads and unloads skins, controls settings, and saves layouts, while the About window can show logs, measure values, and application and plugin status.
Recovery: Safe Start unloads active skins and loads the default Illustro layout if a skin prevents Rainmeter from starting or causes it to crash on startup.
Community support: Rainmeter documentation directs users to its forum, an unofficial Discord channel, and a web-based IRC channel for help.
Low resource use: The maker says Rainmeter uses very little hardware resources and runs well on PCs using Windows 7 through Windows 11.
License: Rainmeter is open source software distributed under the GNU GPL v2 license.
Price from: Free

Where it ranks on The Geeks Club

Best Desktop Widget Software in 2026#9 of 30

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Sources

rainmeter.net· checked 4 Oct 2026
docs.rainmeter.net/manual/· checked 4 Oct 2026
docs.rainmeter.net/manual/installing-rainmeter/· checked 4 Oct 2026
docs.rainmeter.net/manual/measures/nowplaying/· checked 4 Oct 2026
docs.rainmeter.net/manual/user-interface/· checked 4 Oct 2026