Plugin SDK

The Rainmeter plugin software development kit contains the necessary tools and examples to build plugins in C/C++ and C#. Note that plugins built with the SDK below require Rainmeter 2.3 beta or higher.

Download: SDK-2012-02-05

To install the tools required to build the plugins, follow the "Build tools" section of the Source Code page.

Note: To build 64bit C/C++ plugins with Visual C++ Express, you must right-click on the plugin projects, select Properties -> Configuration Properties -> General, and change the "Platform Toolset" field to "Windows7.1SDK" for the Release\x64 and Debug\x64 configurations. With Visual Studio, no changes are necessary.

The API documentation is available through the links on the right. Please read through the documentation before releasing plugins.

Other Skin Resources

deviantArt
deviantArt hosts one of the largest online repositories of Rainmeter resources.
Rainmeter Category (all skins). Has the latest submissions, but they are not checked for quality or possible infection. Be sure to read comments on the submissions before downloading.
Rainmeter Group (curated gallery). Home of the Rainmeter community on dA. Browse the galleries for skins vetted to be sure they work and are safe.
Customize.org
Customize.org is also one of the largest and oldest sources of Rainmeter skins. Many of these are offered as part of complete theme sets, incorporating several other applications and Windows visual styles in order to achieve a completely cohesive custom interface.
Lifehacker Desktop Show & Tell
Many of the most creative minds are continuously posting screenshots and details on their Rainmeter-incorporated desktop setups in the official Lifehacker pool.
Share Your Creations
It's a little-known fact that many of the most fresh and innovative skins are being developed right here in the forums on Rainmeter.net.
Note: As with anything you download from the internet, a certain amount of caution is advised when downloading and installing Rainmeter skins you get from other than rainmeter.net directly. See some advice on how to protect yourself here.

Recommended Skin Suites

Rainmeter comes with a few simple starter skins that provide a good place to start learning how to use and modify Rainmeter. On this page, we offer some recommended full-blown skin suites for Rainmeter. These skins have been designed, tested and are used by the Rainmeter community and we suggest that you install one or more of them to see what Rainmeter can really do. Choose the suite you are interested in to get more details and a link where you can directly install the packages into your Rainmeter. Install as many of these as you like, you can always switch between them.

About

Rainmeter is the best known and most popular desktop customization program for Windows. Enhance your Windows computer at home or work with skins; handy, compact applets that float freely on your desktop. Rainmeter skins provide you with useful information at a glance. It's easy to keep an eye on your system resources, like memory and battery power, or your online data streams, including email, RSS feeds, and weather forecasts.

Many skins are even functional: they can record your notes and to-do lists, launch your favorite applications, control your media player - all in a clean, unobtrusive interface that you can rearrange and customize to your liking.

There are thousands and thousand of skins available, crafted by a large and ever-growing community of Rainmeter users.

Rainmeter is not just an application, it is a robust toolkit. Create and modify your own skins in a simple language that's easy to learn, with the help of our extensive documentation, getting started guide and skin tutorials. Skins call upon measures, a set of powerful built-in modules that do all the heavy lifting, and create interactive meters to display that information however you decide. In this way, Rainmeter brings productive innovation together with creative artistry like no other platform of its kind.

Rainmeter is a community.People in our forums are always happy to help you get started or answer questions. Over the last few years, a thriving community has built up around Rainmeter, as average users freely contribute their own original skins, their generous knowledge and support, and their inspirational ideas to a project whose scope and capabilities are constantly expanding.

Rainmeter is designed for YOUR system. Rainmeter uses very little CPU and RAM resources, has a tiny space footprint, and will run perfectly well on any hardware using Windows XP, Vista or Windows 7.

Rainmeter is free and open source. Rainmeter is open source software distributed free of charge under the terms of the GNU GPL v2 license. If you want to get involved, check the Developers page.

rainmeter

Rainmeter displays customizable skins, like memory and battery power, RSS feeds and weather forecasts, right on your desktop. Many skins are even functional: they can record your notes and to-do lists, launch your favorite applications, and control your media player - all in a clean, unobtrusive interface that you can rearrange and customize to your liking. Rainmeter is at once an application and a toolkit. You are only limited by your imagination and creativity.

Rainmeter is open source software distributed free of charge under the terms of the GNU GPL v2 license.