10 best Mac window managers in 2026 (free & paid)

Introduction

You already have some window tools. macOS hands you Split View and Stage Manager, and macOS 15 and 26 snap windows to the screen edges when you drag them. What none of them do is remember an arrangement and bring it back. Close your laptop, plug into a monitor, switch from calls to deep work, and you rebuild the same layout by hand again. This guide compares 10 Mac window managers for 2026, free snapping tools and full tiling setups included. You will see what each one does best and how to pick. Full disclosure: Spud is ours, and we ranked it honestly against the rest.

Key takeaways

• Rectangle is the free default for keyboard snapping, and it is open source.
• Magnet is the pick if you want to buy from the Mac App Store, at $4.99 one-time.
• Moom is the choice for saved window layouts that adjust to different displays.
• Amethyst and yabai are the free routes into automatic tiling.
• Spud saves and restores your whole work context (apps, windows, tabs, positions, and stacking order), so it does more than snap a single window.

What is a window manager on Mac?

A window manager helps you open, resize, move, snap, tile, and arrange app windows without dragging each one by hand. Most use keyboard shortcuts or drag targets, so a window jumps to a half, a quarter, or a full screen in one press.

macOS ships with pieces of this. Split View pairs two apps. Stage Manager tucks background windows to the side. Mission Control spreads everything out. On recent macOS versions, dragging a window to an edge snaps it into place.

Those built-in tools stop at the current moment. They arrange what is on screen right now. They do not save a named layout and rebuild it later, and they do not relaunch closed apps or reopen closed browser tabs. That is the line between plain snapping and full workspace restoration. Snapping moves a window. Workspace restoration brings an entire context back the way you left it.

Comparison chart

The 10 best Mac window managers

Spud: best for saving and restoring your whole work context

Spud is ours, so here is the honest version. Most window managers move the window in front of you. Spud remembers the whole setup. It snapshots every open app and window, including positions, sizes, stacking order (z-order), and browser tabs, and restores them with one click. Named work contexts replace a pile of unlabeled desktops. Save the current layout with ⌃⌥ S, open the switcher with ⌃⌥ Space, and jump straight to a saved workspace with ⌃⌥ 1…9. Changed your mind? ⌃⌥ Z takes you back to the previous layout. Restore relaunches closed apps, reopens closed browser tabs without duplicates, and remaps windows proportionally onto whatever displays are connected, so docking and undocking both work. Switching contexts also hides the apps that belong to your other workspaces.

Pricing is a free tier forever (up to 2 saved workspaces), with Spud Pro at $4.99/month for unlimited workspaces, and a 10-day Pro trial with no card and no sign-up. Spud needs macOS 26 Tahoe and Accessibility permission to read and move other apps' windows. It is signed and notarized, and you download it directly from eatspud.com rather than the Mac App Store, which keeps it clear of App Store sandbox limits on window management.

_No independent third-party review was verifiable as of August 2026._

Rectangle: best free option

Rectangle is the free workhorse most people start with, and it is free and open source. It moves and resizes windows with keyboard shortcuts or by dragging onto screen edges and corners, and it handles portrait displays. Repeat a shortcut and the window cycles through sizes. If you used Spectacle, Rectangle reads like a near drop-in successor and lets you pick Spectacle's default shortcuts on first run. The honest limit: saved application layouts sit in Rectangle Pro, not the free app, so the free version snaps but does not restore a whole arrangement.

Softpedia rated it 5/5. "Rectangle has become a near-essential piece of kit for Mac users... adds functionality that is very similar to the Windows Snap feature, while also expanding upon it and adding customizability. All of this in a completely free app." (Softpedia, Catalin Chelariu, 2023)

Magnet: best Mac App Store option

If you would rather buy through the Mac App Store and get iCloud sync, Magnet is the pick. It snaps windows into fullscreen, halves, quarters, and thirds, triggered by dragging, customizable keyboard shortcuts, or the menu bar. Corners snap to quarters, side edges to halves, and the bottom edge builds thirds. It supports up to six external displays and portrait layouts. Pricing is $4.99 one-time, a perpetual license with no subscription. The limit is the same as most snappers here: no named saved-workspace or session-restore feature.

The App Store listing carries both sides. A featured review headlined "Simple, Intuitive Window Management" says the reviewer tried every window manager and became "a power user in < 5 mins." The listing also carries a critical review headlined "It only half-works…" reporting inconsistent drag-to-edge snapping and no support response. (Mac App Store reviews)

Moom: best for saved layouts

Moom, from Many Tricks, is built for people who arrange the same apps over and over. Hover the green button and a customizable palette opens, holding up to 61 actions across Folders, Layouts, and Grids. You can save app window layouts and restore the arrangement, which helps when a laptop connects to an external display, and saved layouts try to adjust to different display sizes. Chains group actions into one combined move or a loop. You can move, resize, and center windows from the keyboard, with single-key shortcuts. Pricing is $15 one-time, valid forever with at least a year of updates, and there is a free trial. Prior owners upgrade for $8.

OWC's Rocket Yard put it plainly: "If you're looking for an app that provides added window management capabilities and saved window layouts, Moom delivers." (OWC Rocket Yard, Krishna Sadasivam, 2025)

BetterTouchTool: best for customizing everything

BetterTouchTool, from folivora.AI, goes wider than windows. It customizes trackpad gestures, the mouse, keyboard shortcuts, the menu bar, and Stream Deck, with chainable actions. Window management (snapping, resizing, and switching) is one part of a big toolbox that also includes a clipboard manager and a screenshot tool. Shortcuts run deep: global hotkeys, short and long presses, typed key sequences, and a configurable Hyper Key. One license covers all your personal Macs and unlocks the BTT Mobile companion. The Standard License is $15 with two years of updates; Lifetime is $25. There is a 45-day trial with no account, and it is also on Setapp. The limit for this list: no full workspace snapshot and restore.

How-To Geek called it essential. "BetterTouchTool is more than just a utility; it is an essential enhancement for any Mac user looking to maximize their productivity and personalize their interaction with macOS." (How-To Geek, Kipp Burroughs, 2024)

Amethyst: best free automatic tiling

Amethyst is a free, open-source tiling window manager along the lines of xmonad, and the maintainer says it always will be free. It auto-tiles your windows algorithmically across layouts like Tall, Wide, Two Pane, 3Column variants, BSP, and Floating, and you can enable or disable layouts in the cycle. It runs on macOS 10.15+, installs from GitHub releases or Homebrew (brew install --cask amethyst), and needs Accessibility permission. Two default modifier combos drive it: mod1 is option+shift and mod2 is ctrl+option+shift, so mod1 + space cycles the layout and mod1 + t toggles floating. You can configure it through the GUI or YAML, where YAML wins. The limit: it tiles what is open and does not save a named workspace snapshot.

_No independent third-party review was verifiable as of August 2026._ The only confirmed commentary was a competitor's comparison blog, an interested party, so nothing is cited here.

yabai: best for scriptable tiling control

yabai is for people who want to script their tiling. It is free and open source under the MIT License, and it extends the macOS window manager to control windows, spaces, and displays from a command-line interface. Tiling uses a binary space partitioning (BSP) algorithm. Extra tricks include focus-follows-mouse, disabling space-switch animations, and creating spaces past the 16-space limit. Shortcuts come from skhd, which you set up separately. It runs on Apple Silicon from Monterey 12+ through Tahoe 26+, and Intel from Big Sur 11+. One honest caveat: it needs Accessibility permission, and some advanced features ask you to partially disable System Integrity Protection to inject a scripting addition into Dock.app. It leans on native macOS Spaces and has no saved-workspace snapshot.

_No independent third-party review was verifiable as of August 2026._ yabai is not listed on the usual review platforms, and existing coverage is community discussion rather than a rated review.

Raycast: best if you already use a launcher

If you already run a Spotlight replacement, Raycast folds window management into the launcher you open all day. Its Window Management extension moves and resizes windows into halves, thirds, and quarters, plus maximize, center, move across displays, and toggle fullscreen. Assign global hotkeys to any of them, like ⌃⌥← for Left Half. It is free forever for individuals, including window management and thousands of extensions. Pro is $10/month (or $8/month annually) and adds AI, and custom window management commands sit in the Pro tier. There is also a Windows version in beta. The trade-off: window control here is one feature inside a launcher, not a dedicated tiling engine.

Raycast holds a 4.9 rating across 159 reviews on Product Hunt. "Raycast is the one tool I'd be genuinely annoyed to lose. Replaced my clipboard manager, window management, and AI access in one shortcut." (Product Hunt, Mustafa Najoom)

Loop: best radial snapping

Loop takes a different input path. It is free and open source under GPLv3, and you snap windows through a radial menu. Hold the trigger key, move the cursor in a direction, and the window moves and resizes to match. The trigger key is configurable in the Behavior tab, held or pressed, one key or several. You can also assign keys for Halves, Quarters, Horizontal and Vertical Thirds, screen switching, and grow or shrink moves. Extras include a preview window, Cycles, Stash (hide windows at a screen edge), and full radial-menu theming. It runs on macOS 13+ and installs via Homebrew (brew install loop). Loop's own comparison table marks "Save Workspace" as not supported, though Custom Frames and Restore Initial Frame are.

OWC's Rocket Yard liked it: "if you find yourself looking for a window management tool that offers ease of use, better customization options and more flexibility, Loop is definitely worth checking out." (OWC Rocket Yard, Krishna Sadasivam, 2024)

Rectangle Pro: best step up from Rectangle

Rectangle Pro is the paid tier for people who outgrew the free app. It adds cursor gestures, trackpad gestures, and more snap options, and it runs on macOS 13.5+. Window Throw sends a window to 16 sizes and positions with one key combo, even on a window that is not in focus. You can create custom snap targets anywhere on screen. It also does application layouts: arrange a whole workspace of apps with one shortcut, save the current layout, and have layouts activate when displays connect or disconnect. Settings sync over iCloud. There is a 10-day free trial, and one license runs on up to 3 devices. On price, it is a one-time paid license, reported at around $9.99, though the official page did not show a confirmed number when checked.

Softpedia summed up the reach: "Rectangle Pro takes things a step further by making it possible to move and resize windows with cursor movements, snap background apps, hide windows on the edge of the screen, create shortcuts for any window size and position, save application layouts, and sync settings via iCloud." (Softpedia)

How to choose the best window manager for your Mac

Pick by the job in front of you.

If you want free keyboard snapping and nothing more, get Rectangle. If you would rather buy once from the Mac App Store and sync over iCloud, Magnet is the clean $4.99 choice. Need saved window layouts that adapt when you connect a monitor? Moom was built for that. Want windows to tile themselves automatically, for free? Try Amethyst for a GUI-friendly start, or yabai if you want to script every rule from the command line. Already living inside a launcher? Raycast puts window commands where your hands already are. And if the real problem is rebuilding a whole setup every time you switch tasks or displays, Spud saves and restores the entire context, apps, windows, tabs, positions, and stacking order, in one keystroke. Most tools here move a window well. Spud brings the whole thing back.

Frequently asked questions

Does macOS have a built-in window manager? Partly. macOS includes Split View, Stage Manager, and Mission Control, and recent versions snap windows when you drag them to a screen edge. These arrange what is open right now. They do not save a named layout or relaunch closed apps and tabs later.

What is the best free Mac window manager? For most people, Rectangle. It is free and open source, snaps with keyboard shortcuts or screen edges, and cycles window sizes when you repeat a shortcut. Softpedia rated it 5/5. If you want automatic tiling instead, Amethyst is the free choice.

Rectangle vs Magnet: which should I get? Rectangle is free and open source, and its saved application layouts live in Rectangle Pro. Magnet costs $4.99 once on the Mac App Store, supports up to six displays, and syncs over iCloud. Choose Rectangle to spend nothing; choose Magnet if App Store purchase and iCloud sync matter.

What is a tiling window manager? A tiling window manager arranges windows into a grid automatically, so they fill the screen without overlapping. Amethyst does this with layouts like Tall and Wide, and yabai does it with a binary space partitioning algorithm you control from the command line.

Which one saves and restores my whole layout? Spud. It snapshots every open app and window, including positions, sizes, stacking order, and browser tabs, and restores them with one click. Restore relaunches closed apps, reopens closed tabs without duplicates, and remaps windows proportionally onto whatever displays are connected.

Conclusion

Every tool here earns its place. Rectangle and Magnet snap fast, Moom saves layouts, Amethyst and yabai tile automatically, Raycast folds it all into a launcher, and Rectangle Pro and BetterTouchTool go deep on customization. They all share one boundary: they move a window. When you switch tasks or swap displays, the setup is gone and you rebuild it by hand. Spud closes that gap by bringing a whole work context back with one keystroke. Move a window, or restore the whole workspace. That is the real choice.

Read the guide → <https://eatspud.com/blog/>