Magnet vs Rectangle
Both are Mac window snappers that work by dragging to screen edges or pressing shortcuts, so the daily feel is similar. What differs is how much each vendor tells you. Rectangle publishes its licence as free and open source, names its developer and states the macOS 14 floor. Magnet sends you to the Mac App Store without showing a price or naming a company, and its FAQ and contact pages returned errors when we looked. If you want to know exactly what you are installing before you click, Rectangle gives you more to check.
Sebastiaan SmitsFounderVendors can pay for more visibility on this website, for example a higher place in a ranking or more room on a page. Commercial relationships can also affect which products we feature and how prominently. Every vendor link is marked the same, whatever the arrangement behind it. How that works.
Choose Magnet ifyou run a Mac with several displays or a vertical one and want fixed halves, quarters and thirds that follow the edge you drag to. You are happy to buy through the Mac App Store without a stated price first.
Choose Rectangle ifyou want a free, open-source snapper with shortcut cycling and a way to adopt Spectacle's old key bindings. You run macOS 14 or newer and can live without automatic tiling.
Magnet and Rectangle side by side
| Magnet | Rectangle | |
|---|---|---|
| Our window manager apps rank | #4 of 14 | #1 of 14 |
| Established in | Not stated by the vendor | Not stated by the vendor |
| List price, 7 November 2026 | Sold through the Mac App Store; price, trial and free version not shown on the vendor page | Free and open source; optional Rectangle Pro after a 10-day trial, Pro price not shown |
| Free tier | — | Yes |
| Open source | — | Yes |
| Self-hostable | — | — |
| Built for | Mac users with several or vertical monitors who want preset layouts | Mac users who want drag snapping and shortcuts without paying or writing scripts |
| Not for | Buyers who need a named vendor or an upfront price | Anyone on an older macOS or wanting automatic tiling |
Both are reviewed in full in our window manager apps ranking: Magnet and Rectangle.
Where they differ
Magnet 2 · Rectangle 2 · open 2- 01
A store link where the price should be
Magnet's own page sends visitors to the Mac App Store, calling it the easiest way to get a copy and its free updates. It shows no price, no free plan and no trial, so what you pay is learned only on the store listing. Rectangle is the opposite case: its homepage describes the app as free and open source, with donations taken through a Donate link and GitHub Sponsors. Anyone who wants to know the cost up front gets that from Rectangle alone.
Edge: Rectangle
- 02
What Rectangle Pro adds after ten days
Rectangle offers a paid add-on, Rectangle Pro, with a free 10-day trial. The Pro page says one licence can be active on 3 devices at a time, and the captured pages show no price or currency, nor whether the licence is one-time or a subscription. Pro is described as adding quicker snapping and custom shortcuts for any size and position. Magnet has no tier structure on its page at all, so there is nothing comparable to weigh against it.
Depends on the buyer
- 03
Edges, corners and the bottom third
Magnet maps screen zones to layouts: corners make quarters, side edges make halves, the top edge maximises and the bottom edge makes thirds, and on vertical displays thirds run along the sides. You can also trigger snapping from custom keyboard shortcuts or the menu bar. Rectangle snaps on edge and corner drags too and lets you repeat a shortcut to cycle through window sizes. Magnet documents its zone mapping more precisely, which helps anyone who wants predictable thirds.
Edge: Magnet
- 04
Six external displays and portrait screens
Magnet states support for up to six external displays and says it adapts to vertical screens, which makes it the plainer choice for a desk with a stack of monitors. Rectangle says its portrait display layouts are supported, though no display count appears in the text we captured. If your setup is a wall of screens, Magnet has the published number to point at. If you only turn one monitor sideways, both claims cover you, and the difference disappears in practice.
Edge: Magnet
- 05
The macOS 14 floor and Spectacle habits
Rectangle's homepage says it requires macOS 14 or later, so an older Mac is simply left out. The same page calls it a near drop-in replacement for Spectacle and says first-run setup can adopt Spectacle's default shortcuts, which spares anyone migrating from that tool a retraining week. Magnet's page states no minimum macOS version in the text we captured. We cannot say it runs on older systems, and the Mac App Store listing would settle the question.
Depends on the buyer
- 06
Who you are buying from
Rectangle names Ryan Hanson as the developer, with copyright 2018-2026, and its source sits in a public repository under the MIT licence, owner rxhanson. No company or country is stated on the pages we read. Magnet's page gives no company name, country or imprint, and its linked FAQ and contact pages returned HTTP 404 in our check. A buyer who needs a named vendor for procurement or support has a much easier job with Rectangle, whose developer is at least named on the page.
Edge: Rectangle
When neither fits
If you want automatic tiling instead of manual snapping, look at AeroSpace or Loop. Both sit in our window manager category and suit people who would rather script layouts than drag windows.
Magnet or Rectangle: questions
3 answersIs Magnet free to try before I buy it?
The Magnet page shows no free plan or trial and points to the Mac App Store, so check that listing. Updates are described as free there. The page itself shows no price.
Can a Mac older than macOS 14 run Rectangle?
The homepage lists macOS 14 or later as the requirement. A Mac that cannot be updated that far is therefore outside what Rectangle states. Magnet states no minimum in the text we captured.
Does Rectangle Pro replace the free Rectangle?
The pages describe Pro as a paid add-on with a 10-day trial, not a replacement. The free app stays free and open source. The Pro price and licence term did not appear in the captured text.
Sources
Checked 7 November 2026- Magnet homepage: App Store distribution, edge and corner layouts, six external displays, absence of company details.
- Magnet FAQ page: the HTTP 404 returned when we requested it.
- Rectangle homepage: free and open source label, macOS 14 requirement, Spectacle shortcuts, developer name and Pro trial.
- Rectangle Pro page: one Pro licence active on 3 devices, no stated licence term.
- Rectangle LICENSE file: MIT licence for the open-source code.