Window manager apps add snapping, zones or tiling to a desktop that otherwise leaves windows wherever they fall.
Our order starts with small independent makers, then weighs setup effort, what the licence costs over time, how settings can be exported, and whether the tool matches your operating system and your appetite for scripting.
Vendors 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.
In short
What window manager apps software does
A window manager app arranges open windows on one or more displays through snap areas, shortcuts, saved layouts or automatic tiling, replacing manual dragging and resizing with repeatable placement rules.
Our order comes from five tests, taken in turn: effort to set up, what you really pay, what happens to your data on the way out, how locked in you are, and the intended customer. Smaller challengers are placed in the top three wherever the category has them; the well-known brands come after. Why those five, and why there is no score out of ten, is on the how we work page.
Part of Microsoft PowerToys; the docs page states no price or licence
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Windows users with ultrawide screens who want custom zone templates
Buyers wanting a standalone product or automatic tiling
We list the country the vendor operates from or contracts through. That is not the same as the hosting region, and any difference is spelled out in the entry.
Single-developer Mac snapping app with shortcuts, snap areas and a Pro tier
Ranked #1 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourcePublished pricingElsewhere
The base app handles snap areas and shortcuts, with a first-run option to adopt the Spectacle default shortcuts, which eases a move from that older tool. Rectangle Pro adds custom shortcuts for any size and position and works on three devices per licence.
Ten days of Pro are offered before any purchase. The homepage names no company, country or postal address, only a personal copyright line, so continuity rests on one person. Pro also ships inside the Multitouch app.
What stands out
Open source
Snap areas
Pro add-on
Where it costs you
The Pro price is absent from the captured page, and the Pro page does not say whether the licence is one-time or a subscription.
Macs that cannot run macOS 14 are left out.
Right for
Mac users who want drag snapping and shortcuts without paying or writing scripts
Wrong for
Anyone on an older macOS or wanting automatic tiling
Not stated by the vendorFree and open source; Pro add-on with a 10-day trial, price not shown
Mac window mover with title-bar palette, saved layouts, one-time licence
Ranked #2 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Published pricingNorth America
Moom works from a palette that appears at the window's title-bar button, and the page counts up to 61 added actions, which can be chained and nested in folders. Layouts can restore chosen app windows or the most recently used ones, and hovering can move or resize without clicking.
Actions can be exported and imported, and the page cites Universal Control support. Version 4.6 runs on macOS 10.13 High Sierra or newer, a wide range of older Macs.
What stands out
One-time licence
Saved layouts
Title-bar palette
Where it costs you
Only one year of updates is promised with a purchase, so later upgrade terms are an open question.
The trial is listed without a length or limits.
Right for
Mac users who restore one window arrangement daily and prefer owning the licence
Wrong for
Buyers who want automatic tiling or a zero-cost tool
United StatesOne-time purchase with a published price; discounted upgrade for owners; trial offered
German-made Mac App Store snapper with drawable custom snap areas
Ranked #3 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Pricing on requestEurope
Dragging a window to a corner or to the top, left or right edge triggers maximise, side-by-side or quarter-screen sizing. Beyond that, snap areas can be placed anywhere, shortcuts are custom, and clicks on the window buttons can be assigned actions.
Holding a modifier key moves or resizes a window from anywhere inside it. The publisher's imprint names Andreas Hegenberg as managing director, which makes it one of the few Mac entries with a stated company and location.
What stands out
Custom snap areas
Mac App Store
Modifier-key moves
Where it costs you
The product page lists neither price nor trial, and the Buy page and licence terms were not captured.
Snapping is built around drag and shortcut, with no tiling mode described.
Right for
Mac users who want snap zones of their own shape from an identifiable company
Wrong for
Buyers who need the price on the product page
GermanySold through the Mac App Store; price and trial terms not shown on the product page
Mac App Store snapper with fixed layouts and multi-display support
Ranked #4 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
Edges and corners carry the logic: corners give quarters, side edges halves, the top edge maximises and the bottom edge makes thirds. The same sizes can be called by customisable shortcuts or the menu bar.
Support for up to six external displays and portrait screens is the headline claim. Distribution runs only through the Mac App Store, described as the easiest route to the app and its free updates, so purchases and updates follow Apple's store.
What stands out
Mac App Store
Layout presets
Six displays
Where it costs you
No price, trial or free version is shown on the page.
The page names no company, country or imprint, so the vendor cannot be identified from it.
Right for
Mac users with several or vertical monitors who want preset layouts
Wrong for
Buyers who need a named vendor or an upfront price
Not stated by the vendorMac App Store purchase; page lists neither price nor trial
Mac window control by trackpad gestures, sold once or via Setapp
Ranked #5 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
The vendor page lists the purchase price, a 14-day trial in the FAQ and a Setapp route that carries a seven-day trial before a monthly fee covering 200 or more other apps.
Features include moving windows between screens and managing Spaces as well as grid snapping. A 33 percent student discount is given on request from a .edu address. Christian Renninger is named as developer; no company, country or imprint appears.
What stands out
Trackpad gestures
One-time licence
Setapp option
Where it costs you
The licence covers two machines at once, so a third Mac needs another purchase.
Gesture control assumes a trackpad or mouse, which is a poor match for keyboard-only habits.
Right for
Laptop users who prefer trackpad gestures over memorised keyboard shortcuts
Wrong for
Keyboard-first users and anyone on macOS 11 or earlier
Not stated by the vendorOne-time licence with a published price; 14-day trial; also inside a Setapp subscription
Grid-based window resizer from Mizage with a Mac and a Windows version
Ranked #6 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Published pricingElsewhere
The product is a screen-grid resizer: define a region of the display, then trigger it by shortcut. Pricing is a single figure with a trial, sold through a FastSpring checkout; no other tiers are listed.
The Mac version is on the App Store and runs from OS X 10.6.6, an unusually low floor. A Windows build is linked separately from the same site. Contact is by a support address.
What stands out
Screen grid
Custom shortcuts
Mac and Windows
Where it costs you
Whether the price is one-time or recurring is left unsaid.
Only an LLC name and a support email identify the publisher.
Right for
Mixed Mac and Windows teams that want the same grid approach on both
Wrong for
Buyers needing tiling or a stated billing model
Not stated by the vendorSingle published price; trial offered; one-time or recurring not stated
Mac window manager shipped under the GPL-3.0 licence, installed by Homebrew
Ranked #7 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Free tierOpen sourcePublished pricingElsewhere
The GitHub page lists the price as free in a comparison table and links the GPL-3.0 text in its FAQ. The repository shows 11.9k stars, a signal of use rather than of support terms.
Install is by a Homebrew command or by unzipping a release. macOS 13 is the stated floor. With only an account name given, a buyer must judge continuity from the repository itself.
What stands out
GPL-3.0
Homebrew install
macOS 13+
Where it costs you
The page names no company or country, only a personal GitHub account.
It does not mention a Mac App Store version, so updates come through GitHub or Homebrew.
Right for
Mac users who want a free, auditable window tool installed from the command line
Wrong for
Organisations that require a named vendor or store distribution
Not stated by the vendorFree; GPL-3.0 open source, via Homebrew or zip
i3-style tiling manager for Mac, text-configured and still in public beta
Ranked #8 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
Workspaces are emulated inside the app instead of using native Spaces, which avoids any SIP change. The tool offers multi-monitor support, manpages and shell completion.
A Homebrew cask gives automatic updates; binaries need macOS 13, while building from source needs macOS 15. The page states an MIT licence and names Nikita Bobko as maintainer, who works on it in his free time, so release pace depends on one person.
What stands out
MIT licence
Tree tiling
Public beta
Where it costs you
The status is public beta, with breaking changes expected before 1.0.
The maintainer says there will never be a GUI for configuration.
Right for
Keyboard-driven developers who want tiling without weakening System Integrity Protection
Wrong for
Anyone who wants a settings window or a stable release
Not stated by the vendorMIT-licensed open source; Homebrew cask install; no price stated
xmonad-style automatic tiling for Mac with a YAML-edited setup
Ranked #9 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
An optional beta lets users define their own layouts in JavaScript, with settings kept in a YAML file in the home directory. Install comes from GitHub releases or a Homebrew cask.
The Accessibility permission has to be granted before it can move anything. Because the page publishes no licence and no organisation, a procurement check would need to look inside the repository.
What stands out
Auto tiling
YAML config
Charity donations
Where it costs you
No licence is stated on the page, which links only to the GitHub repository.
The custom layout option is marked beta and is written in JavaScript.
Right for
Mac users who want windows tiled automatically with minimal scripting
Wrong for
Buyers who need a stated licence or company
Not stated by the vendorFree, with no paid tier; donations are redirected to listed charities
Command-line BSP tiling for Mac under MIT, with optional SIP tweaks
Ranked #10 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
The README states a macOS floor of Big Sur on Intel and Monterey on Apple Silicon, up to Tahoe 26.0 and later, and asks for the Accessibility API with a restart after granting.
A scripting addition is injected into Dock.app for the deeper features. Everything runs through the command line, with no hosted component. The repository lists a single maintainer, asmvik, which concentrates the project's future in one person.
What stands out
Binary space partitioning
MIT licence
CLI control
Where it costs you
Deeper control depends on loosening System Integrity Protection.
Native tabs in Terminal and Finder do not behave properly, and Desktop items must be shown to focus empty spaces.
Right for
Developers comfortable scripting a tiling setup from a shell prompt daily
Wrong for
Users who will not weaken system protections or want a GUI
Not stated by the vendorMIT-licensed open source; locally installed; no price stated
Lua scripting bridge to macOS, with window layout as one job
Ranked #11 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
The home page says scripts live in a file under the home directory and can control applications, windows, screens, keyboard and mouse events and more. Pre-made plugins called Spoons cut the writing effort.
Support runs through Discord, GitHub issues and a social account. The authors are given only as lots of people, so there is no vendor to contact beyond those channels.
What stands out
Lua scripting
Spoons plugins
Automation toolkit
Where it costs you
It does nothing until the user writes a script, so there is no usable snapping on first launch.
The site names no licence, company, country or author, only a community.
Right for
Scripters who want window moves tied into wider macOS automation
Wrong for
Buyers wanting snapping that works the moment it is installed
Not stated by the vendorNo price stated; download from GitHub and drag to Applications
Windows snapper that moves adjacent tiled windows together
Ranked #12 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Free tierPublished pricingElsewhere
Shaking a window makes it transparent and pinned above the others, and Ctrl-drag moves a block of adjacent windows. Fifteen clickable areas and up to five mouse buttons can be customised, along with keyboard shortcuts.
A link to TidyTabs groups is listed. The product page covers 64-bit Windows 7 to 11 only and names Nurgo Software as publisher without a location.
What stands out
Windows only
Group moves
Personal use
Where it costs you
Business or commercial terms are not mentioned, so company use is unconfirmed.
The page shows a 2009 to 2024 copyright line and no country, address or imprint.
Right for
Windows home users who want group-aware snapping at no cost
Wrong for
Companies that need stated licence terms for commercial use
Not stated by the vendorFree for personal use; business terms not mentioned on the page
i3-inspired Windows tiler configured in YAML, with gaps and window rules
Ranked #13 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Open sourcePricing on requestElsewhere
Keybindings, gaps and workspaces are all set in a YAML file, and window rules decide where applications land. A status bar named Zebar can be installed as an option.
The README describes the tool as Windows-focused while its About text also mentions macOS, so check the platform before relying on it. The glzr-io organisation owns the repository, and no individual maintainer is named.
What stands out
GPL-3.0
YAML config
Windows tiling
Where it costs you
Native automatic layouts are listed as not currently supported.
Per-application keybinding suspension is not supported, so a shortcut clash needs a workaround.
Right for
Windows developers who want keyboard-only tiling with a text configuration
Wrong for
Windows users who prefer drag zones or a settings window
Not stated by the vendorGPL-3.0 open source; winget, Chocolatey, Scoop or release download; price not stated
Windows custom zone layouts, bundled in Microsoft PowerToys
Ranked #14 of 14 in Best Window Manager Apps in 2026.
Pricing on requestElsewhere
Grid starts from three columns that can be split and merged; Canvas places zones freely and lets them overlap. Quick-switch hotkeys use Win, Ctrl and Alt with a number, and a default Alt+X shortcut rotates windows across monitors.
A window can be snapped to several zones with Ctrl-drag. It arrives only as part of PowerToys, so you install the whole set to use it.
What stands out
Zone layouts
PowerToys module
Canvas and Grid
Where it costs you
Citrix, Parsec and RemoteApp windows cannot be zoned, and elevated apps need PowerToys run as administrator.
The docs page states neither a price nor a licence, so terms must be found elsewhere.
Right for
Windows users with ultrawide screens who want custom zone templates
Wrong for
Buyers wanting a standalone product or automatic tiling
Not stated by the vendorPart of Microsoft PowerToys; the docs page states no price or licence
A window manager app arranges open windows on one or more displays through snap areas, shortcuts, saved layouts or automatic tiling, replacing manual dragging and resizing with repeatable placement rules. Work through these questions in order; they separate the products better than a feature matrix does.
01
Decide whether you need a published price
7 vendors on this page sell by quote, while 7 publish a pricing model you can read today: Rectangle, Moom, Swish, Divvy, Loop, Amethyst, AquaSnap.
02
Decide how much the jurisdiction matters
Where a company is established decides which courts and regulators can reach it. Here that means 3 countries: Elsewhere 12, North America 1, Europe 1.
03
Decide if open source matters
Source code is available for Rectangle, Loop, AeroSpace, yabai, GlazeWM. Running it yourself swaps the licence fee for your own upkeep.
Window manager apps: snapping or tiling, decide first
Two different jobs share this category. Snappers such as Rectangle, Magnet and BetterSnapTool move a window to a halves, thirds or quarters position when you drag it or press a shortcut, and you stay in charge of layout. Tilers such as AeroSpace, yabai and Amethyst arrange every window for you in a tree or grid and expect you to learn their keybindings and a text configuration.
Moom sits between them with saved layouts you trigger yourself. Buying the wrong type is the usual disappointment: a tiler feels intrusive to someone who wanted drag zones, and a snapper feels limited to a keyboard-driven developer. Try one of each for a week before settling.
Decide whether you want to place windows or have them placed
Try a snapper and a tiler on your real monitor setup
Check whether the tool needs a text file to configure
Windows or Mac: window manager apps do not cross over
Most tools here run on one system only, so the operating system narrows the field before price does. Rectangle needs macOS 14, Swish macOS 12, Loop macOS 13 and AeroSpace macOS 13 for the binary, while Moom reaches back to 10.13 and Divvy to OS X 10.6.6. On Windows, AquaSnap, GlazeWM and FancyZones cover snapping, i3-style tiling and zone layouts, and Divvy publishes a separate Windows build.
Check the exact minimum version on each vendor page against the oldest machine in your office, because a tool that refuses to launch on one old laptop becomes a support ticket. A mixed fleet usually means two products, so write down which shortcuts each person relies on and favour tools whose settings can be moved between machines.
List the oldest macOS or Windows version you must support
Confirm each tool's minimum version on the vendor page
Plan for two tools if you run both systems
Paying for a window manager: licence, store or bundle
Prices are small, but the models differ in ways that matter at team scale. Moom and Swish are one-time purchases, with Moom promising at least a year of updates and Swish allowing two machines per licence. Swish also appears in a Setapp subscription, and Divvy sells through a FastSpring checkout without saying whether it is one-time.
Magnet and BetterSnapTool go through the Mac App Store or a Buy page, and their product pages show no price. Rectangle is open source, but Pro costs extra and its price is not on the page. AquaSnap is free for personal use only. Ask which licence covers your company, and how many machines each person uses, before rollout; a lost laptop or a new hire is when a two-device limit starts to matter.
Count how many devices each licence allows at once
Ask whether upgrades and updates are time-limited
Confirm commercial use is allowed before deploying
Permissions, beta status and scripting: what yabai, AeroSpace and Hammerspoon ask of you
The open source tilers trade polish for control, and the cost shows up in setup hours. yabai needs the Accessibility API and, for full control, System Integrity Protection partly disabled, which many security teams will not accept. AeroSpace avoids that, yet its beta label comes with a promise of breaking changes ahead of 1.0, and no GUI is planned.
Hammerspoon does nothing until you write Lua. GlazeWM lists unsupported automatic layouts. If several people will use the tool, budget time for a shared configuration file and test it after every macOS update, because a script written for one release can behave differently on the next. Name one person who owns that file, so that a laptop swap does not mean rebuilding the setup from memory.
Check whether the tool needs System Integrity Protection changes
Read the project's stated limits before adopting
Keep the configuration file under version control
What goes wrong most often when buying window manager apps software
Choosing a tiler such as yabai or AeroSpace for staff who only wanted halves and quarters, then spending weeks on support.
Assuming Rectangle Pro, Magnet or BetterSnapTool costs a certain amount without opening the vendor's own price page.
Installing AquaSnap on company PCs because it is free for personal use, without checking commercial terms.
Treating Hammerspoon as a window manager that works out of the box, when it is a scripting toolkit that needs your own Lua.
07
Frequently asked questions
7 answers
What is the best window manager apps in 2026?
First of 14 on this page is Rectangle. Rectangle is written by one named developer, Ryan Hanson, and costs nothing for the base app, which is open source.
Snap areas and keyboard shortcuts cover the usual halves and quarters, and repeating a shortcut cycles sizes. Custom sizes and faster snapping sit in Rectangle Pro, whose price and licence type the pages do not show. It needs macOS 14 or later.
Which window manager apps tools publish their pricing?
7 of the 14, with the pricing model each one publishes:
Rectangle: Free and open source; Pro add-on with a 10-day trial, price not shown.
Moom: One-time purchase with a published price; discounted upgrade for owners; trial offered.
Swish: One-time licence with a published price; 14-day trial; also inside a Setapp subscription.
Divvy: Single published price; trial offered; one-time or recurring not stated.
Loop: Free; GPL-3.0 open source, via Homebrew or zip.
Amethyst: Free, with no paid tier; donations are redirected to listed charities.
AquaSnap: Free for personal use; business terms not mentioned on the page.
7 vendors do not print a price.
Is there a free window manager apps tool?
Rectangle, Loop, Amethyst, AquaSnap come with a no-cost entry point, a free plan or a self-hosted edition.
Where are these window manager apps vendors established?
Across 3 countries (Elsewhere 12, North America 1, Europe 1):
Rectangle: Not stated by the vendor.
Moom: United States.
BetterSnapTool: Germany.
Magnet: Not stated by the vendor.
Swish: Not stated by the vendor.
Divvy: Not stated by the vendor.
Loop: Not stated by the vendor.
AeroSpace: Not stated by the vendor.
Amethyst: Not stated by the vendor.
yabai: Not stated by the vendor.
Hammerspoon: Not stated by the vendor.
AquaSnap: Not stated by the vendor.
GlazeWM: Not stated by the vendor.
FancyZones: Not stated by the vendor.
Which window manager apps tools are open source?
Rectangle, Loop, AeroSpace, yabai, GlazeWM.
What should you use instead of Rectangle?
The next in line are Moom, aimed at Mac users who restore one window arrangement daily and prefer owning the licence, and BetterSnapTool, aimed at Mac users who want snap zones of their own shape from an identifiable company.
Who should not buy Rectangle?
Anyone on an older macOS or wanting automatic tiling. The Pro price is absent from the captured page, and the Pro page does not say whether the licence is one-time or a subscription..
Vendors who think their window manager apps product should be here can tell us about it: what it does, who it is for. The call is ours, and software advice sets out what being listed means.
