The best open source window managers for Mac
By Arvind Kumar ·
macOS has gained some window tiling of its own, but a dedicated window manager still does more: keyboard shortcuts for halves and thirds, snapping by dragging, or full automatic tiling. These are open source and free.
The apps
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1. Rectangle
Rectangle is a window manager heavily based on Spectacle, written in Swift. Move and resize windows with keyboard shortcuts or by dragging them to a screen edge. The easiest place to start.
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2. AeroSpace
AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS. A tiling window manager in the style of i3: windows arrange themselves, and you drive everything from the keyboard.
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3. Amethyst
Automatic tiling window manager for macOS. Automatic tiling in the style of xmonad. Windows fill the screen in a layout you choose and re-flow as you open and close them.
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4. Loop
Window management made elegant. Window management with a radial menu: hold a key, move the pointer towards where the window should go.
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5. OmniWM
A Flexible and Modern Tiling Window Manager.
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6. SwiftShift
Sweet window management for macOS.
Order is by GitHub stars among apps that install as a ready-made Mac app. Descriptions are the developers' own; versions and star counts are refreshed with the catalog.
Snapping tools such as Rectangle change nothing until you ask. Tiling managers such as AeroSpace and Amethyst take over the layout. If you have never used a tiling manager, start with a snapping tool.
Every window manager needs the Accessibility permission to move other apps' windows. macOS asks for it the first time you run the app.
Install them in one click
OpenDMG is a free, open source app store for open source Mac apps. It downloads each app from its developer's own GitHub release, checks it, and keeps it up to date. No account is needed.