DockApp vs Moom (2026)

The deepest window-layout engine on the Mac, or saved layouts bundled with previews, switching, and a better Dock? An honest head-to-head. Updated August 2026.

Moom is the app Mac power users name when they want serious window layouts, and it earns that reputation: it's a deep, scriptable layout engine that snapshots your windows and drops them back into place, and it's kept current (macOS 26 Tahoe-ready). DockApp isn't trying to out-power Moom's layout engine. It's a broader, cheaper tool: saved layouts, yes, but bundled with live window previews, a real switcher, and a reshapeable Dock. Full disclosure: I make DockApp, so I'll be straight about where Moom is the better pick.

At a glance

What Moom is best at

Moom ($15, direct from Many Tricks, macOS 10.13+ and Tahoe-ready) is a layout power tool. Save a snapshot of your windows and restore it any time — Moom repositions your open windows into the arrangement. Its layouts go deep: app-specific layouts that match windows by title (your "2026 Taxes" document returns to its exact spot), "any window" layouts that fill slots with your most-recently-used windows, layouts that apply automatically when you connect a display, plus full AppleScript control and chained actions. Day to day it snaps with a customizable grid palette on the green-button hover, drag-to-edge zones, and the keyboard. It has a free trial and is very actively maintained (latest 4.5.1, mid-2026). If a powerful, scriptable layout engine is what you're after, Moom is superb and this page won't talk you out of it.

What DockApp does differently

DockApp is a Dock enhancement first, and a window manager second. It has saved layouts too — arrange your windows, save the layout, and re-apply it to your open windows in one click (the same core idea as Moom). But it surrounds that with things Moom doesn't do: hover a Dock icon for live window previews; use a real ⌘Tab switcher that flips through every window, not just apps; and reshape the Dock itself — transparent or tinted, custom icons, groups, badges, a shelf, and live widgets, plus focus-follows-mouse and multi-display support. It's built entirely on public Apple APIs and notarized, with nothing leaving your Mac — no accounts, no tracking. It's a one-time $9.99 (launch price), up to three Macs, 14-day refund, on macOS 26+.

Where Moom wins: its layout engine is simpler in DockApp — no window-title matching, most-recently-used slots, or AppleScript. If you want the most configurable layouts on the Mac, that's Moom. If you want good saved layouts as part of a previews-plus-switcher-plus-Dock package for less money, that's DockApp.

The saved-layouts question

This is where the two overlap most, so let's be exact. Both save a window arrangement and re-apply it to your currently-open windows — that part isn't unique to either app. The real difference is depth versus breadth. Moom's engine is deeper: match windows by title, fill a layout with your most-recently-used windows, apply automatically on a display change, and drive all of it with AppleScript. DockApp's layouts are simpler — save an arrangement, re-apply it in a click — but they come alongside previews, a real switcher, and a customizable Dock. If saved layouts are the only thing you care about and you want them as powerful and scriptable as possible, Moom is the specialist. (See the full guide to saving window layouts on Mac, including a free option.)

Price

The current Moom 4 is $15 (direct from Many Tricks); DockApp is $9.99. So DockApp is the cheaper of the two, and it bundles previews, switching, and the Dock on top of layouts. Two honest points in Moom's favor: Moom offers a genuine free trial (DockApp gives you a 14-day refund instead), and there's a legacy "Moom Classic" on the Mac App Store for $6.99 — but that's the older version, not the current Moom 4. For the current apps, DockApp costs less and does more categories; Moom is the deeper layout tool. Pay for the one that matches what you actually want.

Which should you pick?

• You want the most powerful, scriptable window-layout engine, and layouts are the priority → Moom ($15).
• You want good saved layouts plus live window previews, a real ⌘Tab switcher, and a reshapeable Dock in one app, for less → DockApp ($9.99).

Comparing the wider field? See the full roundup of Mac window managers (Rectangle, Magnet, Moom, and more), the guide to saving window layouts on Mac, or the DockApp vs Rectangle and DockApp vs Magnet head-to-heads.