Best Mac Window Manager (2026)

Free and paid window managers, compared honestly. Updated August 2026.

macOS can finally snap a window to half the screen, but that's about where it stops: no thirds on the keyboard, no grid you draw yourself, and no way to save a whole arrangement and bring it back later. So if you tile windows all day, you reach for a dedicated window manager. There are excellent ones in 2026, free and paid, and they sort into a few camps. Here's an honest look at each and where it fits. Full disclosure: I make one of them (DockApp), and I'll tell you plainly when a free or single-purpose tool is the better pick.

At a glance

Prices reflect public information as of August 2026 and can change; check each app's site for the current figure.

First, the built-in option

Since macOS Sequoia you can drag a window to a screen edge, click and hold the green button, or press Fn+Control+arrow to snap to halves and quarters. If you only ever split the screen in two now and then, that may be all you need. The moment you want thirds from the keyboard, a custom grid, or to save a layout and restore it, you've outgrown it — that's what the apps below are for.

Rectangle: free snapping, the default for most people

Rectangle is the free, open-source standard. It snaps windows to halves, thirds, quarters, and sixths with keyboard shortcuts or by dragging to an edge, and it's fast and reliable. For most people who just want proper snapping, Rectangle is the answer. What it doesn't do is save whole layouts, switch between windows, or preview them — it does the one job, well. (For a direct comparison, see DockApp vs Rectangle.)

Loop: free, and a genuinely nice twist

Loop is free and open source, and instead of shortcuts-per-position it pops a radial menu you flick toward the zone you want. It's polished and worth a look if Rectangle's keyboard-first approach doesn't click for you. Like Rectangle, it's snapping-only — no saved layouts, switcher, or previews.

Magnet: cheap, polished, App Store simple

Magnet is the popular paid pick, a few dollars on the App Store, sitting between Rectangle and the layout tools: simpler than Moom, a touch more polished than the free options, with drag zones and shortcuts for halves, thirds, and quarters. If you'd rather pay a little for a tidy App Store app than run an open-source one, it's a fine choice. It doesn't save layouts either. See DockApp vs Magnet →

Moom: the layout specialist

Moom ($15, one-time) is the app people name when they want saved layouts. It snaps via a grid popover and, crucially, can save the positions of all your windows and restore them from the menu bar or a shortcut. If saved layouts are the one feature you're missing and you don't want anything else, Moom is the specialist. DockApp's edge over it is that saved layouts come alongside a real window switcher, live previews, and a customizable Dock in one app. (New to this? See the guide to saving and restoring window layouts on Mac.) See DockApp vs Moom →

BetterSnapTool: snapping plus basic saved layouts

BetterSnapTool is a long-running, cheap App Store option for drag-corner and shortcut snapping, and it can save a multi-window layout to a shortcut and recall it. It's a solid, low-cost middle ground if you want a little more than Rectangle without going all the way to Moom.

DockApp: snapping, saved layouts, a switcher, and previews in one app

This is the one I make, so here's the honest positioning. Each tool above solves one slice of window management. DockApp puts the whole thing together. It snaps to halves, thirds, quarters, sixths, eighths, or a grid you draw, and it saves the whole arrangement as a named layout you drop back into place with one click — build a writing layout, a coding layout, and a review layout once, then switch between them like desktops. On top of that it adds a real ⌘Tab switcher with a thumbnail of every window, live window previews when you hover the Dock, and a Dock you can reshape — transparent, tinted, bordered, custom icons, groups, badges, a shelf, and live widgets.

It's built entirely on public Apple APIs and notarized, with no SIP disabling and no code injection, and nothing leaves your Mac (no accounts, no tracking). One-time $9.99 (launch price), up to three Macs, 14-day refund, on macOS 26+.

Straight talk: if you only want free snapping, get Rectangle. If you only want saved layouts, Moom is the specialist. DockApp is for the person who wants snapping and saved layouts and a switcher and previews and a customizable Dock, and would rather have one native app than four that don't know about each other.

Which should you pick?

• Free snapping → Rectangle (or Loop for a radial menu).
• Paid, App Store simple → Magnet.
• Saved layouts only → Moom (or BetterSnapTool for a cheaper, basic version).
• Snapping + saved layouts + switcher + previews + a customizable Dock, one native app → DockApp.

Want the wider Dock picture too — previews, switching, taskbars? See the best Mac Dock apps roundup, the guide to switching between windows on Mac, or the deep dives on DockApp vs uBar, vs ActiveDock, vs DockDoor, and vs Rectangle.