Ribbon alternatives for Mac
Ribbon is a new scrolling window manager. If you're looking for an alternative, you may want a trial first, a snapping mode as well, or layouts that follow you between desks.
1. Transom: snap and scroll, with desks that remember
Transom gives each display either Snap (halves, thirds, maximize) or a scrolling Strip, and restores your layout automatically when you dock or undock. $19 once with a 14-day free trial. Choose it if you want to choose Snap or Strip per display, want layouts restored when you dock, and want to try it free for 14 days first.
2. Rectangle: snapping
Rectangle is the most recommended free window snapper for Mac: keyboard shortcuts and drag-to-edge snap areas for halves, thirds and quarters.
Price: Free (Rectangle Pro is paid) · Requirements: macOS 10.15+. Good if you only need to snap a window to a half or a third now and then, and you want it free.
3. Magnet: snapping
Magnet is a long-running paid snapper on the Mac App Store, with drag-to-edge snapping and keyboard shortcuts.
Price: $4.99 (Mac App Store) · Requirements: Recent macOS. Good if you want the simplest possible snapping from the App Store.
4. Moom: snapping
Moom by Many Tricks moves and zooms windows and can save window layouts, including layouts tied to display arrangements. It's the closest older app to Transom's Desks.
Price: $15 direct ($6.99 Moom Classic on the App Store) · Requirements: Recent macOS. Good if you like crafting precise saved layouts by hand and enjoy lots of options.
5. AeroSpace: tiling
AeroSpace is an i3-like tiling window manager for macOS with its own virtual workspaces and a text config file. It doesn't require disabling SIP.
Price: Free · Requirements: macOS 13+. Good if you want i3-style tiling and are happy living in a config file.
6. yabai: tiling
yabai is a scriptable binary-space-partitioning tiling window manager, usually paired with skhd for shortcuts.
Price: Free · Requirements: macOS; some features need SIP partly disabled. Good if you want maximum scriptability and accept the SIP trade-off.
7. Amethyst: tiling
Amethyst is an automatic tiling window manager in the style of xmonad, with a settings UI.
Price: Free · Requirements: Recent macOS. Good if you like xmonad-style automatic layouts.
8. Loop: snapping
Loop is a free, elegant window snapper built around a radial menu triggered by a key.
Price: Free · Requirements: macOS 13+. Good if you love the radial menu and only need snapping.
9. ChainYourMac: scrolling
ChainYourMac is a paid scrolling window manager inspired by PaperWM and niri, with stacks, tabbed columns and pinned columns.
Price: $19.99 one-time · Requirements: macOS 13+, Apple silicon. Good if you want the most feature-rich pure scrolling manager.
10. LanesMac: scrolling
LanesMac is a scrolling tiling window manager for macOS with stacks, tabbed columns, window search and an overview.
Price: $19.99 one-time, 7-day trial · Requirements: macOS 13+. Good if you want pure scrolling with window search.
11. OmniWM: scrolling
OmniWM is a free, open-source window manager with niri-style scrolling columns and Hyprland-style dwindle tiling.
Price: Free · Requirements: Apple silicon, recent macOS. Good if you want a free niri/Hyprland-like setup and enjoy tinkering.
12. Paneru: scrolling
Paneru is an open-source sliding/tiling window manager written in Rust: an infinite strip per display, where opening a window never resizes the others.
Price: Free · Requirements: macOS, installed via Homebrew or cargo. Good if you're comfortable with Homebrew and config files and want free scrolling.
How to choose
Snappers are for placing a window when you ask. Tilers arrange everything but divide the screen. Scrolling managers keep windows full-size on a strip. If you move between a laptop and a monitor, check how each one handles docking. Our guide covers it: why windows move when you dock.