Comparison · checked November 2026
Transom vs ChainYourMac
ChainYourMac is a paid scrolling window manager inspired by PaperWM and niri, with stacks, tabbed columns and pinned columns.
Short answer: choose ChainYourMac if you want the most feature-rich pure scrolling manager. Choose Transom if you want Snap and Strip side by side and automatic dock/undock desks.
At a glance
| Transom | ChainYourMac | |
|---|---|---|
| Type | Snap + scrolling Strip | Scrolling |
| Price | $19 once (1 Mac) · $29 (3 Macs) · 14-day free trial | $19.99 one-time |
| License | Paid, one-time | Paid, closed source |
| Requirements | macOS 14+, Apple silicon | macOS 13+, Apple silicon |
| Restores layouts when you dock/undock | Yes. Desks restore layouts on dock/undock | No |
| Setup | Settings window, no config file needed | Settings or none |
What ChainYourMac does well
- Rich scrolling features (stacks, tabs, pin)
- Per-display strips
- Layout persists across restarts
Where it stops
- Scrolling only
- No snapping mode for displays where you don't want a strip
Switching from ChainYourMac
- Transom's Strip shortcuts also use ⌃⌥ plus arrows, R for width and brackets for stacks.
We make Transom, so weigh this page accordingly. Spotted something out of date about ChainYourMac? Email support@transommac.com and we'll fix it.