Comparison — FazerWM

Legend

✅ Full support · ✅ PRO = Pro-only feature in FazerWM · 🟡 Partial / limited / via plugin · ❌ Not supported

The Fundamental Distinction

macOS "window managers" fall into two camps. Snap utilities (Rectangle, Magnet, Moom, BetterTouchTool, BetterSnapTool) move and resize windows to preset regions when you press a shortcut or drag. They do not keep the windows arranged. The next window that you open does not fill the gap.

Tiling window managers (FazerWM, Amethyst, AeroSpace, yabai) arrange every window into a live layout at all times. When you open, close, or move a window, the layout reflows automatically. FazerWM is a tiling manager. It has a unique scrollable column model and first-class visual polish.

At a Glance

App	Category	Price	License
FazerWM	Tiling WM (scrollable columns)	Free + Pro	Proprietary
Rectangle	Snap utility	Free (Pro ~$10)	Proprietary
Magnet	Snap utility	~$8	Proprietary
Moom	Snap + layout utility	~$10	Proprietary
Amethyst	Tiling WM	Free	Open source
AeroSpace	Tiling WM (i3-like)	Free	Open source
yabai	Tiling WM (BSP)	Free	Open source
BetterTouchTool	Automation suite (snap is one feature)	from $9 / 2 yr	Proprietary
BetterSnapTool	Snap utility	~$3	Proprietary

💡 Pricing note

The prices are approximate and can change. The open-source tiling managers (Amethyst, AeroSpace, yabai) are free. But they trade polish and ease of use for power and configuration. yabai also requires that you partially disable SIP for full functionality.

Layout & Tiling

Feature	FazerWM	Rectangle	Magnet	Moom	Amethyst	AeroSpace	yabai	BetterTouchTool	BetterSnapTool
Live auto-tiling (reflows on open/close)	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Infinite scrollable columns	✅	❌	❌	❌	🟡	✅	❌	❌	❌
Configurable gaps	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Preset / saved column widths	✅	❌	❌	🟡	❌	✅	❌	❌	❌
Snap to screen regions (halves / quarters / thirds)	❌	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅
Hotkey resize (grow / shrink width)	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅
Instant, animation-free transitions (snappy)	✅	✅	✅	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅
Configurable focused window location	✅	❌	❌	❌	🟡	✅	✅	❌	❌

Takeaway: Only the tiling managers auto-arrange windows. FazerWM and AeroSpace support scrollable columns that grow beyond the screen edge. No other app does this: you can have a 20-window column and scroll through it. yabai and Amethyst shrink every window to fit. This gets cramped fast. FazerWM resizes with grow/shrink hotkeys, a 4-finger swipe, an edge drag, and preset column widths. It does not snap to fixed screen fractions. It sizes columns, not screen regions. FazerWM also applies the window frames directly, with no transition animation. The focus switches and layout changes are instant and lag-free. (Moom, by contrast, animates every move. It feels slower as a result.)

Workspaces & Spaces

Feature	FazerWM	Rectangle	Magnet	Moom	Amethyst	AeroSpace	yabai	BetterTouchTool	BetterSnapTool
Numbered workspaces (1–9)	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Named workspaces	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌	❌	❌
Coupled workspaces (sync across displays)	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Workspaces independent of macOS Spaces	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌	❌	❌
Overview / visual workspace picker	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌

Takeaway: FazerWM and AeroSpace are the only two that build their own workspace model. They do not drive macOS Spaces. This means no flicker, no Spaces reordering surprises, and reliable behavior. yabai and Amethyst layer on top of macOS Spaces. (yabai needs SIP tweaks for full control.) FazerWM is the only one that offers coupled workspaces. These switch in sync across all displays.

Navigation & Focus

Feature	FazerWM	Rectangle	Magnet	Moom	Amethyst	AeroSpace	yabai	BetterTouchTool	BetterSnapTool
Directional focus (hjkl / arrows)	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌
Configurable focus-after-close	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	🟡	❌	❌	❌
Pointer follows focus	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Cross-display wrap (continuous)	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	🟡	✅	❌	❌
Cross-display wrap detent (anti-stray)	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Move window to next/previous display	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅	✅

Takeaway: FazerWM is the only manager that combines a configurable pointer-follows-focus policy with a two-press wrap detent. The detent prevents an accidental keypress from moving you onto another display. AeroSpace and yabai can cross displays, but they do not have the detent guard.

Multi-Monitor & Display Hotplug

Feature	FazerWM	Rectangle	Magnet	Moom	Amethyst	AeroSpace	yabai	BetterTouchTool	BetterSnapTool
Remembers window layout across display changes	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Smart placement on a new display setup (by role)	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌

Takeaway: When your display set changes (dock, undock, wake from sleep), FazerWM is the only manager that remembers how your windows were arranged across displays and puts them back when a setup reconnects (Free remembers two setups; Pro remembers unlimited). Switch to a brand-new setup and Pro places your windows by their role: primary windows to the primary, side-monitor windows to the side monitors, merging when there are fewer. Free gathers them on the primary. It also waits out brief dock blips and staggered wake, so a late-arriving display does not trigger a half-finished reshuffle. Every other manager just re-tiles whatever windows macOS dropped onto the remaining display; none remember per-display arrangement or place windows by role. (Moom's saved layouts are a manual recall feature, not automatic hotplug memory.)

Visual & UI Polish

Feature	FazerWM	Rectangle	Magnet	Moom	Amethyst	AeroSpace	yabai	BetterTouchTool	BetterSnapTool
Focus ring / window border	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌	❌
Tabbed columns (i3-style tabs)	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	🟡	❌	❌	❌
Tab indicator customization	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Tab tooltip thumbnails	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Live window thumbnails (overview)	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Polished settings UI	✅	✅	🟡	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅

Takeaway: This is where FazerWM separates itself. The open-source tiling managers are powerful but visually bare. They expect you to live in a text config file and a terminal. FazerWM ships a full settings app, a thumbnail-driven overview mode, customizable focus rings, and live tab thumbnails. yabai is the only other one with window borders. AeroSpace has a stacking layout that approximates tabs. (The windows are overlaid. You switch between them.) It does not have true tabbed containers. So FazerWM remains the only manager with real tabbed columns. These come with scrollable content, tab indicators, and live thumbnails.

Automation & Rules

Feature	FazerWM	Rectangle	Magnet	Moom	Amethyst	AeroSpace	yabai	BetterTouchTool	BetterSnapTool
Window rules (match → action)	✅ PRO	❌	❌	🟡	✅	✅	✅	✅	🟡
Auto-float dialogs & modals (built-in)	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌
Workspace assignment rules	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅	✅	❌
GUI rule editor	✅ PRO	❌	❌	🟡	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌

Takeaway: Power users get serious automation from AeroSpace, yabai, and BetterTouchTool. But this is mostly through config files or scripting. FazerWM Pro brings the same rule power into a clickable GUI. (For example, float dialogs, assign Slack to the "work" workspace, or group terminals into tabs.)

Drag & Drop

Feature	FazerWM	Rectangle	Magnet	Moom	Amethyst	AeroSpace	yabai	BetterTouchTool	BetterSnapTool
Drag-to-edge snap zones	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅
Drag across screens	✅	✅	✅	✅	❌	❌	❌	✅	✅
Column split via drag	✅	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌
Drag window onto column to tab	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	🟡	❌	❌	❌
Drag entire column by title bar	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌

Takeaway: The snap utilities shine on drag-to-edge. That is their whole model. The tiling managers (FazerWM included) handle drag-and-drop differently. You split and merge columns. You do not snap to screen quadrants. The drag-to-tab and the drag-whole-column interactions of FazerWM Pro are unique. They are very fast for building tabbed layouts with a mouse.

Input Methods (Keyboard, Mouse & Gestures)

Feature	FazerWM	Rectangle	Magnet	Moom	Amethyst	AeroSpace	yabai	BetterTouchTool	BetterSnapTool
Full keyboard ⇄ mouse parity (both complete)	✅	✅	✅	🟡	❌	❌	❌	🟡	✅
3/4-finger swipe (workspace / focus)	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌
2-finger swipe inside overlays	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌
Gesture customization	✅ PRO	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	❌	✅	❌

Takeaway: FazerWM is the only tiling manager where both the mouse and the keyboard are complete, first-class input methods. Its mouse and gesture vocabulary is rich. It includes drag-to-split, drag-to-tab, drag a whole column, edge-resize, overview drag-and-drop, and multi-finger swipes. Every one of these actions has a keyboard equivalent (see the Keybindings page): you are never forced to reach for the mouse (or the keyboard). The open-source tilers (Amethyst, AeroSpace, yabai) are keyboard-only. You cannot arrange windows with the mouse. The input parity is one-directional there. BetterTouchTool is the gesture king for arbitrary actions. But it is not a tiling manager. Run it alongside one.

Should You Switch?

From a snap utility (Rectangle, Magnet, Moom, BetterSnapTool): If you are tired of re-arranging manually each time you open a window, FazerWM (or any tiling manager) is the upgrade. FazerWM is the best choice if you want that upgrade without giving up a polished GUI and visual feedback.

From Amethyst: FazerWM offers scrollable columns, named workspaces, a settings UI, instant lag-free transitions, focus rings, and drag-and-drop. Amethyst lacks most of these. Switch if you want something more modern and polished.

From AeroSpace: Both are i3-influenced tiling managers with their own workspace model. Pick AeroSpace if you like to write config files and if you want a maximalist feature set for free. Pick FazerWM for scrollable columns, a GUI, gestures, and visual features like focus rings and tab thumbnails.

From yabai: FazerWM gives you tiling without SIP changes. It also adds a GUI, gestures, and visual polish that yabai does not have. Stay with yabai if you need its deep scripting and its BSP-only discipline.

From BetterTouchTool: Keep BTT for its unmatched gesture and automation engine. Run FazerWM alongside it for the actual tiling. The BTT window features are snap-based, not a live layout.

FazerWM vs. Other macOS Window Managers