Layoutish vs Rectangle vs Magnet: Mac Window Managers Compared
Rectangle and Magnet snap one window at a time. Layoutish saves a whole desk of windows and puts it back. Prices, trials and features side by side, Rectangle Pro included, and which to pick.
Pick Rectangle if free window snapping is the point, or Magnet if you'd rather pay once on the Mac App Store for a snapping tool. Pick Layoutish if you want a whole desk of windows saved and put back, by a hotkey, on a schedule or when you dock, for $9.99 once.
They do different jobs, and many people run two of them. A snapping tool moves the window you're in, now. Layoutish puts every window on every display back where you saved it. Rectangle Pro, Rectangle's paid version, does some of both. Layoutish is ours. Every fact about Rectangle and Magnet here comes from their makers' own sites, and Magnet's price from its Mac App Store listing, which Magnet's site links to.
Layoutish, Rectangle and Magnet side by side
| Layoutish | Rectangle | Rectangle Pro | Magnet | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What it does | Saves whole layouts and puts them back | Snaps windows | Snaps windows, and saves whole workspaces | Snaps windows |
| Price | $9.99 once | Free and open source | Paid: its page showed £7.69 to us in the UK | $4.99 once, on the Mac App Store |
| Trial | 7 days, every feature, no card | Not needed | 10 days | None mentioned |
| macOS | 13.5 (Ventura) or later | 14 or later, with an older version for 10.15 to 13 | 13.5 or later | 13 (Ventura) or later |
| Snap a window to halves, thirds or corners | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Save every window's place and put it back | Yes | No | Yes, as workspaces | Not mentioned |
| Apply a layout when displays connect or disconnect | Yes, with display profiles | No | Yes | Not mentioned |
| Apply a layout on a schedule | Yes | No | Not mentioned | Not mentioned |
Checked on 13 October 2026, on the makers' own sites: Rectangle, its comparison of versions, Rectangle Pro, Magnet and Magnet's App Store listing.
Where Rectangle is the better pick
- It's free and open source, under the MIT licence.
- Snapping, in detail. Keyboard shortcuts for halves, quarters, thirds, fourths and sixths. Drag a window to a screen edge or corner to snap it, and repeat a shortcut to cycle through sizes.
- Rectangle Pro, for one app that both snaps and saves whole workspaces, applied with one shortcut or when your displays connect or disconnect. Its trial lasts 10 days, and a licence works on 3 devices at a time.
Where Magnet is the better pick
- The Mac App Store. Magnet is sold there, at $4.99, as a one-time purchase.
- Vertical displays. Magnet makes thirds along the sides of a vertical display, and supports up to six external displays.
- Three ways in. Snap by dragging, with keyboard shortcuts, or from its menu bar menu.
Where Layoutish is the better pick
- A whole desk in one go. A layout holds every window's position, size and front-to-back order, on every display, minimised windows included. Apply it with a click, its own hotkey, or the Quick Switcher (⌘⇧L), which finds a layout by its name or by an app in it.
- Docking and undocking. Save a display profile for each setup, such as the laptop alone and the desk with two monitors. When your displays change to that set, Layoutish applies its layout by itself, about two seconds later.
- Schedules. A layout can apply itself at a set time on the days you choose.
- Closed apps. With Launch Apps on Restore, on at first, apps in the layout that aren't running are opened and put in place. Closed Finder windows open again at their folders.
- Checked placement. Layoutish checks that each window landed where it was saved, and tries once more for any that didn't.
Where Rectangle stops
Free Rectangle snaps the window you're in. Rectangle's own comparison puts saving whole workspaces in Rectangle Pro only, and its notes say it can't move windows to other desktops (Spaces). So with free Rectangle, after a restart or an undock you put each window back yourself, one shortcut at a time.
That doesn't matter if snapping is all you want. People go looking for more once they're tired of setting up the same windows every morning, or after every undock.
What Layoutish can't do
- Snap a window. Layoutish has no shortcuts for halves, thirds or corners. Keep a snapping tool for that.
- Reach other Spaces. A layout saves the windows on every Space, but macOS gives apps no public way to move a window on a Space you're not looking at. Switch to that Space and apply the layout again.
- Full-screen windows. A full-screen window is a Space of its own, so a layout leaves it as it is.
Layoutish needs one permission, Device Control and Data Access (called Accessibility before macOS 27), to read and move windows. On macOS 27 it also asks to control Finder, once, the first time you save a layout with a Finder window, so closed Finder windows can open again at their folders.
How to try them
Rectangle is free to download, and Rectangle Pro's trial lasts 10 days. Magnet is $4.99 on the Mac App Store. Layoutish's trial is 7 days with every feature, and asks for no card: start it here. Save a layout of your desk, move everything, and apply it.
Want more than one of our apps? The Appish Suite has all four for $26.99.
The roundup of Mac window managers covers the rest, free and paid, and macOS's own tiling. If you used Stay, see Layoutish vs Stay.
Common questions
Does Layoutish replace Rectangle, or work alongside it?
Alongside it. Rectangle snaps windows, and Layoutish puts a whole saved arrangement back. They don't get in each other's way. Just don't give both apps the same keyboard shortcut.
Is Rectangle still worth using?
Yes, for snapping. It's free and open source, and version 2.0.3 came out on 5 October 2026. Version 2 needs macOS 14, and an older version covers macOS 10.15 to 13.
Rectangle Pro or Layoutish?
Both save a whole set of windows and can apply it when displays connect or disconnect. Pick Rectangle Pro if you want snapping and saved workspaces in one app. Pick Layoutish if you want layouts on a schedule, a Quick Switcher that finds a layout as you type, and closed Finder windows opened again at their folders, beside whichever snapping tool you like.
Does Magnet save window layouts?
Neither Magnet's site nor its App Store listing mentions it. Magnet snaps windows into tiles, by dragging, by keyboard shortcuts or from its menu.
Can Layoutish open the apps in a layout?
Yes. With Launch Apps on Restore on, as it is at first, applying a layout opens its apps that aren't running, waits up to 10 seconds for each app's first window, and puts it in place.