Layoutish vs Stay: A Stay Alternative for Saving Mac Window Layouts

If Stay still puts your windows back the way you like, keep it: it's free now. Pick Layoutish if you want named layouts with a hotkey each, layouts on a schedule and closed apps opened again, from an app whose latest release came out on 7 October 2026, for $9.99 once.

Both save where your windows are and put them back when your displays change. Layoutish is ours. Every fact about Stay here comes from Cordless Dog's own site.

What Cordless Dog's site shows about Stay

On 13 October 2026:

• The newest version is 1.5.1, from 29 July 2025, in Stay's own update feed. Its release note, in full: "Stay is now freeware."
• The version before, 1.5, came out on 24 January 2025. It added Shortcuts support and compatibility fixes for recent macOS versions.
• Before that, 1.4 came out on 23 June 2021, and its release is the newest post on Cordless Dog's blog.
• The site gives Stay's minimum macOS, 14.6 for 1.5.1, and names no newer macOS it was tested with.
• Nothing on the site says Stay has stopped, or that work on it goes on.

So Stay is free, and its last update came out in July 2025. If you're on macOS 26 or 27, try it on your own Mac before you rely on it.

Layoutish and Stay side by side

Checked on 13 October 2026, on Cordless Dog's own site: Stay, its update feed, the 1.5.1 release note, its blog and its FAQ.

Where Stay is the better pick

• It's free. Stay became freeware with version 1.5.1.
• Windows put back as an app opens. Stay can restore an app's windows whenever that app launches.
• Pattern matching. Stay can match windows by their titles, using regular expressions.
• Scripts. Stay can run an AppleScript or shell script when a set of displays becomes active, and since 1.5 it has Shortcuts actions.

Where Layoutish is the better pick

• Named layouts, each with a hotkey. Save as many layouts as you like, such as Work and Calls, and apply one with a click, its own hotkey, or the Quick Switcher (⌘⇧L), which finds a layout by its name or by an app in it.
• 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 a layout that aren't running are opened and put in place. Closed Finder windows open again at their folders.
• Front to back. Windows come back stacked as you left them, and apps you've hidden with Command-H stay hidden.
• One display at a time. Save or apply only one display's windows, so a layout for the big screen leaves the laptop alone.
• Checked placement. Layoutish checks that each window landed where it was saved, and tries once more for any that didn't.
• Recent releases and help. Layoutish 1.3.8 came out on 7 October 2026. Check Layoutish, in its settings, says what's working and how to fix what isn't, and Email Support starts an email to us.

What Layoutish can't do

• Move windows on 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.
• Snap a window. Layoutish has no shortcuts for halves, thirds or corners. Keep a snapping tool such as Rectangle for that.
• Reopen documents or tabs. It saves where windows are, not what's in them.

It needs one permission: Device Control and Data Access, called Accessibility before macOS 27. On macOS 27 it also asks to control Finder, the first time you save a layout with a Finder window, so closed Finder windows can open again at their folders.

Moving from Stay

1. Arrange your windows the way Stay used to put them back.
2. In Layoutish, click Save Current Layout, give it a name, and save.
3. Do the same for each setup you use, such as the laptop alone and the desk.
4. When your displays change to a set Layoutish doesn't know, its menu offers Save as Profile. Choose the layout that profile applies.

Layoutish's trial is 7 days with every feature, and asks for no card: start it here. It's $9.99 once if you keep it.

Want more than one of our apps? The Appish Suite has all four for $26.99.

Common questions

Is Stay still maintained?

Cordless Dog's site doesn't say either way. Its update feed lists 1.5.1, from 29 July 2025, as the newest version, and that release's only note is that Stay is now freeware.

Is Stay free now?

Yes. The release note for Stay 1.5.1 says "Stay is now freeware."

Can Layoutish restore my windows when I plug in a monitor?

Yes. Save a display profile for that set of displays and choose its layout. When the displays connect, Layoutish applies the layout about two seconds later. That needs Auto-Apply on Display Change, which is on at first, and the layout saved at the display sizes you use now.

Does Layoutish restore windows after a restart?

Not by itself: opening Layoutish, at login included, applies no layout. Apply one with a click, a hotkey or the Quick Switcher, and Launch Apps on Restore opens the apps that aren't running yet.

Can I import my Stay setup?

No. Layoutish imports only its own export files. Arrange your windows once and save them as a layout instead.