AeroSpace alternatives for Mac: 7 honest picks

Why people look for an AeroSpace alternative

AeroSpace is an "i3-like", tree-based tiling window manager: free, MIT-licensed, with about 23.1k GitHub stars as of September 2026. It never needs SIP disabled. Most complaints about it are really its deliberate choices, so let's be fair about what they are:

• Emulated workspaces. AeroSpace ignores macOS Spaces. Windows on inactive workspaces are moved off to the bottom-right or bottom-left corner. It's part of a design that never needs SIP, but it can surprise you in Mission Control or when you look at the corners.
• Public beta and not notarized. The project is at v0.21.3-Beta (as of September 2026) and says to expect breaking changes until 1.0. The README says it isn't notarized, and the Homebrew cask (brew install --cask nikitabobko/tap/aerospace) removes the quarantine flag for you.
• No configuration GUI, ever. Everything lives in ~/.aerospace.toml, and the README says there "will never" be a GUI.
• Minimal visuals by design. Borders, transparency and animations are non-goals. You get gaps and bar callbacks.
• The layout model. AeroSpace offers tiles and accordion layouts. Every new window splits space with the others, and there's no scrolling layout.

If none of these bother you, stay. If one does, here are the options.

The alternatives at a glance

1. Glidro: best for scrolling tiling with a GUI

Glidro takes a different approach from AeroSpace's tree. Windows sit side by side on an endless horizontal strip, and opening a window never resizes the others. You scroll the strip with the keyboard or a 3- or 4-finger trackpad swipe. It's the Niri/PaperWM model, built as a native SwiftUI app with the Glidro Engine.

It covers several of AeroSpace's deliberate gaps: it needs no SIP changes, every setting lives in a GUI and applies instantly, and navigation uses keyboard commands and trackpad input. It has stacks and tabbed columns, which play a similar role to AeroSpace's accordion. It works with macOS Spaces instead of emulating them, and gives each display its own strip. It needs only the Accessibility permission and no SIP changes. The trade-offs: it's paid ($9.99 one time for a lifetime license), not open source, and Apple silicon only. Like any Mac window manager, it can't push a window fully off screen, so a small tab of a hidden window can show in a bottom corner. Full head-to-head: Glidro vs AeroSpace.

2. OmniWM: best free option on macOS 26 Tahoe

OmniWM lets you pick Niri-style scrolling or Hyprland-style Dwindle for each workspace. It's free and open source (GPL-2.0), notarized, needs no SIP changes, and is very actively developed (v0.7.0 as of September 2026). It has a settings GUI plus settings.toml, and adds extras like a quake terminal, scratchpads, an overview, a command palette and the omniwmctl CLI. The requirement to know about: macOS 26 Tahoe or later on Apple silicon. If you're on Tahoe and want free, it's a strong pick. Compared in detail: Glidro vs OmniWM.

3. yabai: best for scriptable BSP

yabai is the veteran BSP tiler (MIT, about 29.6k stars, v7.1.25 as of September 2026), with bsp, stack and float layouts, configured from ~/.yabairc. Hotkeys come from skhd or any similar tool. Tiling works with SIP on. Space management, animations and a few other extras need SIP partially disabled. See yabai without SIP for the exact list, and Glidro vs yabai.

4. GlazeWM: i3-inspired, new on macOS

GlazeWM is "inspired by i3wm" and went cross-platform with v3.10.0 in March 2026 (brew install --cask glzr-io/tap/glazewm, GPL-3.0). If you liked AeroSpace's i3 flavour, it's worth a look. We couldn't verify how complete the Mac version is yet, so treat it as new.

5. Amethyst: automatic layouts, xmonad-style

Amethyst arranges windows into automatic layouts in the style of xmonad. Consider it if you want tiling that happens without you managing a tree. Our comparison: Glidro vs Amethyst.

6. komorebi for Mac: early days

komorebi for Mac is the macOS version of the Windows tiler, at v0.1.1 as of September 2026. Its CLI docs list a scrolling layout. Licensing matters here: it's free for personal use, but using it at work needs a paid commercial licence, and it isn't OSI open source. Install with brew install lgug2z/tap/komorebi-for-mac. More in komorebi for Mac.

7. Rectangle or Loop: if you don't really want tiling

Some people leave AeroSpace because they don't want a tiler at all. Rectangle and Loop move and resize a window when you ask, and nothing more. Loop does it with a radial menu (free, GPL-3.0, macOS 13+). See Glidro vs Rectangle and Glidro vs Loop.

Who should use what

• Stay on AeroSpace if you love i3-style trees, want free and open source, and don't mind a TOML file and no animations.
• Glidro if you want a layout that never reflows, a native app with GUI settings, on macOS 13 or later.
• OmniWM if you're on Tahoe and want free scrolling and dwindle, plus power-user extras.
• yabai if you want BSP you can script from the shell.
• Rectangle or Loop if you arrange a few windows now and then and don't need a manager.

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