# Glidro vs Amethyst: auto-tiling vs the scrolling strip

Glidro uses **Scrolling**. Glidro 1.1.0 is Developer ID signed and notarized by Apple. Release availability: [Payhip](https://payhip.com/b/HsS5T).

Source: /glidro-vs-amethyst  
Updated: 2026-10-06 · Author: Glidro

Amethyst is the friendly gateway into Mac tiling — free, automatic, xmonad-flavored. Glidro solves the thing Amethyst users most often complain about: **windows that resize themselves every time something opens**.

> **tl;dr:** [Amethyst](https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst) is free and the easiest way to try automatic tiling on macOS — if you don't mind windows resizing as others open and close. If that reflow is exactly what bothers you, [Glidro](/) ($9.99 before applicable taxes, one time) keeps every window at the size you set on a [scrolling strip](/#how-it-works), with trackpad gestures and a full GUI.

## Who should use which

|  | Amethyst | Glidro |
|---|---|---|
| Use if | You want free auto-tiling and don't mind reflow | Windows resizing themselves is the problem |
| Layout | Tall / wide / column cycles | Scrolling strip, never reflows |
| Price | Free | $9.99 before applicable taxes one time |
| Navigation | Keyboard shortcuts (xmonad-style) | Keyboard, trackpad swipe, Fn-drag to reorder |
| Skip if | Reflow drives you crazy | You want cycling geometric layouts |

## What Amethyst is

[Amethyst](https://github.com/ianyh/Amethyst) is a free, open-source tiling window manager inspired by xmonad. It automatically arranges your windows into cyclable layouts — tall (one main window, others stacked beside it), wide, fullscreen, column, and more — and you flip between layouts and shuffle windows with keyboard shortcuts. Unlike the terminal-first tilers, it has an actual preferences window, needs no SIP changes, and works minutes after installing. That's why it's so often the first tiling manager people try on a Mac, and it's earned its place.

Its limits are the flip side of its simplicity: the preferences GUI is basic, layout logic is ratio-based rather than precise, and apps with minimum window sizes (think Spotify or some Electron apps) can fight the layout engine. Development is community-driven, so polish arrives at community pace.

## What Glidro is

[Glidro](/) is a native macOS app — SwiftUI interface, Glidro Engine — built on the scrolling-strip model. Windows sit side by side on an [endless horizontal strip](/what-is-a-scrolling-window-manager) at the widths you choose. New windows never trigger a reflow; they open beside the focused window by default and the strip extends. You navigate by scrolling: a trackpad swipe with adjustable sensitivity, or [Vim-style Option shortcuts](/#shortcuts), with keyboard and trackpad navigation.

It's GUI-first everywhere — width presets, focus-follows-mouse, gestures, window rules, shortcut recording, all applied instantly — plus [window stacking](/#features), an independent strip per display, and native macOS Spaces integration.

## The reflow problem, named

Here's the trade at the center of this comparison. Amethyst's layouts divide the screen among however many windows exist. Open a fourth window in tall layout and the other three make room; close it and they expand back. The layout is always "correct" — and never stable. For some people that's the entire appeal: everything visible, always.

For everyone else, it's a slow drip of annoyance: your editor is a different width at 4pm than it was at 9am, and you never chose either. The strip model was invented for exactly this. Your editor is 60% wide because you made it 60% wide, and it will still be 60% wide next week. The screen doesn't re-divide; the strip just gets longer, and you scroll.

## Where Amethyst genuinely shines

Credit where due: Amethyst's on-ramp is unbeatable. Install it, grant Accessibility, and your windows are tiling before you've read any documentation — no config file, no CLI, no cost. For checking whether tiling suits you at all, it's the perfect experiment, and if the tall layout happens to match how you work, you may be done shopping entirely.

The friction shows up at the edges: apps with minimum window sizes can wrestle the layout engine, precise per-window sizing isn't really the model, and when a layout misbehaves your options are cycling to a different one or shuffling windows until it settles. None of that is disqualifying for a free tool — it's just where the ceiling is, and it's exactly the ceiling the strip model removes.

## Glidro vs Amethyst, side by side

|  | Amethyst | Glidro |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, open source | $9.99 before applicable taxes one time, lifetime |
| Layout model | Auto layouts (tall, wide, column…) | Scrolling horizontal strip |
| New window opens | Layout re-divides; others resize | Opens beside focus; scrolling widths stay the same |
| Layout stability | Reflows constantly | Never reflows |
| Configuration | Basic preferences GUI | Full GUI, applies instantly |
| Navigation | Keyboard shortcuts | Keyboard, trackpad swipe, Fn-drag to reorder |
| Window stacking | Layout-dependent | Yes — stack any column |
| Multi-monitor | Yes | Yes — independent strip per display |
| SIP changes | No | No |
| Support | Community / GitHub issues | Glidro email support |

## Which one should you pick?

### Choose Amethyst if…

- you want to try automatic tiling for free before deciding how deep to go;
- everything-visible-at-once layouts are the point for you, and reflow doesn't bother you;
- xmonad-style cyclable layouts are your favorite feature.

### Choose Glidro if…

- you tried auto-tiling and the constant resizing is what pushed you away;
- you want per-window widths that persist, plus [stacking](/#features) when you need density;
- you navigate with the trackpad as much as the keyboard;
- you want per-display strips and native Spaces without extra setup.

Amethyst is a great free on-ramp to tiling. Glidro is where a lot of tiling users end up once they realize the reflow was the part they never liked.

**Automatic layout. Zero reflow.** Your windows keep their size on an endless strip — gestures, stacking, GUI config, all native. Price and checkout: /#pricing (one-time purchase, lifetime license; macOS 13+ on Apple silicon).

## FAQ

### Is Amethyst free?

Yes — Amethyst is free and open source, maintained by the community. It's often the first "real" tiling window manager people try on macOS because it works out of the box with sensible layouts. Glidro is a paid native app: [$9.99 before applicable taxes one time](/#pricing) for a lifetime license with free updates.

### Why do my windows keep resizing in Amethyst?

Because that's how its layouts work. Amethyst's xmonad-style layouts are ratio-based: the screen is divided among however many windows exist, so every open or close redistributes space and resizes what's already there. If that constant reflow is what bothers you, a [scrolling window manager](/what-is-a-scrolling-window-manager) like Glidro is the direct answer — windows keep the size you set, always.

### Does Amethyst have a GUI?

Yes — unlike [yabai](/glidro-vs-yabai) or [AeroSpace](/glidro-vs-aerospace), Amethyst has a preferences window for layouts, shortcuts, and basic behavior, though the depth is limited. Glidro is GUI-first end to end: width presets, focus behavior, gestures, window rules, and shortcut recording are all settings panels with changes that apply instantly.

### Can Glidro cycle layouts like Amethyst (tall, wide, fullscreen)?

No — Glidro has one model: the scrolling strip. Instead of cycling whole-screen layouts, you set per-window widths (with presets you can cycle per window), stack related windows into columns, and scroll. If cycling geometric layouts is the feature you love, Amethyst does that better.

### Can I run Amethyst and Glidro at the same time?

No — run one window manager at a time. Both continuously arrange windows and will fight over the same layout. Quit one before enabling the other.

## Related

- [Glidro vs Rectangle](/glidro-vs-rectangle) — When you outgrow window snapping — and when you honestly haven't.
- [Glidro vs yabai](/glidro-vs-yabai) — Scrolling strip vs BSP tiling — and the SIP question.
- [Scrolling window managers, explained](/what-is-a-scrolling-window-manager) — The strip model, and how scrolling differs from tiling.
- [Niri for Mac](/niri-for-mac) — Every way to get the Niri workflow on macOS, compared.