Alternatives to GlazeWM
An i3-style tiling window manager for Windows and macOS, configured in one YAML file. The listings below can replace it for an important use case. Each note says what changes if you switch.
The original
GlazeWM
An i3-style tiling window manager for Windows and macOS, configured in one YAML file.
Replacements
Listings that take over the same core job as GlazeWM.
komorebi
Automatic tiling window management for Windows, with virtual workspaces and multi-monitor support.
komorebi offers automatic tiling with virtual workspaces per monitor and a command line client, but it is Windows only and managed commercial devices need a paid licence.
FancyWM
Dynamic tiling window manager for Windows 10 and 11.
FancyWM tiles into horizontal, vertical and stacked panels without configuration files, but it is Windows only and source-available under PolyForm Perimeter rather than open source.
workspacer
Arrange Windows applications with a tiling window manager.
workspacer is an MIT-licensed Windows tiling manager configured through scripts instead of a YAML file, and it does not cover macOS.
yabai
A tiling window manager for macOS that arranges windows by binary space partitioning and is driven entirely from the command line.
yabai is a macOS-only tiling manager using binary space partitioning, driven from the command line, with some features needing System Integrity Protection partially disabled.
Amethyst
Arrange macOS windows automatically with a keyboard-driven tiling manager.
Amethyst is an MIT-licensed keyboard-driven tiling manager for macOS only, requiring accessibility permissions, so Windows users would lose tiling support.
Whim
A hackable, pluggable dynamic tiling window manager for Windows that is scripted in C#.
Whim is an open source dynamic tiling manager for Windows with a plugin system, configured in C# instead of YAML, and has a smaller community.
AeroSpace
An i3-like tiling window manager for macOS, written in Swift.
AeroSpace brings i3-like keyboard tiling to macOS only, written in Swift with a large active community, so it covers only the Mac side of GlazeWM.
Also worth comparing
These listings name GlazeWM as their own alternative, so the relationship runs both ways.
MaxTo
A Windows utility that divides monitors into custom zones and snaps windows into them.
GlazeWM is a free open source i3-style tiling manager configured in one YAML file, with multi-monitor support and per-application window rules.
Rectangle
Snap macOS windows to halves, thirds, quarters and corners with keyboard shortcuts or by dragging to an edge.
GlazeWM offers i3-style keyboard tiling configured in one YAML file and also runs on Windows, though its macOS support is much newer than its Windows side.
Similar software
Related functionality, not a direct replacement.
AltSnap
Move and resize any Windows window by holding Alt and dragging anywhere inside it.
Sizer
Resizes and repositions any window to exact pixel dimensions from a right-click menu or a hotkey.
PowerToys
Microsoft’s own bundle of more than thirty Windows utilities, from window layouts to a key remapper.
skhd
Simple hotkey daemon for macOS commonly paired with the yabai tiling manager.
AquaSnap
Adds magnetic window snapping, docking, tiling and stretching to Windows, going well past what Aero Snap does.
