AeroSpace
Open-source i3-like tiling window manager for macOS
HN commenters like it as an i3-style, keyboard-driven tiling window manager for macOS,1234 with several calling it the best option available on the platform.567 The most common caveat is that macOS itself limits how well it works,89 with reports of full-screen windows breaking it and degraded Safari scrolling.1011
Why people recommend it
i3-style tiling · 3
Users coming from i3 and other Linux tiling managers find it the closest match on macOS.
“Ive tried multiple WMs after years of i3 on Linux and this is the best one I found (for me) with quite a margin. It just works (tm)”
Show 1 more
“I will prefer more unified and i3 style way for that I use aerospace”
Keyboard workflow · 3
Windows and workspaces are navigated and arranged with hotkeys instead of the mouse.
“I've been using it for a couple of years now, and it's great.”
“I use aerospace and break up those 22 windows into ~4-6 windows with ~3-5 tabs each”
Show 1 more
“Took me a while to get used to it but can't live without it now.”
Best on macOS · 3
Several commenters rate it the best tiling window manager available on macOS.
“I use Aerospace on macOS right now and think it's the best solution available.”
“Ive tried multiple WMs after years of i3 on Linux and this is the best one I found (for me) with quite a margin. It just works (tm)”
Show 1 more
“I use Aerospace and it's an okay but not great tiling window manager.”
Daily reliance · 3
Long-term users say they depend on it every day and can't do without it.
“I rely on tmux, sway, and AeroSpace for my daily life”
“Took me a while to get used to it but can't live without it now.”
Show 1 more
“I've been using it for a couple of years now, and it's great.”
Caveats and dissent
macOS limitations · 2
Commenters say macOS APIs and full-screen windows limit or break tiling managers, including AeroSpace.
“I use Aerospace and it's an okay but not great tiling window manager.”
“The experience with both of these has been quite terrible”
Safari scrolling · 1
One user says it hurts Safari scrolling performance unless the window is set to floating.
“I use Aerospace for tiling everything now but it breaks Safari scrolling performance”
Learning curve · 2
It takes time to get used to, and setting up a macOS window-management stack is a big time investment.
“Took me a while to get used to it but can't live without it now.”
“I am even contemplating starting to use a dedicated window manager, such as Aerospace”
Often compared with
Who recommends it in their own words
Threads where it came up
- Resizing windows on macOS Tahoe – the saga continues 3 mentions
- macOS 27 Golden Gate – Review 2 mentions
- item 49374830 2 mentions
- It's hard to justify buying a Framework 12 2 mentions
- Native Instant Space Switching on macOS 2 mentions
- Hammerspoon 2 mentions
Also written as Aerospace. Data: aerospace.json. Quotes are verbatim; the verdict and theme labels are written by a model from these comments, and every clause links to its sources.
All comments 22
“I've been using it for a couple of years now, and it's great.”
“I don't use these anymore, because these also were pretty buggy for my use case”
“I use aerospace and break up those 22 windows into ~4-6 windows with ~3-5 tabs each”
“AeroSpace for Hyprland”
“Yes this is based on AeroSpace, I used it with some custom configs”
“The experience with both of these has been quite terrible”
“I rely on tmux, sway, and AeroSpace for my daily life”
“I will prefer more unified and i3 style way for that I use aerospace”
“invested heavily in Karabiner, Aerospace, Superkey”
“I'll bookmark this for future adventures”
“I use Aerospace for tiling everything now but it breaks Safari scrolling performance”
“I use Aerospace on macOS right now and think it's the best solution available.”
“Ive tried multiple WMs after years of i3 on Linux and this is the best one I found (for me) with quite a margin. It just works (tm)”
“AeroSpace just can't match.”
“in my different aerospace workspaces”
“I highly recommend Aerospace[1]”
“Took me a while to get used to it but can't live without it now.”
“I am even contemplating starting to use a dedicated window manager, such as Aerospace”
“I use Aerospace and it's an okay but not great tiling window manager.”
“aerospace on macos”
“I've been using Aerospace for the past couple of days, and I love it.”
“Aerospace looks neat - might have to give it a try.”