Magnet has been the App Store's go to snapping app for years: drag a window to an edge and it snaps into place, no configuration file, no learning curve. It does that job well. If you are shopping for an alternative, the honest options are below. But a lot of people searching for a Magnet alternative are not actually unhappy with the snapping. They are unhappy that their windows keep landing in the wrong spot after a monitor change, which Magnet was never built to prevent.
Real alternatives for snapping
Rectangle. The free, open source pick, and the one most often recommended in place of a paid app. It matches Magnet's core drag and shortcut snapping and adds more layout options for people who want thirds and sixths as well as halves.
Native Sequoia tiling. Built directly into macOS since Sequoia: drag a window to a screen edge or corner and it snaps into a half or a quarter with nothing installed. Worth trying first if all you use Magnet for is basic halves.
Moom. A step up in complexity: beyond snapping, Moom lets you design a custom grid and save whole arrangements to recall later. A good fit if Magnet's fixed set of positions feels limiting.
| Tool | Job | Price model |
|---|---|---|
| Magnet | Snapping, App Store app | One time App Store price |
| Rectangle | Snapping, halves/thirds/corners | Free, open source |
| Native Sequoia tiling | Snapping, halves and quarters | Built into macOS |
| Moom | Snapping plus saved custom grids | One time fee |
| Putback | Restores your layout after a display change | $19 once, 7 day trial |
Based on each tool's public listing; prices and offers change, check their sites for current details.
The problem no snapping app touches
Here is the pattern: you drag a window to the edge, Magnet snaps it, everything looks tidy. Then you head into a meeting with your laptop, come back, plug the monitor back in, and the same windows are piled in the middle of one screen. Magnet did not fail. It was never asked to remember anything, and neither is any other snapping tool. Snapping only ever acts on the window you are touching right now, at the moment you touch it.
Restoring a layout after a display change is a separate job, done by a separate kind of tool. Putback watches how your windows are arranged while you work, whether that arrangement came from Magnet, a drag, or nothing at all, and keeps a private memory for every display setup you use. Reconnect a monitor and it puts every window back in about 0.4 seconds. It never snaps or tiles anything itself, so keeping Magnet installed alongside it changes nothing. The full comparison against Rectangle, Stay and Moom lives in Putback compared with every Mac window tool, and if you want the wider map of which kind of Mac window tool solves which problem, start with Mac window managers: which kind you actually need.
Questions, answered.
Is there a free alternative to Magnet?
Yes, Rectangle. It is free and open source, and it covers the same drag to edge and keyboard shortcut snapping that Magnet does, with a larger set of layouts for people who like configuring things. macOS Sequoia also added native tiling for halves and quarters, at no cost and no install.
Does macOS Sequoia's tiling replace Magnet?
For halves and quarters, largely yes: drag a window to an edge or corner and Sequoia snaps it in place with nothing installed. Magnet still adds value if you want more layout options, a menu bar interface, or you are on an older macOS version that never got native tiling.
Why do my windows scramble even though I have Magnet?
Magnet only arranges the window you are actively dragging or triggering a shortcut on. It has no memory of that arrangement afterward and does not watch for a display change, so when you unplug a monitor or your dock briefly drops the connection, macOS still moves every window onto the screens that remain, Magnet included.
What actually restores my window layout after a display change?
A different category of tool entirely: a restorer. Putback learns how your windows are arranged while you work and puts everything back in about 0.4 seconds when your display setup changes, with a separate memory for each setup. It does not snap or tile windows itself, so it runs fine next to Magnet.
Keep Magnet. Add the piece it is missing.
Putback does not snap windows. It makes sure the layout you built survives your next dock, undock or display change.
Free for 7 days · then $19, once · macOS 14+