Tiles comes from FreeMacSoft, the people behind AppCleaner, and it has the same character: small, quiet, does one job, asks for nothing. It gets recommended far less than Rectangle and deserves better, particularly if your Mac is older than the alternatives support.
The short answer
Tiles is worth it if you want window snapping with no learning curve, or if you are on macOS 10.14 where most of the alternatives will not install. Pick Rectangle instead if you want documented snap areas, shortcut cycling and a clear upgrade path, since both are free and Rectangle is the more thoroughly documented of the two.
What Tiles is
FreeMacSoft describes it as “a window manager which allows you to easily reorganize windows”, under the tagline “organize your macOS windows in a snap”. That is the whole pitch and it is accurate. This is a snapper: you tell it where a window should go and it puts it there.
| Price | Not stated on the product page. FreeMacSoft offers a general donation link rather than a purchase page |
|---|---|
| Publisher | FreeMacSoft, also the publisher of AppCleaner and LiteIcon |
| Minimum macOS | macOS 10.14 and later |
| How you trigger it | Drag a window to a screen edge, a keyboard shortcut, or the menu bar |
| Restores a saved layout | Not documented |
The three ways in, and why the menu bar one matters
Most snapping tools give you two routes: drag to an edge, or memorise shortcuts. Tiles adds a third, a menu bar list of positions you can click. That sounds trivial and is not. Keyboard shortcuts for window management are the kind of thing you have to use for a fortnight before they stick, and until they do, a visible list of options is the difference between using the tool and forgetting you installed it.
Its macOS 10.14 floor is the other quietly useful detail. Rectangle needs 10.15 and later, Amethyst needs 10.15, AeroSpace needs 13. If you are keeping an older Mac alive on purpose, the list of window tools that still run is short and Tiles is on it.
What Tiles does not do
It does not tile automatically
Despite the name, this is not a tiling window manager in the Amethyst or AeroSpace sense. Those place every window for you continuously, by algorithm. Tiles moves the window you asked it to move, when you ask. The naming collision here trips people up regularly.
It does not remember anything
The product page documents no layout saving, no profiles, and nothing about display changes. That is normal for a snapper and not a criticism of Tiles specifically: snapping acts once, on one window, and keeps no record. So Tiles, like every free snapper here, does nothing for you when a monitor disconnects and macOS piles everything onto the screens that remain. Two paid snappers bolt a save on top, Moom with recalled layouts and Rectangle Pro with a workspace it can reapply when a display connects, and both put back your last save rather than where your windows were.
Where Putback fits, honestly
Disclosure: Putback is ours. It is not a Tiles alternative, because it does not snap a single window. It learns where your windows sit while you work, keeps a separate memory for every display setup, and puts everything back when your displays change. People run it next to a snapper rather than instead of one, and that is the intended arrangement.
If your windows never move without you moving them, you do not need it. If you dock and undock and keep rebuilding the same desk, that is the gap. The full category map is in the Mac window manager comparison, and the mechanism is in why your Mac windows move when you unplug a monitor.
Questions, answered.
Is Tiles free?
FreeMacSoft's site does not state a price for Tiles, and offers a general donation link for its work rather than a purchase page. The same publisher distributes AppCleaner and LiteIcon the same way. Treat it as free with a request for support rather than a commercial product, and check the site before assuming either way.
What macOS version does Tiles need?
The product page states it is "for macOS 10.14 and later", which reaches further back than most current window tools.
How do you use Tiles?
Three ways, per its own description: drag a window to the edge of the screen, use a keyboard shortcut, or pick a position from the menu bar. That menu bar route is the part people miss, and it is useful while you are still learning the shortcuts.
Is Tiles better than Rectangle?
They do the same job and both are free, so it comes down to fit. Rectangle documents far more: shortcut cycling, snap areas, portrait display layouts, and a paid Pro tier if you outgrow the free one. Tiles documents less and asks less of you. Rectangle also supports macOS 10.15 and later against Tiles at 10.14, so on a genuinely old Mac Tiles may be the only one of the two that runs.
Does Tiles remember my window layout?
Its product page says nothing about saving or restoring layouts, and nothing about what happens when displays change. Snapping tools act on the window you are pointing at when you trigger them and keep no record afterwards, so a snapper is not the tool that protects an arrangement across a monitor unplug.
How we checked this
Prices, licences, minimum macOS versions and feature claims on this page were read from each tool's own website, App Store listing or repository documentation on 4 August 2026. We build one of the tools mentioned here, which is a conflict of interest worth knowing about, so every claim about a competitor is either quoted from its own documentation or described as something that documentation does not cover. Where a tool does not state something, we say so instead of guessing. Prices and features change: check the linked source before you buy anything.
Snap them anywhere. Get them back regardless.
Putback remembers where every window was and restores your layout when your displays change.
Free for 7 days · then $19, once · macOS 14+