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The right tool for the job

Universal Display Magnet next to macOS and the apps it's most often compared with, feature by feature, then what the paid alternatives cost.

Side by side, as each documents itself

macOS and the tools Universal Display Magnet is most often set beside, row by row, including command-line and open-source tools for technical setups.

Universal Display Magnet
Universal Display Magnet compared with macOS, ChainYourMac, display-align, SnapBack, displayplacer and Magnet
Universal Display MagnetmacOSChainYourMacdisplay-alignSnapBackdisplayplacerMagnet
At a glance
How you use itApp, with a menu bar panelSystem SettingsMenu bar appMenu bar appMenu bar, through HammerspoonCommand lineMenu bar app
Displays
Arrange displays visually
Snap every display flush in one click
Remember the arrangement for each set of monitors and put it back when they reconnect
Put the arrangement back after the Mac wakes
Restore each display's resolution with the arrangement
Universal Control
Arrange Universal Control between Macs
Snap your Macs' displays flush for Universal Control
Windows
Save window layouts and restore them
Restore windows automatically when the display setup changes
Put windows back on their Desktop1
Take snapshots of window positions automatically
Snap windows with keyboard shortcuts2
Snap a window by dragging it to a screen edge2
Your own snap sizes and positions
Scrolling Windows
Lay windows out as columns on a strip that scrolls
Preset column widths, nudged wider or narrower
Stack windows in a column, in both directions
Tabbed columns with a clickable tab bar
Grid tiling: each new window divides the screen
An overview of the strip to jump and reorder
A strip for each display, off for the ones you choose
Trackpad swipes that follow your fingers
A focus border and dimmed inactive windows
Floating windows and rules per app
Restore the strip after restarting
Between Macs
Sync arrangements and workspaces between your Macs
  1. SnapBack calls its Spaces support best effort: macOS's Spaces interfaces are private and can be unreliable.
  2. macOS 15 or later.

Described in the product's documentation. Not described there, which doesn't always mean it can't.

Based on each project's public documentation as of October 24, 2026. ChainYourMac's column is based on its website and changelog as of November 3, 2026.

Universal Display Magnet builds on ideas from three open-source projects, display-align, SnapBack and displayplacer, and works with windows on other Desktops using techniques from AltTab and Amethyst. It shares no code with them. Scrolling Windows runs on Paneru, the open-source engine ChainYourMac is also built on.

Product names are trademarks of their respective owners. Universal Display Magnet isn't affiliated with any of these projects.

Paid alternatives cost more

Prices as each product listed them on November 3, 2026, in US dollars; taxes and offers vary. The last column is what Universal Display Magnet has that the product's own documentation doesn't describe.

In depth

Arrange your desk once

Buy · $9.99

One-time purchase · Three Macs · macOS 14 or later