LifetimeMac

AeroSpace

free MIT tiling window manager with i3-style keybindings

Open source

The catch

The learning curve is real: configuration is a TOML file rather than a preferences window, and your first evening goes on keybindings. Because AeroSpace emulates workspaces by moving inactive windows off-screen rather than driving native Spaces, anything that assumes real Spaces — native fullscreen especially — needs care and a read of the docs. It is also not a snapping utility: there is no drag-to-edge halves and quarters behaviour, so if that is what you actually want, Rectangle is the free tool for the job.

AeroSpace is for people who already know they want i3 on a Mac. Windows go into a tree of tiles and accordions, you move between them with the keyboard, and the whole arrangement is described in a text file you edit by hand. There is no preferences window, and that is a design position rather than an omission.

The clever part is the workspaces. Rather than driving macOS Spaces, AeroSpace leaves everything on one desktop and moves the windows of inactive workspaces off-screen. Switching then happens instantly, with none of Apple's sliding animation, and hotkeys never wait on the system. The cost is that anything assuming real Spaces behaves oddly, native fullscreen in particular, and you will read the documentation about it.

It is MIT licensed, has no paid tier and no donation prompt, and the repository was pushed to yesterday — which is more than most utilities in this category can claim.

Do not install this expecting Magnet. There is no drag-to-edge snapping and essentially no mouse story; if halves and quarters by dragging is the feature you want, Rectangle is free and takes two minutes. Budget an evening for the first config, and keep that file in your dotfiles, because the file is the app.

The AeroSpace page at nikitabobko.github.io
Page capture from nikitabobko.github.io, taken 2026-09-22. Images belong to their developers.
  • i3-style tree tiling with tiles and accordion layouts
  • Custom virtual workspaces that switch instantly with no animation
  • Full keyboard control with binding modes, configured in TOML
  • Multi-monitor support with workspaces assigned to displays
  • MIT licensed, roughly 23k GitHub stars, actively pushed

The facts

Price
Free
What you get
No licence to buy, and the source is public.
Details
Free and MIT licensed. Install with `brew install --cask nikitabobko/tap/aerospace` or download a build from GitHub Releases. No paid tier, no donation prompt.
Free trial
No
On Setapp
No
Minimum macOS
not stated
Developer
Nikita Bobko
Price checked
2026-09-22
Check it yourself
Price band
Free