By Ryan Hanson · Tested on macOS 15.5, Rectangle 0.96, Magnet 3.0.7 · Updated July 2026

Rectangle is free and open source. Magnet runs $4.99 on the Mac App Store. Both snap windows into halves, quarters, and thirds through dragging or a shortcut — the real differences show up once you look at customization, sixths, and where each app actually lives on your Mac.

Quick verdict

Rectangle comes out ahead on value and depth: free, open source, and it covers everything Magnet does plus sixths, custom sizes, and much more flexible shortcut remapping. Magnet's one genuine edge is Mac App Store distribution — sandboxed, auto-updating, nothing to download outside the App Store. If that specific thing matters to you, Magnet is a perfectly reasonable $4.99 app. For everyone else, there's not much reason to pay for what Rectangle already gives away.

Pricing and distribution

Magnet is a one-time $4.99 purchase through the Mac App Store — no subscription, no in-app purchases. Rectangle is free and open source under the MIT license, distributed as a direct download or through Homebrew. It's not on the App Store because Apple's sandboxing rules conflict with the Accessibility permissions Rectangle needs to move windows system-wide.

• Price — Rectangle: free / Magnet: $4.99 one-time

• Distribution — Rectangle: direct download or Homebrew / Magnet: Mac App Store

• Open source — Rectangle: yes, MIT license / Magnet: no

• Halves, quarters, thirds — both: yes

• Sixths — Rectangle: yes / Magnet: limited

• Custom sizes and positions — Rectangle: Pro only / Magnet: custom commands feature

• Drag-to-snap — both: yes, Rectangle calls it snap areas, Magnet calls it Trigger Areas

• iCloud settings sync — Rectangle: Pro only / Magnet: free

• App-specific auto layouts — Rectangle: Pro only / Magnet: not available

Feature comparison

Both apps nail the fundamentals the same way — drag a window to an edge for a half, a corner for a quarter, the top for maximize. Magnet's version of this is called "Trigger Areas"; Rectangle just calls it snap areas. Functionally they behave identically, with a translucent preview showing where the window will land before you let go.

Depth is where they split. Rectangle's free tier includes sixths, something Magnet doesn't fully match — genuinely useful on anything wider than a standard 24-inch display. Magnet counters with unlimited custom commands you define yourself, plus free iCloud sync across Macs, a feature Rectangle keeps behind its Pro tier.

Neither app auto-arranges windows per app at the free level — opening a project and having everything snap into place on its own. Rectangle Pro adds that. Magnet has no equivalent at any price point.

Shortcut customization

This is where the gap gets widest. Rectangle lets you remap every action — halves, thirds, sixths, Larger/Smaller, Center, Almost Maximize — to whatever key combination you want, and its "Subsequent execution mode" setting controls what happens when you hit the same shortcut twice in a row (cycling through sizes). Magnet's shortcut list is shorter and its remapping is more limited by comparison, though the out-of-box defaults are sensible enough that most people never notice unless they're actively trying to customize things.

Performance and reliability

Both are lightweight, sitting near zero CPU usage when idle — expected for tools that only react to a keypress or a drag. Magnet's App Store sandboxing means it auto-updates quietly alongside your other App Store apps. Rectangle updates through its own mechanism or Homebrew, which means running an update command or grabbing a new version manually — a small bit of friction that App Store distribution avoids entirely.

Neither app needs anything beyond standard macOS Accessibility permissions, and neither collects meaningful telemetry. Magnet's App Store privacy label reads "Data Not Collected," and Rectangle's code is fully open on GitHub for anyone who wants to check for themselves.

Who should actually pick which

• Pick Rectangle if you want the most features for zero cost, don't mind installing something outside the App Store, or want to audit the code yourself.

• Pick Magnet if App Store-only distribution is a hard requirement, you want free iCloud sync without paying for a Pro tier, or you just prefer how Magnet's dragging feels.

• Skip both if you only split two windows a couple times a day — macOS Sequoia's native tiling already handles that without installing anything at all.

Switching from Magnet: Rectangle installs cleanly alongside Magnet with no conflicts during a trial run — just make sure only one app's snap areas are active at a time in each app's own preferences, since both listen for the same edge-drag gestures.

Common questions

Is Rectangle really as good as Magnet? For most people, yes. Rectangle matches Magnet's core snapping behavior and adds sixths plus deeper shortcut customization, for free. Magnet's real advantage is Mac App Store distribution and free iCloud sync, which some users specifically want.

How much does Magnet cost right now? Magnet is a one-time $4.99 purchase on the Mac App Store, with no subscription and no in-app purchases required.

Can Rectangle and Magnet run at the same time? Technically, but it's not a good idea — both listen for the same drag-to-edge gestures and shortcuts, which causes conflicts. Pick one, disable the other's snap areas, or just quit the one you're not using.

Does Magnet do sixths like Rectangle? Magnet's thirds-based layouts cover similar ground but don't match Rectangle's sixths as directly. If sixths on a wide monitor matter to your setup, Rectangle handles that more completely.

Is Rectangle safe if it's not on the App Store? Yes. It's open source under the MIT license and publicly auditable on GitHub. It needs macOS Accessibility permissions to move windows — the same requirement any window manager has, App Store or not.

Ryan Hanson writes about macOS tools and keyboard-first workflows. This comparison was tested on macOS 15.5 with Rectangle 0.96 and Magnet 3.0.7 before publishing. More guides at Rectangle.