Loop vs ChainYourMac: moving windows vs managing them

Two different categories

Loop and ChainYourMac both "manage windows" in the loose sense, but they work in different ways.

• Loop is manual. Each action moves or resizes one window, once. After that, the window stays where you put it until you move it again. Loop's own comparison table places it next to Rectangle and Magnet, the snapping tools.
• ChainYourMac is automatic. It maintains a layout. Every window has a place on a horizontal strip, new windows slot in next to the focused one, and opening a window never resizes the others. You don't place windows. You scroll to them.

What that feels like day to day

With a mover like Loop, your layout is only as tidy as your last few gestures. Open a new browser window and it lands wherever the browser decides, so you move it. Open a terminal next to your editor and you resize both. None of that is hard, and Loop makes each move quick and pleasant, but it adds up if you open and close windows all day.

With a scrolling manager, the new window slides in beside the one you were using, at its own width, and the windows you already had keep their size. When the strip is wider than your screen, the extra windows sit off to the side until you scroll to them. The trade-off is that you give up some freedom: windows live in columns on the strip, not wherever you drop them. That's why ChainYourMac lets you float apps that don't belong there.

So the real question isn't which one is better. It's whether you want to arrange windows yourself or have them arranged for you.

What Loop does well

Loop is free, GPL-3.0, has about 11.6k GitHub stars and runs on macOS 13 and later (version 1.4.2 as of September 2026). Its main feature is the radial menu: hold the trigger key, move toward a direction, and a preview shows where the window will land before you commit. It's a very satisfying way to move a window. Beyond that:

• keyboard shortcuts that combine with the trigger key;
• Cycles;
• Stash, which hides windows at the edge of the screen;
• theming, plus a loop:// URL scheme and AppleScript support;
• install with brew install loop. If you want Caps Lock as the trigger, remap it first in System Settings or with Hyperkey or Karabiner.

What ChainYourMac does differently

ChainYourMac is a scrolling window manager in the style of Niri and PaperWM. Windows sit side by side on a strip that extends past the edges of your screen:

• Automatic placement. A new window opens next to the one you're using. Nothing else moves.
• Navigation instead of arrangement. Option+H/L (or Option+arrows) moves focus along the strip, and a 3- or 4-finger trackpad swipe follows your fingers, then glides to the nearest window.
• Widths and stacks. Option+R cycles width presets, Option+F goes full width, and stacks and tabbed columns let several windows share one column.
• Per-display strips, Spaces integration and session restore, so your column order survives a restart.

It's a native SwiftUI app with a Rust engine, notarized, and needs only the Accessibility permission. It's $9.99 one time for a lifetime license, runs on macOS 13 and later, and requires Apple silicon. The live demo on this page is a working model of it.

Loop vs ChainYourMac at a glance

Where each one wins

Loop is better when…

• you have a handful of windows and rearrange them occasionally;
• you like being in charge of exactly where every window goes;
• you want something free and open source;
• you enjoy a gesture more than a key sequence. The radial menu really does feel great.

ChainYourMac is better when…

• you have many windows open all day (editor, terminals, browser, docs, chat) and keep re-arranging them;
• you want new windows to land in a sensible place without thinking about it;
• you'd rather scroll to a window than find it and move it;
• you work on a laptop screen or an ultrawide and want every window at a usable width.

Using Loop and ChainYourMac together

You don't have to choose. ChainYourMac has per-app rules, so you can float the apps you don't want on the strip, like a music player, a calculator or a video call. Floating windows are left alone, and Loop can position them however you like. Ctrl+Option+T toggles float for the current window. Check that the two apps' shortcuts don't clash. Every ChainYourMac shortcut is rebindable, and one action can have several shortcuts.

Who should use what

• Use Loop if you arrange windows now and then and want a free, pleasant way to do it. You probably don't need a window manager.
• Use ChainYourMac if arranging windows has become a daily chore and you want a layout that looks after itself.
• Use both if you want the strip for work windows and Loop for the floating ones.

Weighing other snappers too? See ChainYourMac vs Rectangle.

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