OmniWM vs ChainYourMac: an honest comparison

What they have in common

Both are native macOS window managers that bring the niri/PaperWM scrolling model to the Mac. Windows sit in columns on a horizontal strip, and new windows don't squeeze the old ones. Neither needs SIP changes. Both are Developer ID signed and notarized, both require Apple silicon, both have a settings GUI plus a TOML file, both animate in step with your display's refresh rate, and both scroll the strip with a trackpad swipe. If you like one, you'll probably get along with the other.

OmniWM in brief

OmniWM started in October 2025 and has moved fast. The latest release is v0.7.5 (5 October 2026), with daily canary builds, and the project has about 3,200 GitHub stars. The repository recently moved from BarutSRB to OmniNull/OmniWM; the old address redirects. It's GPL-2.0-only and promises "no subscriptions, feature paywalls, trial limits, or usage caps".

Each workspace uses one of two layouts. Niri is orientation-aware scrolling containers: columns that scroll left and right on a landscape display, or rows that scroll up and down on a portrait one. Dwindle is Hyprland-style BSP. Both support tabbed groups.

The feature list is long: a Ghostty-powered quake terminal, native macOS window-tab support, scratchpads and sticky windows, an Overview, a command palette that searches windows, app menus, clipboard history, apps and files, "Menu Anywhere", a workspace bar, menu-bar icon hiding, Keep Awake, a multi-monitor setup assistant, and the omniwmctl CLI (IPC is off by default). Settings live in a GUI and in ~/.config/omniwm/settings.toml, which reloads live.

Requirements: macOS 26 Tahoe or later on Apple silicon, the Accessibility and Input Monitoring permissions, and "Displays have separate Spaces" turned on. Screen Recording is optional and used for Overview thumbnails. A few extras need macOS 27. It uses "public frameworks and selected Apple private APIs".

ChainYourMac in brief

ChainYourMac does one layout, an endless horizontal strip where opening a window never resizes the others, and goes deep on it. You get stacks (several windows in one column: stack from either side, pop out either side, reorder, taller/shorter/equal heights), tabbed columns, width presets plus wider and narrower, full width, and three center modes (never / on-overflow / always). It also has a strip minimap while you navigate, a trackpad swipe that follows your fingers, drag-to-reorder by title bar, and a separate strip on each display and each Space.

It's a SwiftUI app with a Rust engine. Settings apply instantly in a GUI, and the shortcut recorder works on AZERTY, QWERTZ and Dvorak. A guided first run teaches the strip, and Mac Setup checks your macOS settings and warns if another window manager or snapping app is running. Session restore keeps column order, stacks and tabs across a restart. It runs on macOS 13 Ventura and later on Apple silicon and needs only the Accessibility permission. It's paid and closed source.

Side by side

Where OmniWM is the better choice

• It's free and open source. You can read, change and build the code, and nix users get a Home Manager module.
• Two layouts. If you sometimes want classic BSP tiling, OmniWM gives you Dwindle on any workspace. ChainYourMac has no BSP mode.
• Power-user extras. A quake terminal, scratchpads, an Overview, a command palette and clipboard history are OmniWM territory. ChainYourMac doesn't try to match that list.
• Portrait monitors. OmniWM's niri layout scrolls vertically on a vertical display.
• Pace. Releases land almost every week.

Where ChainYourMac is the better choice

• macOS 13, 14 and 15. OmniWM simply doesn't run there.
• Native Spaces. If you rely on macOS Spaces, full-screen apps in their own Space, or Mission Control, ChainYourMac works with them. OmniWM replaces them with its own workspaces.
• A focused, guided setup. One permission, a first-run tour, a Mac Setup check for conflicting apps and settings, and every option in a GUI.
• Depth on the strip. Stacks from both sides, three center modes, the minimap, and session restore that keeps column order, stacks and tabs.
• Hands-off updates and direct support. Updates install themselves, and you can email the person who built it.

Moving between them

The keyboard ideas transfer easily. Both have focus/move left and right, cycling column widths, full width and a tabbed column. OmniWM's defaults sit on plain Option (Option+arrows to focus, Option+Shift+arrows to move, Option+T for tabs). ChainYourMac uses Control+Option so that Option keeps working for typing and word-jumps (⌃⌥←/→ focus, ⌃⌥⇧←/→ move, ⌃⌥⇧T tabs). Don't run both at once: two window managers will fight over the same windows. ChainYourMac's Mac Setup screen warns you when another window manager is running.

What about Nehir?

Nehir is an "opinionated fork of OmniWM" that keeps only the scrolling (niri-style columns) layout. It's GPL-2.0, at v0.5.1 with v0.6.0 release candidates (as of October 2026), configured with split TOML files in ~/.config/nehir/ plus a Settings window and nehirctl. Install it with brew tap guria/tap && brew install --cask nehir. We haven't verified its minimum macOS or SIP requirements, so check its README.

Who should use what

Pick OmniWM if…

• you're on macOS 26 Tahoe and want free and open source;
• you want both scrolling and Dwindle layouts, or you have a portrait monitor;
• you'll use the quake terminal, scratchpads, Overview, command palette or omniwmctl.

Pick ChainYourMac if…

• you're on macOS 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma or 15 Sequoia, or you're on Tahoe and prefer native Spaces;
• you want a focused, scrolling-only tool that installs like a normal app, is configured in a GUI and updates itself;
• you'd rather email the person who built it than open a GitHub issue.

Still comparing? See OmniWM alternatives, niri for macOS or the best scrolling window managers for Mac.

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