OmniWM is one of the best free window managers on macOS — if you're on macOS 26 Tahoe. Here's who should just use it, who can't, and the alternatives for each situation.
On macOS 26 Tahoe and happy with OmniWM? Keep it. It's free, open source and excellent. If you're on macOS 13–15, OmniWM won't run. For the same niri-style scrolling, use ChainYourMac (native app, paid) or PaperWM.spoon (free, Lua). If it was OmniWM's Dwindle layout you wanted, AeroSpace or yabai are the free BSP/tree tilers that run on older macOS.
Try it right here — this is a working model of ChainYourMac, not a video.
A working model of ChainYourMac, not a video. Drag a title bar to reorder, click a Dock icon to open an app, close a window with its red button. In the real app you hold ⌃⌥ with each key. The demo answers to both.
OmniWM (v0.7.5, 5 October 2026; repository now at OmniNull/OmniWM) gives every workspace either niri-style scrolling containers or Hyprland-style Dwindle. It adds a quake terminal, scratchpads, an Overview, a command palette, trackpad gestures and an omniwmctl CLI. It's GPL-2.0-only with "no subscriptions, feature paywalls, trial limits, or usage caps". If all of these are true, you don't need an alternative:
The detailed comparison is in ChainYourMac vs OmniWM.
| ChainYourMac | PaperWM.spoon | Nehir | AeroSpace | yabai | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Layout | Scrolling strip (niri-style) | Scrolling strip | Scrolling only (OmniWM fork) | i3-like tree tiling | BSP tiling |
| macOS | 13 Ventura and later | Wherever Hammerspoon runs | Check its README | 13 and later | See its README |
| Workspaces | Native Spaces | Native Spaces | Check its README | Its own (emulated) | Native Spaces |
| Trackpad scrolling | Yes | Yes | Check its README | n/a | n/a |
| Config | GUI (TOML optional) | Lua | TOML + Settings window | TOML | Shell script + hotkey daemon |
| SIP changes | None | None | Unverified | None | Optional, for extras |
| Price | $19.99 one time | Free, MIT | Free, GPL-2.0 | Free, MIT | Free, MIT |
ChainYourMac is the closest match to OmniWM's niri layout that runs on Ventura, Sonoma and Sequoia (and Tahoe). It's a scrolling-only native app with a Rust engine. You get stacks, tabbed columns, width presets, full width, three center modes, a strip minimap, a trackpad swipe that follows your fingers, a strip per display and per Space, and session restore. It needs only the Accessibility permission, every setting is in a GUI, and updates install themselves.
Better than OmniWM at: older macOS, native Spaces, a guided one-permission setup, and direct developer support. Worse at: it's paid, closed source, and has no Dwindle/BSP layout, no quake terminal, no scratchpads and no command palette.
PaperWM.spoon is a Lua scrolling window manager for Hammerspoon. It's MIT-licensed, actively maintained and supports trackpad swipes. You set it up by cloning it into your Spoons folder and writing init.lua (step-by-step guide). Its README is upfront about rough edges: off-screen windows peek in at the screen edges, and multiple displays need care.
Nehir is an "opinionated fork of OmniWM" that keeps only the niri-style columns. It's a good fit if you like OmniWM but never touch Dwindle. Its latest stable release is v0.5.1, with v0.6.0 release candidates. Because it's a fork, check its README for the minimum macOS version before assuming it runs where OmniWM doesn't.
If you liked OmniWM for its Dwindle (BSP) layout rather than the scrolling one, the free tilers are the natural fit. AeroSpace is an i3-like tree tiler with its own emulated workspaces and a TOML config (public beta). yabai is a BSP tiler driven by shell commands. Its tiling works with SIP on, and some extras need SIP partly disabled (details). Neither has a scrolling layout. More in AeroSpace alternatives.
Coming from Linux? niri for macOS explains what carries over from niri itself.
OmniWM requires macOS 26 Tahoe or later on Apple silicon. On macOS 13 Ventura, 14 Sonoma or 15 Sequoia — or on an Intel Mac — it won't run. It also needs Accessibility and Input Monitoring permissions and "Displays have separate Spaces" turned on.
For niri-style scrolling: ChainYourMac (native app, macOS 13+, $19.99 one time) or PaperWM.spoon (free, Hammerspoon/Lua). For BSP or i3-style tiling instead: AeroSpace or yabai.
Yes. PaperWM.spoon is free and gives you a scrolling strip inside Hammerspoon. AeroSpace and yabai are free grid tilers. ChainYourMac is paid.
OmniWM uses its own workspaces with one macOS Space per display. ChainYourMac and PaperWM.spoon work with native Spaces; yabai uses native Spaces too. AeroSpace, like OmniWM, emulates its own workspaces.
Probably not. If you're on Tahoe and OmniWM does what you need, it's free, open source and actively developed. Switch only if you need native Spaces, want a single-permission setup with direct support, or need to run the same tool on older Macs too.