If you enjoy tinkering with Lua and want free, PaperWM.spoon is a genuinely good Hammerspoon port. If you want PaperWM's workflow as a polished, native Mac app — trackpad gestures, GUI settings, spring animations, zero scripting — that's ChainYourMac ($19.99, one time).
Why people want PaperWM on macOS
PaperWM is a GNOME Shell extension that replaces grid tiling with something calmer: every window sits on a horizontal strip that extends past the edge of the screen, and you scroll through it. Windows keep the size you gave them. Opening a new app never reshuffles your layout.
Once that idea clicks, grid-based tiling feels chaotic — and macOS users started looking for the same thing. The problem: PaperWM is built on GNOME internals, so it can never run on macOS. What exists instead are recreations of the model.
Option 1: PaperWM.spoon (Hammerspoon)
PaperWM.spoon is a free, open-source Lua script that runs inside Hammerspoon, the macOS automation toolkit. It faithfully recreates the scrolling layout: windows tile onto a strip, you slide focus left and right with keybindings, and off-screen windows park beyond the display edge.
Being a script has real trade-offs, though. You install and maintain Hammerspoon itself, configure everything in init.lua, and debug by reading a Lua console. Movement is keyboard-first — native trackpad swiping with momentum isn't really there — and animations are limited by what Hammerspoon's window APIs allow. It's a tinkerer's tool, and proudly so.
Option 2: ChainYourMac (native app)
ChainYourMac is a native macOS app built around the same scrolling model: an endless horizontal strip where new windows slot in at the edge and nothing else moves. The difference is the execution layer — a SwiftUI app with a Rust engine instead of a scripting layer:
- Trackpad gestures with momentum — swipe through the strip the way you scroll a webpage, with 120 fps spring animations.
- A GUI for everything — width presets, focus behavior, and shortcut recording are all settings panels, not config files.
- Per-display strips and Spaces — each monitor and each macOS Space keeps its own independent layout.
- Window stacking — pile related windows into one column on the strip and scroll them together.
PaperWM.spoon vs ChainYourMac
| PaperWM.spoon | ChainYourMac | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, open source | $19.99 one time, lifetime |
| Runs as | Lua script inside Hammerspoon | Native app (SwiftUI + Rust engine) |
| Setup | Install Hammerspoon, edit init.lua | Drag DMG to Applications |
| Configuration | Lua code | GUI settings, live reload |
| Trackpad gestures | Limited | Yes — native momentum swipes |
| Animations | Basic | Yes — 120 fps springs |
| Multi-monitor | Yes | Yes — independent strip per display |
| Window stacking | No | Yes |
| SIP changes needed | No | No |
| Support | Community / GitHub issues | Direct email from the developer |
Which one should you pick?
Choose PaperWM.spoon if…
- you already use Hammerspoon and like configuring your tools in code;
- free and open source is a hard requirement;
- you're keyboard-only and don't care about trackpad navigation.
Choose ChainYourMac if…
- you want the PaperWM workflow to feel like a built-in part of macOS — gestures, animations, and all;
- you'd rather click a settings panel than maintain a Lua file;
- you use multiple monitors or Spaces and want each to keep its own strip;
- you value having someone to email when something's weird with your setup.
Both are honest takes on the same great idea. The question is whether you want a project or a product.
FAQ
Is there an official PaperWM for macOS?
No. PaperWM itself is a GNOME Shell extension and only runs on Linux. On macOS you can approximate it with PaperWM.spoon (a Hammerspoon script), or use ChainYourMac, a native app built around the same scrolling window model.
What is PaperWM.spoon and is it free?
PaperWM.spoon is a free, open-source Lua script for Hammerspoon that recreates PaperWM-style scrolling tiling on macOS. It's a solid project, but it requires installing Hammerspoon, editing Lua configuration, and living with the limits of a scripting layer — there's no GUI, and trackpad gestures and animations are limited compared to a native app.
Does ChainYourMac work exactly like PaperWM?
The core model is the same: windows sit side by side on a horizontal strip that scrolls, and new windows never resize existing ones. ChainYourMac adds Mac-native ergonomics on top — trackpad gestures with momentum, spring animations, a GUI for every setting, per-display strips, and macOS Spaces integration.
Do I need to disable SIP or install anything unusual?
No. ChainYourMac is a normal macOS app: download the DMG, drag it to Applications, grant the standard Accessibility permission that every window manager needs. No SIP changes, no kernel extensions, no Hammerspoon, no config files.
How much does ChainYourMac cost?
$19.99 one time for a lifetime license on 1 Mac, with free updates forever. 3-Mac, 5-Mac, and 20-Mac licenses are also available on the checkout page. It requires macOS 13 Ventura or later.