Kitsmith / Utilities / Amethyst
A free, open-source tiling window manager for macOS built along the lines of Linux’s xmonad — 16k GitHub stars, and free forever with no paid tier at all.
Our take
One of the oldest and most-starred tiling window managers on the Mac: eleven built-in layouts (Tall, Wide, Column, BSP, and more), cycled and resized with xmonad-style keyboard shortcuts, no mouse required once it’s configured. Built by Ian Ynda-Hummel and kept as a genuinely free project — the README explicitly redirects donation interest to charities instead of accepting money itself. Needs Accessibility permission to move windows, like every window manager in this section.
- Price
- Free
- License
- Open source
- Requires
- macOS 10.15 or later. Requires Accessibility permission to manage windows.
- Get it via
- Homebrew · Direct
- Developer
- Ian Ynda-Hummel
Do you use Amethyst?
Who made this
Ian Ynda-Hummel’s own personal site says, in his own words, that Amethyst is a side project — "I write a window manager called Amethyst" — alongside his day job, linked from the same page: "I work here," pointing to PreVeil.
What it does
Eleven layouts
Tall, Wide, Column, Row, BSP, Floating, and more — cycle between them with a shortcut.
Multi-screen and multi-Space
Focus and throw windows between up to 5 screens and any Space with dedicated shortcuts.
Custom layouts (beta)
Write your own layout logic in JavaScript for behavior the built-in set doesn’t cover.
The deal
- Free and open source
- No paid tier — the project explicitly redirects donation interest to charities instead
Amethyst — questions people ask
Is Amethyst free?
Yes — completely free, with no paid tier. The project explicitly redirects donation interest to charities instead of accepting money itself.
Who makes Amethyst?
Ian Ynda-Hummel, an independent developer.
Does Amethyst need special permissions?
Yes — it needs Accessibility permission (Privacy & Security settings) to move and resize windows, the same requirement most window managers have.
Is Amethyst free?
Yes — Amethyst is free.
Does Amethyst work alongside a notch app like Alcove?
Yes — Amethyst lives in the menu bar, so it runs happily alongside any Dynamic Island hub or notch app.
Where can I download Amethyst?
Amethyst is available via Homebrew, Direct.
Is Amethyst open source?
Yes — Amethyst is open source.
Reviews
No public ratings yet. Reader reviews are coming to Kitsmith soon.
Listing hand-verified August 30, 2026 from the developer's site and public sources.
How Amethyst compares
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