Sash vs. Magnet
Magnet was the first window manager a lot of Mac users ever bought. It still does exactly what it did then. The question is whether that's still what you need.
Short answer: Magnet is $4.99 of simple, reliable snapping from the Mac App Store, and if that's the whole job, keep it. If you find yourself snapping one window and then hunting for the second, switching between the same pair all day, or squinting at app icons in ⌘-Tab, Magnet was never built for that. Sash was. Its basic snapping is free, and the rest is $19.99 once.
At a glance
| Feature | Magnet | Sash |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 once | Free snapping / $19.99 once for Pro |
| Free tier | No | Snapping is free forever |
| Trial | No | 14 days, no card |
| Keyboard snapping (halves, quarters, thirds) | Yes | Yes |
| Drag to edge to snap | Yes | Yes |
| Snap Assist (fill the empty zone) | No | Yes (Pro) |
| Snap Groups (switch to a pair as one) | No | Yes (Pro) |
| Resize a pair with one divider | No | Yes (Pro) |
| Alt-Tab with window thumbnails | No | Yes (Pro) |
| Distribution | Mac App Store (sandboxed) | Direct download, signed & notarized |
| Devices per license | Per Apple ID | 2 (Standard) or 5 (Family) |
Snapping: a tie
Both do halves, quarters, and thirds with hotkeys or by dragging a window to a screen edge. If you have Magnet's shortcuts memorised, rebind Sash to match and nothing changes. On the basics there's no reason to switch.
After the snap: where they split
Snap a window to the left half in Magnet and the right half sits empty until you go find something for it. In Sash the empty half fills with a picker of your other windows, the way Windows 11 does it, and you choose one with the arrow keys. That's Snap Assist. It turns two snaps from ten seconds of hunting into about one.
Then there's what happens to the pair. Sash treats two snapped windows as a Snap Group: switch to both at once, drag one divider to resize both, see them together in the switcher. Magnet has no idea the two windows are related.
Alt-Tab
Magnet doesn't touch ⌘-Tab, and neither does macOS. Three Finder windows still show up as one Finder icon. Sash adds an Alt-Tab that shows window thumbnails, one per window, and knows about your groups. Hold ⌥, tap ⇥.
App Store and sandbox
Magnet lives in the Mac App Store, which is convenient and, for some workplaces, required. It also means Magnet runs inside the sandbox, and the sandbox doesn't allow the APIs Snap Assist and a thumbnail switcher need. That's why Sash is a direct download, signed and notarized by Apple. In practice it's one Accessibility prompt during setup.
Price
Magnet is $4.99 with no trial and no free tier. Sash's snapping is free with no time limit, and the Pro features are $19.99 once for two Macs, with a 14-day full trial and no card. If you're paying Magnet's $4.99 for snapping alone, Sash gives you that part for nothing.
Who each is for
- Magnet: you want cheap, set-and-forget snapping, you prefer the App Store, and you never think about what happens after the snap.
- Sash: you came from Windows, you work in pairs of windows, and you want the switcher to show windows, not icons. Try it free for 14 days, no card required.
Common questions
Is Magnet still worth it in 2026?
If you want simple snapping from the Mac App Store, Magnet still works and costs $4.99. Rectangle does the same for free, and Sash's basic snapping is free too. Magnet's case is App Store distribution and simplicity.
Why isn't Sash on the Mac App Store like Magnet?
Snap Assist and the Alt-Tab switcher need macOS APIs that the App Store sandbox doesn't allow. Sash ships as a direct download, signed and notarized by Apple.
Is there anything to migrate from Magnet?
No. Install Sash, run both for a few days if you like, and rebind Sash's hotkeys to match Magnet's if you have them memorised. Then uninstall whichever you stop using.
See also: Why people leave Magnet · Sash vs. Rectangle · all Mac window managers compared · pricing