AeroSpace vs Amethyst: config file tiling or a settings window

Amethyst tiles automatically with ready made layouts and a settings window on real Spaces. AeroSpace tiles i3 style from a config file with its own workspaces.

Compare · Updated 4 November 2026

Amethyst asks less: choose a layout, and every window you open is placed in it, with settings in a normal window and real macOS Spaces. AeroSpace asks more and gives more control: an i3 style tree you shape with shortcuts, all set in one text file, with its own workspaces in place of Spaces.

How do AeroSpace and Amethyst compare?

AeroSpaceAmethyst
Tiling stylei3 style tree you shape by handReady made layouts, xmonad style
LayoutsTiles and accordion, horizontal or verticalTall, Wide, Two Pane, 3 Column, Widescreen Tall, Column, Row, BSP, Fullscreen, Floating, and more
SettingsTOML file onlySettings window, or an optional YAML file
WorkspacesIts own, in place of SpacesReal macOS Spaces
SIPNever neededNot mentioned by the project
Newest version (4 Nov 2026)0.21.3 Beta, 16 July 20260.24.3, 2 April 2026
macOS13 or later10.15 or later
LicenceMIT, freeMIT, free

Which is easier for a beginner, AeroSpace or Amethyst?

Amethyst. You can install it, open its settings and change layouts without writing anything. AeroSpace has no settings window by design, so every change is an edit to its config file.

Which handles Spaces better?

It depends on how you use them. Amethyst tiles inside each real Space and can throw a window to Spaces 1 to 16. AeroSpace ignores Spaces and switches its own workspaces instantly, with no animation, which people coming from Linux tend to like.

What does neither of them change?

Both fit every window on one screen, so each window shrinks as you open more. Five windows on a 1440 point MacBook Air screen are under 300 points each. A scrolling window manager is the other kind: windows keep their width and the row extends past the edge.

More: ClutterFreeMac vs Amethyst, ClutterFreeMac vs AeroSpace, AeroSpace vs yabai, xmonad for Mac.

Facts read from the AeroSpace and Amethyst project pages and releases on 4 November 2026.

Questions

Is Amethyst still maintained?

Yes. Version 0.24.3 came out on 2 April 2026 and the project was still being worked on in November 2026.

Does Amethyst have a config file?

Optionally. Its settings window covers most things, and a ~/.amethyst.yml file can override it.

Does AeroSpace have a settings window?

No. Its makers say it never will; everything is set in a TOML config file.

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