Amethyst vs yabai: easy layouts or full control
Amethyst gives ready made layouts, built in shortcuts and a settings window. yabai gives scripted binary splits, a separate hotkey app and some SIP steps.
Amethyst works out of the box: built in shortcuts, a settings window and a list of ready made layouts. yabai is a toolkit: a binary split tiler you drive from a script, with shortcuts from a second app and, for its Spaces features, SIP partly turned off.
How do Amethyst and yabai compare?
| Amethyst | yabai | |
|---|---|---|
| Tiling style | Ready made layouts, BSP among them | Binary space partitioning, scriptable |
| Shortcuts | Built in | Needs skhd or another hotkey app |
| Settings | Window, or optional YAML file | yabairc file and command line |
| SIP | Not mentioned by the project | Partly off for Spaces, shadows, layers, sticky windows |
| Newest version (4 Nov 2026) | 0.24.3, 2 April 2026 | 7.1.25, 8 May 2026 |
| Licence | MIT, free | MIT, free |
Is yabai more powerful than Amethyst?
Yes, in what it can control: every window rule, padding and Space can be scripted, and with SIP partly off it can create and move Spaces and remove shadows. That power is also the cost, because you build the setup yourself.
Can Amethyst do BSP tiling like yabai?
Yes. BSP is one of Amethyst's layouts. What it lacks is yabai's depth of scripting, not the layout. See BSP tiling explained.
Which one is safer to install?
Both are open source. The difference is SIP: yabai's Spaces features ask you to partly disable a macOS protection, which some work Macs do not allow. Amethyst's project does not ask for that.
More: ClutterFreeMac vs yabai, ClutterFreeMac vs Amethyst, AeroSpace vs yabai, scrolling vs tiling.
Facts read from the Amethyst and yabai project pages, releases and wiki on 4 November 2026.
Questions
Does Amethyst need SIP disabled?
Its project page does not ask for it. yabai does, but only for some features such as managing Spaces.
Is yabai hard to set up?
Harder than Amethyst. You install yabai and a hotkey app such as skhd, write a config for each, and follow extra steps if you want the features that need SIP partly off.
Which is better for beginners, Amethyst or yabai?
Amethyst. It has built in shortcuts and a settings window.
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