What is Amethyst used for?

Amethyst is a tiling window manager for macOS that automatically arranges windows in a tiled layout, inspired by xmonad. It is a good fit for keyboard-driven window management on macOS and productivity enhancement for users who prefer tiling layouts.

Is Amethyst open source?

Yes. Amethyst is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at ianyh/Amethyst and is written mainly in Swift.

Yes. Amethyst is open source, so the software itself is free to use.

Can I self-host Amethyst?

Yes. Amethyst can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.

What is Amethyst an alternative to?

Amethyst is an open-source alternative to BetterTouchTool and Magnet. Other open-source alternatives to BetterTouchTool include Rectangle, Hammerspoon and Slate.

Is Amethyst actively maintained?

Yes. The most recent commit to Amethyst was on 14 October 2026, and the latest release is v0.24.3, published on 2 April 2026. The project has 16k stars on GitHub.

Amethyst: open-source alternative to BetterTouchTool, Magnet

About Amethyst

Amethyst is a tiling window manager for macOS that automatically arranges open windows in a tiled layout, similar to the xmonad window manager for Linux. It requires macOS 10.15 or later and must be granted accessibility permissions to function.

The application is designed for users who prefer keyboard-driven window management. It provides configurable keyboard shortcuts for cycling through layouts, moving focus, resizing panes, and moving windows between spaces. It can be installed via direct download or Homebrew Cask.

Key features

Automatic tiling of windows
Keyboard shortcuts for layout cycling, focus movement, and window swapping
Support for multiple Spaces and moving windows between them
Configurable modifier keys (mod1, mod2, mod3, mod4)
Force reevaluation of window layout
Relaunch command via keyboard shortcut

Good fit for

Keyboard-driven window management on macOS
Productivity enhancement for users who prefer tiling layouts

Built with: Swift tools
Tags: tiling-window-manager; macos; keyboard-shortcuts; productivity; xmonad

Amethyst: questions and answers

What is Amethyst used for?: Amethyst is a tiling window manager for macOS that automatically arranges windows in a tiled layout, inspired by xmonad. It is a good fit for keyboard-driven window management on macOS and productivity enhancement for users who prefer tiling layouts.
Is Amethyst open source?: Yes. Amethyst is open source under the MIT licence. Its source code is on GitHub at ianyh/Amethyst and is written mainly in Swift.
Is Amethyst free?: Yes. Amethyst is open source, so the software itself is free to use.
Can I self-host Amethyst?: Yes. Amethyst can be self-hosted on your own server or infrastructure.
What is Amethyst an alternative to?: Amethyst is an open-source alternative to BetterTouchTool and Magnet. Other open-source alternatives to BetterTouchTool include Rectangle, Hammerspoon and Slate.
Is Amethyst actively maintained?: Yes. The most recent commit to Amethyst was on 14 October 2026, and the latest release is v0.24.3, published on 2 April 2026. The project has 16k stars on GitHub.