i3 Alternatives for Mac

i3 is not available for Mac but there are some alternatives that runs on macOS with similar functionality. The best Mac alternative is Kera Desktop, which is both free and Open Source. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to i3 and seven of them are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to i3 are Xmonad, Amethyst, yabai and spectrwm.

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i3 alternatives are mainly Window Managers but may also be Desktop Environments. Filter by these or use the filter bar below if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of i3.
i3 iconi3
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i3 is a dynamic tiling window manager with clean, readable and documented code, featuring extended Xinerama support, usage of libxcb instead of xlib and several improvements over wmii.

More about i3
More about i3
i3 alternatives page was last updated Jun 12, 2023
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  1. Kera Desktop icon
    Kera Desktop icon

    Kera Desktop

     6 likes
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    An easy, pleasant, speedy, and exciting way to use your favorite OS.

    34 Kera Desktop alternatives
    Kera Desktop screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application types

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Windows
    • Linux
    • Chrome OS
    Kera Desktop screenshot 1

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    2.  Privacy focused

    Features

    1.  No Tracking
    2.  Portable
    3.  Separated workspaces
    4.  Workspaces
    Kera Desktop iconi3 Icon

    Kera Desktop VS i3

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    • Kera Desktop is the most popular Windows & Mac alternative to i3.

    • Kera Desktop is Free and Open Sourcei3 is also Free and Open Source
    • Kera Desktop is Lightweight and Privacy focusedi3 is not according to our users
  2. Xmonad icon
    Xmonad icon

    Xmonad

     26 likes
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    xmonad is a dynamically tiling X11 window manager that is written and configured in Haskell. In a normal WM, you spend half your time aligning and searching for windows. xmonad makes work easier, by automating this.

    73 Xmonad alternatives
    Xmonad screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux

    Xmonad Features

    1.  X server
    2.  Tiling
    3.  Extensible window manager
    Xmonad screenshot 1
    Xmonad screenshot 2
    +2
    Xmonad screenshot 3
    Xmonad iconi3 Icon

    Xmonad VS i3

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  4. Amethyst icon
    Amethyst icon

    Amethyst

     20 likes
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    Amethyst is a tiling window manager for Mac similar to the xmonad tiling window manager popular on Linux. Amethyst is written in Objective-C and has configurable shortcuts, multi-monitor support, multiple layouts, and the option to float certain applications.

    92 Amethyst alternatives
    Amethyst screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    Amethyst screenshot 1

    Amethyst Features

    1.  Snap windows
    2.  Tiling Layouts
    3.  Customize Windows
    4.  Multi Column View
    5.  Autostart
    6.  Mouse tracking
    7.  Application whitelisting
    8.  Floating windows
    9.  Toggle
    10.  Support for Keyboard Shortcuts
    Amethyst iconi3 Icon

    Amethyst VS i3

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  5. yabai icon
    yabai icon

    yabai

     7 likes
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    yabai started as a C99 rewrite of chunkwm, originally supposed to be its first RC version.

    101 yabai alternatives
    yabai screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac

    yabai Features

    1.  Automatic window tiling
    2.  Tiling Layouts
    3.  Tiling Window Manager
    4.  Tiling
    yabai iconi3 Icon

    yabai VS i3

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  6. spectrwm icon
    spectrwm icon

    spectrwm

     11 likes
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    spectrwm is a small dynamic tiling window manager for X11. It tries to stay out of the way so that valuable screen real estate can be used for much more important stuff. It has sane defaults and does not require one to learn a language to do any configuration.

    66 spectrwm alternatives
    spectrwm screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux
    • BSD
    spectrwm screenshot 1
    spectrwm screenshot 2
    spectrwm iconi3 Icon

    spectrwm VS i3

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  7. Phoenix icon
    Phoenix icon

    Phoenix

     5 likes
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    Phoenix is a lightweight OS X window and app manager scriptable with JavaScript. You can also easily use languages which compile to JavaScript such as CoffeeScript. Phoenix aims for efficiency and a very small footprint.

    65 Phoenix alternatives
    Phoenix screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac

    Properties

    1.  Lightweight
    Phoenix iconi3 Icon

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  9. wtftw icon
    wtftw icon

    wtftw

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    Window Tiling For The Win (wtftw) is a tiling window manager written in Rust.

    44 wtftw alternatives
    wtftw screenshot 1

    License model

    • Free • Open Source

    Application type

    Platforms

    • Mac
    • Linux

    wtftw Features

    1.  Tiling
    2.  Tiling Window Manager
    wtftw iconi3 Icon

    wtftw VS i3

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7 of 7 i3 alternatives