yabai and Lattices.
Which fits your workflow?
yabai automatically divides the screen into tiled regions. You control its windows, macOS Spaces, and displays with terminal commands.
A comparison from Lattices · Official documentation reviewed 2026-10-02 · No hands-on benchmark or overall score
When yabai makes sense
Choose yabai when you want automatic tiling built around macOS Spaces and detailed window control. Expect to edit a shell configuration and use a separate tool for keyboard shortcuts.
When to consider Lattices
Lattices connects window arrangements to named projects, layers, and optional terminal sessions. yabai is a strong candidate when automatic tiling and command-line control of Spaces are the main job. This review does not establish safe simultaneous layout control.
The tradeoff to understand
Some additional features use an optional addition to the macOS Dock and require changes to System Integrity Protection (SIP). That is not required for every workflow. Check the requirements for the commands you need.
What yabai gives you
- Layout model
- Automatic tiling by dividing screen regions into two parts
- Configuration
- Shell configuration with settings changeable at runtime
- Automation entry
- Terminal commands to control windows, Spaces, and displays
- Per-Space behavior
- Tiled or floating layouts, padding, and gaps
- Keyboard bindings
- Configured through a separate hotkey tool such as skhd
- Permissions
- Accessibility access; extra privileged features have additional requirements
Try one workflow before switching
Choose a task you repeat and check the tool’s official setup guide. Pay attention to permissions, configuration, and conflicting shortcuts. This page compares documented approaches; it does not establish compatibility between two apps running together.
Go to the source
Documentation reviewed 2026-10-02. Examples are illustrative; this is not a hands-on product benchmark.