Comparison
There is no single best Mac workspace manager; there are three different jobs. If you want windows put back by themselves after sleep or a monitor change, look at SnapState, BetterStage, Stay or Resettle. If you switch between projects and want to edit each workspace, look at ShiftPlus. If you want tiling, look at BetterStage, Moom or NeoTiler. We make SnapState, so we show where the others are ahead.
Quick picks: auto-restore on wake: SnapState ($9.99 once). Project switching: ShiftPlus ($24, 14-day trial). Free: Stay for display memory, FlashSpace for virtual workspaces. Tiling: BetterStage, Moom, NeoTiler.
| App | Price | Trial | Restores by itself on wake or display change | Browser tabs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SnapState | $9.99 one-time, 3 Macs | None, 14-day refund | Yes: wake, display connect, matching layout | Yes: all open tabs (Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Chromium) |
| ShiftPlus | $24 for 1 Mac, $39 for 2 | 14 days, all features | No: restore is triggered by you (its own guide says it does not trigger on monitor reconnect) | Yes: browser profiles, tabs grouped by window |
| BetterStage | Free tier; Pro $19.99 one-time (1 Mac), $39.99 for more Macs | 7-day Pro trial | Yes: after sleep, restarts and display changes (free tier) | Not stated |
| Spencer | $20 for 1 Mac, $36 for 3 (list $25/$45) | 7 days, 14-day refund | Not stated | No (its own limits list) |
| Cove | $19.99 one-time, 2 activations | 14 days, limited to 3 sessions | Not stated | Yes: tab order for Safari, Chrome, Brave, Edge, Arc |
| Ikuna | Free up to 4 contexts; Pro €9/month or €70/year | None for Pro, 14-day refund | Not claimed | Yes |
| MacLayout | $19.99, 1 year of updates | 14 days, 3 layouts | Display connect and disconnect yes; wake not stated | Not stated |
| Resettle | $14.99 one-time | None, 14-day refund | Yes after monitor changes; learns each desk automatically | Not stated |
| Stay | Free (freeware since 1.5.1, 31 Aug 2025) | Not applicable | Yes: as displays connect and disconnect | Not stated |
| NeoTiler | $9.99 one-time, 3 Macs | 14 days | Not stated | Not stated |
| Moom | $15 | Free trial | Not stated | Not stated |
| Putback | Setapp, from $4.99/month | 7 days (Setapp) | Yes: when displays return | Not stated |
| Workspaces (Apptorium) | $19.99 on the Mac App Store | Not stated on the store page | Not applicable | Not stated |
| FlashSpace | Free, open source | Not applicable | Not applicable | Not applicable |
Checked 11 November 2026 on each vendor's own page. “Not stated” means the page does not say. Prices change; confirm before you buy.
Best for: Putting a whole desk back by itself after sleep, a restart or a monitor change. Limits: Saved workspaces cannot be edited yet; no trial; Firefox not supported; macOS 15.7+.
Best for: Switching between projects with editable workspaces, browser profiles, terminal commands and iCloud sync. Limits: Stage Manager not supported (its FAQ); macOS 14.6+.
Best for: A tiling window manager that also remembers named Stages. Limits: Not stated for Spaces or tabs on its page; macOS 14+.
Best for: Restoring native Spaces, full-screen apps and Split View per display setup. Limits: No Stage Manager; cannot reopen browser tabs or files; macOS 13+.
Best for: Named sessions with terminal folders, reminders and links. Limits: Desktop placement labelled experimental on its page; macOS 15+.
Best for: Focus modes and project contexts for people who want focus tools as well. Limits: Subscription for unlimited contexts; macOS 13+.
Best for: Named layouts with shortcuts and display triggers. Limits: Its guide says it cannot place windows on a specific Space; macOS 13+.
Best for: Zero-setup window memory per monitor setup, with undo. Limits: No named workspaces or tabs on its page; version 0.8.7; macOS 14 to 27.
Best for: Free per-display window memory. Limits: Newest release we found is 31 Aug 2025; its pages make no macOS 26 or 27 statement.
Best for: Snapping and tiling with "Smart Workspaces" for multi-app layouts. Limits: A window manager first; macOS 13+.
Best for: Precise window moving and zooming with saved layouts; release 4.6 shipped 19 Aug 2026. Limits: A window manager, not a session restorer.
Best for: Per-display layouts with undo and restore history, if you already use Setapp. Limits: Whether it is sold outside Setapp is unverified; macOS 14+.
Best for: Launching a project’s apps, folders, files and links in one click. Limits: A project launcher, not a window-layout restorer.
Best for: Virtual workspaces that replace native Spaces, with a CLI and config files. Limits: Requires "Displays have separate Spaces"; macOS 14+.
See also the ShiftPlus vs SnapState comparison and why windows move after sleep.
It depends on the job. For windows that must come back by themselves after sleep or a monitor change, SnapState, BetterStage and Stay say they do that. For switching between projects with editable workspaces, ShiftPlus is the strongest fit. For tiling, use BetterStage, Moom or NeoTiler.
Stay is free and FlashSpace is free and open source, but they do different jobs. Among paid session restorers, SnapState is $9.99 one-time for three Macs, the lowest list price in this comparison.
Yes. ShiftPlus (14 days), Spencer (7), Cove (14), MacLayout (14), NeoTiler (14), BetterStage (7) and Moom offer trials. SnapState and Resettle do not; both have a 14-day refund.
On their own pages, SnapState (wake, display connect), BetterStage (sleep, restarts, display changes), Stay (display connect and disconnect), Resettle (monitor changes) and Putback (when displays return) describe automatic restore. ShiftPlus states that it does not trigger on monitor reconnect.
We read each vendor’s own pages on 11 November 2026 and recorded what they state. “Not stated” means the page is silent, not that the feature is missing. We did not run every app on every macOS version, so check the vendor before you buy. SnapState is our product.