Comparison
Choose SnapState if you want windows put back by themselves after sleep or a monitor change; choose ShiftPlus if you want to switch between editable project workspaces.SnapState is $9.99 once for three Macs, less than half of ShiftPlus's $24 for one Mac, but it has no trial and cannot edit a saved workspace yet. ShiftPlus has both, plus iCloud sync, terminal commands and per-workspace browser profiles.
Short version: ShiftPlus wins on trial, editing, browser profiles, project files, iCloud sync and languages. SnapState wins on price, number of Macs and automatic restore after wake or a monitor connect.
| ShiftPlus | SnapState | Ahead | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $24 for 1 Mac, $39 for 2 (one-time) | $9.99 for 3 Macs (one-time) | SnapState |
| Free trial | 14 days, every feature | None; 14-day refund | ShiftPlus |
| macOS | 14.6 or later | 15.7 or later | ShiftPlus |
| Restores by itself after sleep or a monitor connect | No. You trigger it; its own guide says it does not trigger on monitor reconnect | Yes: wake, display connect, matching display layout | SnapState |
| Edit a saved workspace | Yes, in a workspace editor | Not yet; capture again | ShiftPlus |
| Browser support | Chrome, Edge, Brave, Firefox, Safari and more, with per-workspace profiles | Safari, Chrome, Edge, Brave, Arc, Chromium; no Firefox | ShiftPlus |
| Open tabs | Tabs grouped by original window | All open tabs of each captured window | Even |
| Project files, terminal commands, deep links, AWS_PROFILE | Yes | No | ShiftPlus |
| iCloud sync | Yes | No | ShiftPlus |
| Raycast | Extension (Raycast Store) | Companion extension and snapstate:// URL scheme | Even |
| Spaces | Saves each app’s Space, per-workspace choice of ask, move or leave | Apps return to their saved Space; an app saved on several Spaces is not split in the current release | ShiftPlus |
| Languages (site and app) | English and German | English | ShiftPlus |
ShiftPlus facts checked 11 November 2026 on the pages listed under Sources. Prices are in US dollars and can change.
ShiftPlus describes itself as a workspace manager that restores apps, browser profiles, window layouts, monitors and Spaces with one hotkey. Its sweet spot is project switching: a workspace can open a project file in an editor, run a terminal start command, set an AWS profile and open specific URLs.
SnapState saves the desk you already have, with live windows on every Space, the apps to relaunch and every open browser tab, and puts it back when macOS scrambles it. Its distinguishing feature is that a workspace can be armed to restore on wake, on display connect, or when a matching display layout appears, with no hotkey.
More: 14 Mac workspace managers compared and why windows move after sleep.
It is if your problem is windows scattering after sleep or a monitor change, because SnapState restores by itself and ShiftPlus does not. It is not if you want to edit workspaces, launch project files and terminal commands, sync over iCloud, or try before you buy.
SnapState is $9.99 once for three Macs. ShiftPlus is $24 once for one Mac or $39 for two, so SnapState is less than half the one-Mac price. ShiftPlus runs a Black Friday offer of 40% off from 20 November to 2 December 2026, which makes it $14.40 or $23.40.
Its own Stay comparison says it does not trigger automatically on monitor reconnect the way Stay does. Restore is a hotkey, menu bar or Raycast action.
Yes. They solve different problems: ShiftPlus to switch project contexts, SnapState to put a desk back after the Mac forgets it. Both need Accessibility permission, so check they do not both move the same windows at the same moment.