Magnet or Universal Display Magnet, which one you need

Two apps, one word in common

Magnet is made by its own developer and sold on the Mac App Store. Universal Display Magnet is an independent app by Clever Mechanisms, sold on this website. In both names, "magnet" describes things snapping into place. It doesn't mean the apps are connected.

Universal Display Magnet starts with Magnet's default shortcuts on purpose, so keys you already know keep working. It isn't a version, an add-on or a successor of Magnet, and Magnet's developer has nothing to do with it.

Where Universal Display Magnet goes further

Universal Display Magnet is for the problems around your windows:

• Display arrangement. Drag your monitors in a visual editor and they snap flush against each other, or use Snap All to pull every display together. Apply shows the result live; click Keep within 15 seconds or it reverts. The arrangement is saved for each set of monitors and put back when they reconnect or the Mac wakes. Display arrangement
• Workspaces. Save which monitor, which Desktop or full-screen Space, and where each app's windows sit, and restore them with a click or a shortcut. Automatic snapshots put windows back when a set of monitors reconnects or the Mac wakes with its displays changed. Workspaces
• Universal Control across your Macs. Arrange the other Macs' displays flush against yours, applied live on every Mac, with an undo. Universal Control
• Sync between your Macs. Arrangements and workspaces sync directly over your local network, encrypted, with no cloud. Mac sync

Magnet's listing and website don't describe these tasks, which doesn't always mean it can't do them.

Side by side

Documented means described in the product's own listing, website or documentation. Not documented means not described there, which doesn't always mean it can't.

Price and license

• Magnet: $4.99 on the US Mac App Store, checked 3 November 2026. Its listing describes a one-time purchase. Prices differ by country.
• Universal Display Magnet: $9.99, one-time purchase, with tax added at checkout where applicable. One license covers three Macs. The app keeps working offline for up to seven days after its last successful license check. See license and updates.

Running both apps

You can keep Magnet installed. Two apps can't own the same shortcut, though, and because Universal Display Magnet starts with Magnet's defaults (⌃⌥ with the arrow keys, U, I, J, K, Return and C), they collide out of the box. Universal Display Magnet flags any snapping shortcut another app already uses, in Window Snapping. Then pick one of these:

• Quit Magnet, or turn off its shortcuts, and use Universal Display Magnet for snapping.
• Change or turn off Universal Display Magnet's snapping shortcuts in Window Snapping, keep Magnet for snapping, and use Universal Display Magnet for displays and workspaces.

The full list of default keys is on the shortcuts page.

Rectangle and Rectangle Pro

If you're choosing between Magnet and Rectangle, try free Rectangle first: it's open source and snaps windows with shortcuts or by dragging, including halves, quarters and thirds. Rectangle Pro is a separate paid app that adds custom sizes, window throw and App Layouts that can switch on when displays connect or disconnect. Both are compared with Universal Display Magnet on Rectangle and Rectangle Pro.

Where Magnet is the better fit

Magnet does one job, and it does it well. Its Mac App Store listing and website describe:

• Snapping with keyboard shortcuts, by dragging a window to trigger areas at the edges and corners of the screen, from the green window button's menu and from the menu bar.
• Fullscreen, halves, quarters and thirds.
• An unlimited number of custom commands, with layout and visual settings you can change.
• Optional iCloud sync of its configuration.
• Support for external and vertical displays.
• A one-time purchase, with no subscription and no in-app purchases.

macOS can also tile windows on its own: see Tile windows on Mac, or the guide to split screen on a Mac.