# Raycast window management vs a window manager Source: https://ribbonformac.com/raycast-window-management Updated: 2026-10-29 Raycast, the free launcher, includes window commands: halves, thirds, quarters, maximize, center, next display, and more, each of which you can bind to a hotkey. For people who place a window now and then, that's all the window management they need, with no extra app. It places one window per command, though; it doesn't arrange new windows as they open or keep a layout. That's what a window manager adds. ## What Raycast's window commands do Open [Raycast](https://www.raycast.com/) and search for a command such as **Left Half**, **First Third**, **Center** or **Maximize**. Press Return and the front window moves. The set covers halves, thirds and two-thirds, quarters and sixths, maximize, centering, moving to the next or previous display or Space, and restoring the previous size. Window Management is part of Raycast's free plan. Custom window commands of your own are a Pro feature. ## Give them hotkeys Typing a command name every time is slow. Assign hotkeys: 1. Open Raycast's settings → **Extensions**. 2. Find **Window Management** and expand it. 3. Click the **Hotkey** field next to a command and press the keys you want. A [Hyper key](https://ribbonformac.com/hyper-key-mac) is ideal here: Hyper plus ← / → for halves, Hyper plus 1/2/3 for thirds, and none of them can clash with an app. ## Raycast vs macOS's own tiling On macOS 15 Sequoia and later, macOS tiles halves and quarters itself with Fn⌃ and the arrows. Raycast adds: - **Thirds and two-thirds**, which macOS lacks. - **Your own hotkeys** for every action. - **Next/previous display and Space** as commands. - **Older macOS support**: it works on versions without built-in tiling. ## Where it stops Raycast's commands, like Rectangle's or macOS's, act once on one window. They don't: - place a window automatically when it opens, - make room for a new window by rearranging others, - move focus to "the window on the left", - remember a layout per desktop and rebuild it. If you find yourself pressing the same three hotkeys every time you open a project, that's the point where a window manager helps. ## Two kinds of window manager - **Grid tilers** (Amethyst, yabai, AeroSpace) divide the screen among all windows automatically. Good on large monitors. - **Scrolling managers** put each window in a column on a strip wider than the screen, so a new window adds a column instead of shrinking the others. Good on laptops and ultrawides. [Ribbon](https://ribbonformac.com/) is a scrolling window manager. New windows become columns automatically; ⌃⌥← / → moves focus between them; ⌃⌥R cycles a column through preset widths (a quarter, a third, a half, two thirds and so on); a trackpad swipe moves the strip with your fingers. It runs alongside Raycast fine as long as you don't use Raycast's window commands on the same windows, because two tools moving one window will fight. Keep Raycast as your launcher, let Ribbon place windows. [Try it in the live demo](https://ribbonformac.com/#demo); [pricing](https://ribbonformac.com/#pricing) is $9.99 once. ## FAQ ### Is Raycast window management free? Yes. The built-in window commands are in the free plan; custom window commands need Raycast Pro. ### Can Raycast tile windows automatically? No. Each command places the front window once. Automatic tiling needs a window manager. ### Can I use Raycast and a window manager together? Yes, for different jobs: Raycast as the launcher, the window manager for layout. Avoid using both to move the same windows. ## Keep reading - [Hyper key on Mac](https://ribbonformac.com/hyper-key-mac) — Caps Lock as Hyper with Raycast or Karabiner, the built-in option, and what to bind. - [Best window manager for Mac](https://ribbonformac.com/best-window-manager-for-mac) — Built-in tiling, snappers, grid tilers and scrolling managers, and who each suits. - [Resize and center windows by keyboard](https://ribbonformac.com/resize-window-keyboard-mac) — Fn-Control shortcuts, Window → Center, mouse modifiers and width steps. - [Auto-arrange windows](https://ribbonformac.com/auto-arrange-windows-mac) — Fill & Arrange in macOS 15, why it doesn't stick, and managers that place windows for you. - [Tile windows on Mac](https://ribbonformac.com/how-to-tile-windows-on-mac) — Drag, green button, Window menu and every Fn-Control shortcut, plus how to turn it off.