Comparison
A yabai alternative that keeps SIP on
yabai is the most capable tiling window manager on macOS, and it has years of work behind it. The catch is what its best features cost: System Integrity Protection has to be partially disabled.
If that trade sits badly with you, this page is about the alternative.
What yabai needs SIP off for
yabai's core tiling works with SIP left alone. The rest depends on its scripting
addition, which injects into Dock.app because Dock owns the only connection
to the macOS window server. That injection is what SIP is designed to prevent, so it cannot
be installed while SIP is fully on.
By yabai's own documentation, these features need it:
- Move, swap, create and destroy Spaces
- Remove window shadows
- Window transparency
- Window animations
- Scratchpad windows
- Control window layers (topmost, or pinned to the desktop)
- Sticky windows that appear on every Space
- Toggle picture-in-picture on a window
None of this is a criticism of yabai. Reaching the window server is the only way to do those things at all, and yabai is honest about the requirement. It is a real trade with a real cost on both sides.
What hyprmac does instead
hyprmac never asks for SIP. It drives windows through the Accessibility API, which macOS already permits, and it asks for exactly one permission to do it. Not Screen Recording, not Full Disk Access, not Input Monitoring.
- A dwindle layout: each new window splits the one you are focused on
- Gaps, rounding, and a
hyprland.conf-style text config - Five workspaces, in the menu bar
- Vim-style keybinds, and every one of them rebindable
- Drag a window onto another to swap, or onto an edge to split there
- Three-finger swipe between workspaces, and an overview
- Animated window movement. Windows snap to their new size
- Transparency and shadow control on other apps' windows
- Rounded corners on windows that are not ours
- Sticky windows and scratchpads
- Manipulating macOS Spaces themselves
If the right-hand column is what you actually want, use yabai and disable SIP knowingly. It is the better tool for that job and no comparison page should pretend otherwise.
Side by side
| yabai | hyprmac | |
|---|---|---|
| Requires disabling SIP | For its scripting addition | Never |
| Permissions asked for | Accessibility | Accessibility, and only that |
| Config | yabairc shell script | hyprland.conf syntax |
| Layout model | BSP, stack, float | Dwindle tree |
| Mouse tiling | Drag to swap or warp | Drag to swap, drop on an edge to split |
| Trackpad gestures | Not built in | Three fingers to switch, and an overview |
| Window animations | With SIP partially off | Not possible |
| Multi-display | Yes | Single display for now |
| Licence | MIT | MIT |
| Price | Free | Free |
Common questions
Does yabai really need SIP disabled?
Partly. yabai's core tiling works with System Integrity Protection left on. Its scripting addition, which injects into Dock.app to reach the window server, is what needs SIP partially disabled — and that addition is what powers Space manipulation, window transparency, shadows, animations, sticky windows and several other features.
What is the actual risk of disabling SIP?
System Integrity Protection stops software, including software running as root, from modifying protected parts of macOS. Turning part of it off widens what any compromised process on your machine can reach. Plenty of people make that trade knowingly. The point is that it should be a decision, not a surprise buried in an install guide.
What does hyprmac give up by keeping SIP on?
Real window animations, transparency and rounded corners on other apps' windows. Those need the window server, and the window server is exactly what SIP protects. hyprmac moves and resizes windows through the Accessibility API instead, so windows snap rather than glide.
Can I try hyprmac without committing?
Yes. It is a 1.8 MB disk image, it asks for one permission, and quitting it with ⌥⇧Q puts every window back where it found it. Uninstalling is dragging it to the Trash.
1.8 MB · Apple Silicon · macOS 14+ · free and MIT licensed