Ribbon is the Loop alternative for most people whose windows keep shrinking into one screen. Columns sit on a strip and keep their width. Keep Loop for the radial menu. Rectangle, Moom and Amethyst cover direct shortcuts, saved layouts and free tiling.
The short version
| Your reason for leaving Loop | Try | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| You want readable windows beyond the screen edge | Ribbon | A strip of columns, $17 once |
| You prefer direct shortcuts | Rectangle | One chord per position, free |
| You only want halves and quarters | macOS tiling | No extra app, macOS 15+ |
| You want saved layouts | Moom | $15, free trial, more setup |
| You want custom edge snap areas | BetterSnapTool | $1.99, drag-first |
| You want windows to tile automatically | Amethyst | Free, changes the whole layout |
Loop alternatives aren't all the same kind of app. Loop asks you where a window should go. Amethyst decides for you. Ribbon puts windows on a strip longer than the display. Pick the behaviour before the brand.
Ribbon
Each display has a strip of columns. Open a new window and it joins beside the focused one; the others keep their widths. ⌃⌥← and Right move focus; ⌃⌥R cycles width. You can also hold Option and scroll with two fingers. Unmodified three- or four-finger swipes are opt-in in Settings, not the fresh-install default.
It works inside native Spaces and keeps SIP on. The one-Mac price is $17 once, three Macs $39 and five $59.
Good to know: Ribbon needs Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later, and there is no free trial. It is not a radial menu. The browser demo shows the keys.
What Loop already does well
Loop is free and GPL-3.0, for macOS 13 and later. Hold a trigger key, point in a direction and release to place the window. A radial menu and preview show the result. Its README also describes keyboard shortcuts and cycles for repeated actions.
If that input model fits your hand, there is no reason to replace it just because another tool has a longer feature list. The tagged release checked was 1.4.2 from January 2026; commits were still landing in the repository. A release date alone isn't a stability verdict.
Rectangle, for direct shortcuts
Rectangle's own description is "Move and resize windows in macOS using keyboard shortcuts or snap areas." It is free, MIT licensed, and the current build supports macOS 14 and later. Older builds are linked for earlier macOS versions.
Choose it if you know where you want the window to go and would rather press a chord than open a radial menu. Don't choose it expecting continuous tiling when you open another app. Its README distinguishes individual placement actions from its explicit Rows and Columns actions.
If you're looking for more than the free app offers, Rectangle alternatives covers Pro, Moom and custom snap tools.
macOS tiling, for the basics
On macOS 15 and later, drag to an edge or corner, or use the green-button menu. Fn⌃← and → move the active window into a half. Fn⌃⇧← arranges two windows side by side. Fn⌃R restores the previous size.
There is no built-in shortcut for a quarter in Apple's table, and no thirds. If those limits are fine, you may not need Loop or any replacement. See split screen on Mac for the steps and the difference from full-screen Split View.
Moom, for layouts you reuse
Moom saves and reapplies window arrangements. It also has a green-button palette, custom snap zones, chains and a keyboard controller. $15 direct, free trial, macOS 10.13 or later.
Pick it if a repeatable work layout matters more than a quick radial gesture. The cost is learning a larger set of actions. Moom alternatives focuses on that saved-layout intent.
BetterSnapTool, for custom areas
BetterSnapTool is a $1.99 US App Store app for macOS 12 and later. It snaps to edges and corners and lets you define custom snap areas. It suits a mouse-first desk where you want regions of your own rather than Loop's radial choices.
It doesn't turn window management into automatic tiling. You still place windows when needed.
Amethyst, if you don't want to place each window
Amethyst automatically rearranges windows using layouts inspired by xmonad. Free, MIT, macOS 10.15 and later, with a preferences window and native Spaces. ⌥⇧Space cycles layouts.
This removes manual snapping but adds a new limit: opening a window shares the screen with the others. If you must keep several windows visible, that is useful. If it makes your editor too narrow, it isn't.
Which one should you pick?
Start with Ribbon when windows are getting too narrow. Keep Loop if its radial menu is the reason you installed it. Move to Rectangle for direct snapping keys, Moom for saved arrangements or Amethyst for automatic tiling.