AeroSpace vs Hammerspoon

AeroSpace

• Developers and advanced users who want i3-style tiling on a Mac
• Keyboard-driven work with configuration kept in dotfiles
• Multi-monitor setups that assign workspaces to particular displays

Hammerspoon

• Mac users comfortable writing Lua who want to script their own automation
• Custom window management driven by keyboard shortcuts
• Triggering actions from system events such as joining a Wi-Fi network

AeroSpace

• macOS only: the released binary runs on macOS 13 or later.
• Still a public beta; the README says to expect breaking changes until version 1.0.
• There is no settings window. Configuration is a TOML text file, and the project says it will never add a GUI for it.
• The app is not notarized by Apple, so a manual install can show a macOS security warning; the Homebrew install avoids it.

Hammerspoon

• macOS only. Release 1.1.1 lists a minimum of macOS 13.0; older Macs need an earlier release.
• Out of the box it does nothing: every behavior has to be written in Lua in ~/.hammerspoon/init.lua or added as a Spoon.
• It depends on the macOS Accessibility permission, which the user has to grant by hand in the system's privacy settings.
• Crash information is collected by default; the FAQ says this can be turned off in the preferences.

AeroSpace

Tree-based tiling

Each workspace holds its windows in a tree of containers, a model taken from i3. Focus moves in four directions, and the move and join-with commands reshape the tree.

Tiles and accordion layouts

Four layouts: horizontal and vertical tiles, plus horizontal and vertical accordions that stack windows and leave a padded edge to show the others.

Emulated workspaces

AeroSpace uses its own workspaces instead of macOS Spaces, moving inactive windows off screen so switching has no animation. It does not need System Integrity Protection disabled.

Plain-text configuration

Settings and key bindings live in a TOML file such as ~/.aerospace.toml. Binding modes swap in a different set of shortcuts, as in i3.

Command-line client

The aerospace CLI runs the same commands as key bindings and can query state. Man pages and bash, fish and zsh completion are included.

Callbacks and monitor assignment

An on-window-detected callback runs commands for each new window, for example to send an app to a set workspace. Workspaces can be assigned to particular monitors.

Hammerspoon

Lua bridge to macOS

Extensions expose macOS APIs for applications, windows, screens, audio devices, batteries, clipboards, Wi-Fi, location and low-level keyboard and mouse events to Lua code.

Hotkeys

A keyboard shortcut can be bound to any Lua function, from showing a notification to running a series of window operations or an AppleScript.

Window movement and layouts

Scripts can move and resize the focused window, arrange several apps' windows into a saved layout across screens, and use window filters to act on groups of windows.

Event watchers

A configuration can react to application events, Wi-Fi network changes and USB devices, for example muting the volume when the Mac leaves the home network.

Spoons

Spoons are pre-made plugins, installed by double-clicking a .spoon file and loaded from the config. The official list includes an app launcher and a window switcher.

Menu bar items and URL triggers

Scripts can create menu bar items, draw on the screen and send iMessage or SMS messages, and other apps can trigger them through hammerspoon:// URLs.

AeroSpace

• AeroSpace$0

  Tree-based tiling, emulated workspaces, TOML configuration, the aerospace command-line client and multi-monitor support. MIT licensed.

Hammerspoon

• Hammerspoon$0

  The complete app with every extension, as a direct download or a Homebrew cask. Open source under the MIT license.