Fences vs Microsoft PowerToys

Fences

• Windows users whose desktop is crowded with shortcuts and files
• Keeping game launchers, school work or project files in separate groups
• IT teams that want the same organized desktop on every company PC

Microsoft PowerToys

• Windows users who want window layouts, a launcher and key remapping from one free install
• Developers and power users who work mostly from the keyboard
• People who prefer open-source tools published by the maker of the operating system

Fences

• Windows 10 and 11 only, including ARM devices; no Mac or Linux version is listed.
• A copy bought as a subscription stops working if the subscription is allowed to lapse.
• A permanent license covers Fences 6 and its 6.x updates but not later major versions, and the Steam edition is permanent-license only.
• The Single plan covers one device; running Fences on up to 5 PCs needs the Multi-Device plan or a 5-pack license.

Microsoft PowerToys

• Windows only: it needs Windows 11 or Windows 10 version 2004 or newer on a 64-bit x64 or ARM64 processor.
• Paste with AI is off by default and needs a model provider; online providers require your own API key and may charge for usage.
• Keyboard Manager remaps apply only while PowerToys is running, do not work on the log-in screen and cannot differ between keyboards.
• FancyZones cannot snap some listed apps, and apps running elevated need PowerToys to run as administrator.

Fences

Fence groups

Desktop icons, files and folders sit in shaded areas whose size, color, transparency and sorting can be changed. A fence can be rolled up to keep its contents out of sight until needed.

Automatic sorting rules

Rules place new desktop items into fences by file type, name, time or target location, for example collecting every screenshot in one fence.

Folder Portals

Mirror any folder, including cloud and network folders, onto the desktop as a fence, so its contents can be reached without opening File Explorer.

Peek

Pressing the Windows key and Space brings your fences on top of all open windows for quick access to files, folders and applications.

Tabs, Icon Tint and Chameleon

Fences 6 stacks several fences together as tabs, applies a uniform color tint to desktop icons, and can fade icons into the background to reduce visual noise.

Business deployment

Fences 6 for Business adds tooling to deploy configurations from network drives, content locking, single-key activation and centralized activation management.

Microsoft PowerToys

FancyZones

A window manager for custom zone layouts. Hold Shift while dragging a window to snap it into a zone, or let Win+arrow keys move windows between zones. Layouts are built in a grid or canvas editor.

Command Palette

A launcher opened with Win+Alt+Space that starts apps, runs commands, searches files and the web, calculates and switches windows. Community extensions install from a built-in Extension Gallery.

Keyboard Manager

Remaps single keys and shortcuts, globally or for one app, and can map a key or shortcut to a text sequence, an app launch or a URI.

Advanced Paste

Pastes clipboard content as plain text, Markdown, JSON or a file, extracts text from images with local OCR, and can transform text through an optional AI provider that you configure.

File Explorer tools

PowerRename renames files in bulk with search and replace or regular expressions, Image Resizer resizes images from the right-click menu, and File Locksmith shows which processes are using a file.

Screen and text tools

Color Picker samples colors anywhere on screen, Text Extractor copies on-screen text with OCR, Screen Ruler measures pixels, and ZoomIt zooms, annotates and records the screen for presentations.

Fences

• Single$9.99

  per year (US dollar price in the page's metadata)

  A 1 Year Subscription for one device, kept on the latest version. Read from India, the page showed ₹1,025.22 with ₹1,206.00 crossed out.

• Multi-Device₹2,411.00

  per year, as shown to a visitor in India

  A 1 Year Subscription with one key and 5 simultaneous activations. The US dollar price could not be read.

• Fences 6 on Steam$29.99

  one-time purchase (US Steam store)

  A permanent license for Fences 6 with a 1 PC activation limit. It gets 6.x updates but not later major versions. A Multi-Device Upgrade add-on is $19.99.

• Object Desktop₹4,820.82

  per year, as shown to a visitor in India

  Stardock's suite of more than a dozen apps including Fences, with up to 5 active installs. Shown with ₹6,026.00 crossed out.

• Fences 6 for BusinessCustom

  Priced in an order builder by number of licenses, with volume discounts, single or per-machine keys and a year of maintenance and premium support.

Microsoft PowerToys

• PowerToys$0

  All utilities, installed from GitHub, the Microsoft Store or WinGet. Free and open source under the MIT license.

Fences

• Other savings

  Upgrade pricing for owners of earlier versions

  Owners of Fences 3, 4 or 5 can check their eligibility on the product page for a discounted upgrade to Fences 6. The amount is shown after the check.

Microsoft PowerToys

No public discounts listed.