Hammerspoon vs Hazel

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

Hazel

• Mac users whose Downloads and Desktop folders fill up with unsorted files
• Filing scanned bills and statements by the text inside them
• People who want file automation bought once instead of by subscription

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.

Hazel

• macOS only; Hazel 6 requires macOS 13.0 (Ventura) or later.
• After the 14-day evaluation, an unlicensed copy drops to Demo mode: one monitored folder, two active rules and no import or export.
• A license covers one major version. Moving from any earlier version to Hazel 6 is a $20 paid upgrade.
• Rule sync works per folder and cannot merge rule sets: a second Mac's existing rules for that folder are overwritten.

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.

Hazel

Folder rules

Hazel monitors the folders you pick and applies rules, much like those in Apple Mail, that match items by name, size, date, type, source website and other attributes.

File actions

A matching item can be moved, copied, renamed, sorted into subfolders, tagged, commented, archived or synced, with patterns that build names and tags from its attributes.

Reading file contents

Hazel 6 uses on-the-fly text recognition to read text in PDFs without OCR and in image files, and reads encrypted PDFs when you supply a password.

Trash management and App Sweep

Deletes items from the Trash by age or when it grows too large. App Sweep notices a discarded application and offers to remove its support files as well.

Scripts, Shortcuts and uploads

Rules can run Shortcuts, AppleScript or JavaScript, Automator workflows and shell scripts, and can upload files to FTP, SFTP or WebDAV servers.

Revert and rule sync

Revert returns a file to its original place and name, with its tags and comments. A folder's rules can sync through a shared file to other Macs or user accounts.

Hammerspoon

• Hammerspoon$0

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

Hazel

• Hazel 6$42

  one-time purchase, single-user license

  Includes free upgrades within version 6. The license keeps unlocking the version you bought after a new major version ships.

• Hazel 6 Family Pack$65

  one-time purchase, up to 5 household members

  One license for up to 5 members of your household. For private households only.

Hammerspoon

No public discounts listed.

Hazel

• Other savings

  $20 upgrade from any previous version

  Owners of any earlier Hazel version can upgrade to Hazel 6 for $20. The price is the same for single-user and family pack licenses.

• Other savings

  Volume pricing on request

  The store page asks buyers interested in volume pricing or with other special pricing needs to contact Noodlesoft.