Hammerspoon vs Keyboard Maestro

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

Keyboard Maestro

• Mac users who repeat the same multi-step tasks and want to automate them
• People who prefer paying once per major version to a subscription
• Users who want clipboard history, text expansion and app switching in one tool

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.

Keyboard Maestro

• macOS only; version 11 requires macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later.
• The license covers version 11.x. Later major versions are paid upgrades, which the vendor says it releases roughly every 12 to 36 months.
• There is no free plan: the programs are free to download and try, but continued use requires a license.
• Licensed per user for up to five Macs; customers with ten or more users are asked to contact the vendor for a volume quote.

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.

Keyboard Maestro

Macros built from triggers and actions

A macro pairs one or more triggers with a list of actions, created by hand or by recording. Built-in actions include control flow, conditions and loops, and third-party plug-in actions can be added.

Many trigger types

Macros can fire from a hot key, a typed string, a time of day or cron schedule, an application launching, a folder change, a USB or MIDI device, a Wi-Fi network change or a remote web link.

Clipboard history and named clipboards

The Clipboard History Switcher browses and pastes past clipboard entries, and an unlimited number of Named Clipboards are saved permanently.

Text, image and web actions

Type or paste strings, expand typed snippets, run calculations, OCR and capture images, and work with the front page in Safari or Chrome, including filling in forms.

Application and window control

Launch, quit, show or hide applications, move and resize windows, and switch between running apps and open windows with the Application and Window Switchers.

Scripting and syncing

Macros can run AppleScript, shell scripts and JavaScript, and can be triggered from scripts, a URL or the keyboardmaestro command-line tool. Macros sync across Macs through Dropbox or other file sharing.

Hammerspoon

• Hammerspoon$0

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

Keyboard Maestro

• Keyboard Maestro 11US$36

  one-time purchase, plus applicable tax

  A per-user license for version 11.x that an individual may use on up to five Macs. Not a subscription; version 11 can be used indefinitely.

• Upgrade to version 11US$25

  one-time upgrade, plus applicable tax

  For owners of any previous version. Purchases made since 1 March 2023 were issued a free upgrade to version 11.

Hammerspoon

No public discounts listed.

Keyboard Maestro

• Other savings

  US$25 upgrade from any previous version

  Owners of an earlier version can buy an upgrade to version 11 for US$25 plus tax instead of the US$36 new-license price.

• Other savings

  Volume discount for ten or more users

  The user manual asks customers with ten or more users to contact Stairways Software for a volume discount quote.