RibbonRibbon vs yabai
yabai is a scriptable BSP tiling window manager; Ribbon is a scrolling one with a settings window and trackpad gestures. A clear comparison.
By Chethan Kumar S N · Updated
yabai is one of the most powerful window managers on the Mac: a tiling engine you drive from the command line and wire up to keys yourself. Ribbon is a scrolling window manager you install and use, with a settings window and trackpad gestures. They’re good at different things.
The short version
- Pick yabai if you want a scriptable binary-space-partitioning tiler, enjoy building your own setup with shell commands and a hotkey daemon, and don’t mind the extra steps some features need.
- Pick Ribbon if you want windows that never overlap and never shrink, a trackpad gesture to move through them, and nothing to script.
Side by side
| yabai | Ribbon | |
|---|---|---|
| Layout | Binary space partitioning, stack or float | A strip of full-height columns that runs past the screen’s edges |
| Opening a window | Splits the space of an existing window | Adds a column; nothing shrinks |
| Control | yabai -m commands, usually bound with skhd | Built-in shortcuts and trackpad swipes |
| Setup | Shell config files | A settings window |
| System Integrity Protection | Some features need it partly disabled | Never; it only needs Accessibility access |
| Where you are | Whatever you build | A strip map that floats up as you move |
| Price | Free, open source | $15 once, 7-day free trial |
| Requires | See its docs | macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon |
SIP, and why it matters
yabai’s core tiling works with the normal Accessibility permission. Some of its extra features, like managing Spaces or changing other windows’ layering and opacity, need System Integrity Protection partly turned off, which means booting into Recovery and lowering a security setting on your Mac. Plenty of people never use those features. But if you’re on a work Mac, or simply don’t want to touch SIP, it’s worth knowing.
Ribbon never asks you to change SIP. It uses the Accessibility permission, which you grant once in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Accessibility, and that’s all.
Scripting vs settings
With yabai, your window manager is a set of rules and key bindings you write: yabai -m window --focus east, bound to a key in skhd. You can make it do almost anything, and you also have to maintain it.
Ribbon’s behaviour lives in a settings window: shortcuts, gaps, widths, focus-follows-mouse, per-app rules. If you do want to script it, there are ribbon:// URLs, a ribbon command-line tool and Raycast scripts.
The layout
yabai’s BSP layout splits the screen: two windows get half each, a third splits one of those halves, and so on. It’s efficient on a big display and cramped on a laptop.
Ribbon gives every window its own width on a strip that scrolls. A new window slides in beside the focused one and the rest of the strip moves along. You move with ⌃⌥ ← →, a three-finger swipe, or ⌃⌥1–9 to jump. More on the model in What is a scrolling window manager?.
Switching from yabai
- Stop yabai and skhd (
yabai --stop-service,skhd --stop-service). - If you disabled SIP only for yabai, you can turn it back on from Recovery.
- Install Ribbon and grant Accessibility access.
- Recreate the shortcuts you rely on in Ribbon’s Settings.
Or try the strip in your browser first.
Questions
Does Ribbon need SIP disabled like yabai?
No. Ribbon only uses the Accessibility permission you grant in System Settings. There's nothing to turn off in System Integrity Protection, and it's signed with an Apple Developer ID so it opens like any other app.
Is Ribbon a yabai alternative?
It's an alternative for people who want windows that never overlap without scripting a tiling setup. yabai splits the screen between windows; Ribbon puts each window in a full-height column on a scrolling strip.
Do I need skhd with Ribbon?
No. Ribbon has its own keyboard shortcuts, which you can change in Settings, and they follow your keyboard layout.
Ready? Buy Ribbon for $15, or read all the guides.