Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Rectangle VS GrandPerspective

Compare Rectangle VS GrandPerspective and see what are their differences

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Rectangle logo Rectangle

Window management app based on Spectacle, written in Swift.

GrandPerspective logo GrandPerspective

GrandPerspective is a small utility application for Mac that graphically shows the disk usage...
  • Rectangle Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-20
  • GrandPerspective Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-09-28

Rectangle features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    Rectangle offers an intuitive user interface that makes window management straightforward and user-friendly.
  • Customizable Shortcuts
    Users can easily configure keyboard shortcuts to better suit their workflow, making window management faster and more efficient.
  • Free
    Rectangle is available for free, making it accessible to anyone without the need for a financial investment.
  • Frequent Updates
    The app receives regular updates, introducing new features and ensuring compatibility with the latest macOS versions.
  • Lightweight
    Rectangle is a lightweight application that doesn't consume many system resources, ensuring smooth performance even on older Macs.

Possible disadvantages of Rectangle

  • Limited Advanced Features
    Rectangle lacks some of the more advanced features found in paid window management applications, such as multiple monitor support and more complex window arrangements.
  • MacOS Only
    Rectangle is only available for macOS, so users of other operating systems are unable to take advantage of its features.
  • Occasional Bugs
    Some users report occasional bugs or unpredictable behavior, which might require troubleshooting or waiting for a future update.
  • Learning Curve for Shortcuts
    While customizable shortcuts are a benefit, there is an initial learning curve for users to memorize and effectively use these shortcuts.
  • Basic Aesthetic
    The app's design and aesthetic are quite basic, lacking the polish and visual appeal found in some other similar tools.

GrandPerspective features and specs

  • Visualization
    GrandPerspective provides a visual representation of disk usage, allowing users to easily identify large files and folders at a glance through a treemap display.
  • Open Source
    The software is open source, meaning it is free to use and its source code is accessible for modification and improvement by the community.
  • User-Friendly
    The interface is simple and intuitive, making it easy for users of all levels of technical expertise to navigate and understand their disk usage.
  • Customizable
    Users can customize the treemap view, including color schemes and block sizes, to better suit their preferences and needs.

Possible disadvantages of GrandPerspective

  • Mac-Only
    GrandPerspective is available only for macOS, limiting its usage to Apple users and excluding those on Windows or Linux platforms.
  • Basic Features
    While it provides excellent visualization, GrandPerspective lacks advanced features that are available in some paid disk usage analyzers.
  • Performance Issues
    The application can struggle with performance when scanning particularly large disks or volumes, leading to longer loading times and potential crashes.
  • Occasional Bugs
    As with many open-source projects, users may encounter occasional bugs or glitches that can impact the user experience.

Analysis of Rectangle

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Rectangle is highly regarded for its ease of use, extensive customization options, and the fact that it is free and open-source. It provides essential functionality without unnecessary complexity, making it suitable for both casual users and power users who need efficient window management.

Why this product is good

  • Rectangle is a popular window management tool for macOS, known for its simplicity and ease of use. It allows users to efficiently organize and resize application windows using customizable keyboard shortcuts or by dragging windows into pre-defined areas of the screen. This can enhance productivity by minimizing the time spent arranging windows and improving multitasking capabilities.

Recommended for

    Rectangle is recommended for macOS users looking for a straightforward, lightweight solution to manage application windows. It is particularly beneficial for those who frequently work with multiple applications at once, including developers, designers, and anyone who values a tidy and organized desktop environment.

Rectangle videos

SKYWALKER RECTANGLE TRAMPOLINE REVIEW!!!

More videos:

  • Review - Skywalker Rectangle Trampoline Review #1
  • Review - Marvin Malton 160 Rectangle Flying Hour Watch Review

GrandPerspective videos

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Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Rectangle and GrandPerspective)
Mac Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Disk Analyzer
0 0%
100% 100
Window Manager
100 100%
0% 0
Hard Disk Usage
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Rectangle and GrandPerspective

Rectangle Reviews

Best 6 Mac Window Managers
Rectangle shows that you donโ€™t need to dip into your bank account to get window resizer tools. This free Mac window manager lets you manage multiple windows using keyboard shortcuts, menu options, or by dragging and dropping. Just like Magnet, you can split your screen up into quarters, thirds, or halves.
Source: mackeeper.com
Top 6 Window Manager Apps for Mac
Most window manager apps for Mac support multiple monitors. They can help you move windows between screens and create custom layouts for each monitor. Many window manager apps โ€“ such as BetterSnapTool, Magnet, and Rectangle โ€“ offer this functionality.
The 6 Best Mac Window Management Tools
However, it might take some time for you to get used to the shortcuts in the Rectangle app since there are many. Furthermore, you can also add some of your apps to exceptions if you want to keep them away from Rectangle's shortcuts.

GrandPerspective Reviews

DaisyDisk Alternatives: Free Disk Analyzers We've Actually Tested
If you've been on Mac for 10+ years, you probably know GrandPerspective. It was the original treemap visualizer, and it's completely free under GPL.
Source: dissectmac.com
What is Disk Inventory X and Its Top Alternatives
The main drawback of this tool is that it presents a lot of information which can be quite overwhelming to the user. It will not display an overview of your disks which contradicts its name. In summary, GrandPerspective can be an acceptable option for average users who are searching for a straightforward but simple tool. It can free up space on your drive quite quickly.
Source: www.imymac.com
What Is WinDirStat and Its Top Mac Alternatives
GrandPerspectiveโ€™s menu/toolbar contains all of the options the app offers. You can configure its settings easily even if you are a newbie Mac user. You just need to choose a folder you want to analyze. The app will immediately give you reports needed.
Source: www.imymac.com

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Rectangle should be more popular than GrandPerspective. It has been mentiond 479 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Rectangle mentions (479)

  • Ubuntu 26.04 LTS Released
    As a both old Linux and now decade user of MacOS, after I got used to no middle-click paste and no focus-follows-mouse: 1. Keyboard shortcuts are Emacs, Ctrl-A: start of line, E: end of line, K: kill selected or to end of line, Y to paste, etc. https://support.apple.com/en-au/102650#text 2. Karabiner elements (FOSS) fixes keyboard mappings outside of the Settings: https://karabiner-elements.pqrs.org/ 3. I have the... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Native Instant Space Switching on macOS
    Every macOS user uses Rectangle.app โ€” https://rectangleapp.com The ones who don't use it is because they donโ€™t know it exists. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Native Instant Space Switching on macOS
    I use https://rectangleapp.com/ and enjoy it. I have shortcuts to move windows to the left/right half of the screen, and cycle between monitors. This, combined with native cmd+tab and cmd+` is enough for me. - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Make macOS consistently bad (unironically)
    Rectangle [1] is pretty much essential for me because of this. I use only a few keypresses (maximize window, move to one of the halves of the screen horizontally) but that is enough. My mouse very rately interacts with the borders of any window, or those buttons. I had to click on the green one that you mentioned in order to see what it did (yuck). [1] https://rectangleapp.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Make macOS consistently bad (unironically)
    I use Rectangle [1] for window management. I only use three shortcuts: full screen, left half of the screen, and right half of the screen. My editors and chrome are always running in one of these modes. But for other apps like Messages, Notes, Music, etc - yeah I don't usually expand them to full screen. [1] https://rectangleapp.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
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GrandPerspective mentions (122)

  • Don't let your Mac's storage fill up
    Don't pay $10 for what you can get for free: https://github.com/RobinNaumann/disko, https://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/, https://www.derlien.com/, etcโ€ฆ Otherwise, this is good advice. My cousin, who isn't particularly computer savvy thought that buying an Apple computer meant he wouldn't need computer expertise, but it stopped booting after running out of disk space during an update, and he didn't have the... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Anthropic Cowork feature creates 10GB VM bundle on macOS without warning
    I simply run GrandPerspective (GUI app, https://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/), or dust (terminal app, https://github.com/bootandy/dust), to give me an idea of what is going on with disk usage. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Anthropic Cowork feature creates 10GB VM bundle on macOS without warning
    Iโ€™d recommend GrandPerspective:[1] itโ€™s really good at displaying this sort of thing, has been around for over two decades, and the developer has managed to keep it to <5MB which is perfect when youโ€™re running very low on space. [1] https://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • Scan Your Linux Disk and Visualize It on Mac with GrandPerspective
    GrandPerspective is a useful disk space visualization tool for Mac. Have you ever wanted to scan files on Linux and visualize their disk usage with GrandPerspective? I created a Rust-based command-line tool called gpscan that scans directories on Linux and generates GrandPerspective-compatible files. - Source: dev.to / over 1 year ago
  • WinDirStat โ€“ Windows Directory Statistics
    For my MacOS friends, it might be a little outdated but I prefer GrandPerspective: https://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Rectangle and GrandPerspective, you can also consider the following products

Magnet Window Manager - Magnet Developers

DaisyDisk - DaisyDisk is a disk analyzer tool for OS X that visualizes hard disk usage and allows to free up hard disk space.

yabai - A tiling window manager for macOS based on binary space partitioning

WinDirStat - WinDirStat is a disk usage statistics viewer and cleanup tool, inspired by KDirStat.

BTT Remote - A remote control for you Mac, using your iPhone or iPad

WizTree - WizTree quickly finds the files and folders using the most space on your hard drive. It scans the MFT (Master File Table) instead of crawling the entire disk which makes it very fast.