Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Rectangle VS Treebar

Compare Rectangle VS Treebar and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Rectangle logo Rectangle

Window management app based on Spectacle, written in Swift.

Treebar logo Treebar

Treebar gives you one view of every active worktree
  • Rectangle Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-05-20
  • Treebar Landing page
    Landing page //
    2026-08-27

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.

Treebar features and specs

  • Improved tab organization
    Treebar displays browser tabs in a hierarchical tree structure, making it easier to see parent-child relationships between tabs opened from links, which helps users manage large numbers of open tabs without losing context.
  • Better visual overview
    The sidebar tree view gives a clear, at-a-glance overview of all open tabs and windows, reducing the need to hunt through a cluttered horizontal tab bar to find a specific page.
  • Reduced tab clutter
    By collapsing and grouping related tabs into branches, Treebar helps declutter the browser interface, especially useful for users who tend to keep dozens of tabs open simultaneously for research or work.
  • Session and workflow continuity
    Because tabs are grouped logically by how they were opened, users can more easily resume complex browsing sessions or research tasks after closing and reopening the browser.
  • Lightweight extension design
    As a browser extension focused specifically on tab management, Treebar tends to be lightweight and specialized rather than bloated with unrelated features, keeping it fast and easy to use.

Possible disadvantages of Treebar

  • Learning curve
    Users accustomed to traditional horizontal tab bars may need time to adjust to a tree-based sidebar layout and new interaction patterns for managing tabs.
  • Browser compatibility limitations
    Tree-tab style extensions like Treebar are often built for specific browsers (e.g., Chrome or Firefox) and may not offer full feature parity or availability across all browsers.
  • Sidebar space usage
    Displaying tabs in a vertical tree sidebar takes up horizontal screen space, which can be a drawback on smaller screens or laptops with limited display width.
  • Dependency on extension updates
    Since Treebar relies on browser extension APIs, changes to browser policies or manifest versions (such as Chrome's Manifest V3 transition) could affect functionality or require frequent updates.
  • Limited advanced features compared to alternatives
    Compared to more established tree-style tab managers, Treebar may lack some advanced features like tab syncing across devices, extensive customization options, or deep session management tools.

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

Treebar videos

No Treebar videos yet. You could help us improve this page by suggesting one.

Add video

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Rectangle and Treebar)
Mac Tools
100 100%
0% 0
Git
0 0%
100% 100
Window Manager
100 100%
0% 0
Code Collaboration
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

Share your experience with using Rectangle and Treebar. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
Log in or Post with

Reviews

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

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.

Treebar Reviews

We have no reviews of Treebar yet.
Be the first one to post

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Rectangle seems to be more popular. It has been mentiond 480 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 (480)

  • Apple introduces M6 and M5 Ultra for a big leap in performance and AI compute
    Rectangle solved my macos window management annoyances. https://rectangleapp.com/ Not involved in dev of this, just a happy user. - Source: Hacker News / 3 days ago
  • 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 / 5 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 / 5 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
View more

Treebar mentions (0)

We have not tracked any mentions of Treebar yet. Tracking of Treebar recommendations started around Aug 2026.

What are some alternatives?

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

Magnet Window Manager - Magnet Developers

Conductor - Conductor lets businesses manage their web presence, allowing them to engage and retain customers.

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

Fork - Fast and Friendly Git Client for Mac

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

GitKraken - The intuitive, fast, and beautiful cross-platform Git client.