SMBAct vs Moom
Are you looking for an all-in-one alternative to Moom that offers not only the functionality of a tiling window manager but also a window switcher with predictable behavior in a multi-display environment? Would you prefer to use the keyboard instead of the mouse for organizing your windows and applications and do not want to memorize endless hotkeys? Then SMBAct is the right solution for you!
SMBAct is a cross-platform solution built to work exactly the same on Windows, macOS, and Linux.
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Comparing SMBAct vs Moom
Let’s see in details what are the differences between SMBAct and Moom.
| Sizing and Positioning | SMBAct | Moom |
|---|---|---|
| Use Keyboard Shortcuts to snap windows | ✓ | ✓ |
| Predefined positions and actions | ~45 | 5 (Fullscreen, Halves) |
| Setting up custom positions | — | ✓ (by using on-screen resizing grid) |
| Smaller, Larger, Center actions | ✓ | ✓ |
| Save and restore window layout snapshots | — | ✓ |
| Hide one/all windows on active/all displays, Blacklist commands | ✓ | — |
| Multiple monitors supporting | ✓ | ✓ |
| Portrait display layouts | ✓ | — |
| Cycling through window sizes on repeated commands of custom shortcuts | ✓ | — |
| What if I forgot a shortcut? | Call a Window Actor with all actions and choose the needed one using a fuzzy search | Call keyboard control which lists all the set actions |
| You own your configs | available for download | — |
| Snap window by dragging | coming soon | ✓ |
| Window Switcher | SMBAct | Moom |
|---|---|---|
| Custom shortcuts for switcher activation | ✓ | — |
| Switch focus to any window | ✓ | — |
| Fuzzy search of any window or application | ✓ | — |
| Minimize, close, fullscreen any window | ✓ | — |
| Hide, close any application | ✓ | — |
| Close all windows of one application | ✓ | — |
| Blacklist applications you don’t want to act | ✓ | — |
| Multi-display support: activation of Window Switcher on active display, main display or where is a mouse pointer | ✓ | — |
| Multi-display support: activation of selected window/application on active display or on display where it was before | ✓ | — |
| Other features | SMBAct | Moom |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows, macOS, Linux | macOS |
| Pricing | €14.99 | €10 |
| User support | User Tutorial on YouTube | How to use Moom App |
SMBAct vs. Moom: What’s right for me?
Great question! We obviously think we’re pretty great, but here’s an honest answer:
If you only need the Tiling window manager functionality in MacOS, then both programs will do just fine. They both perform their necessary functions: sizing and positioning of windows. But the ways to achieve the result are totally different.
Let’s take a closer look at how SMBAct and Moom stack up:
- In Moom, you have to do a lot of customization yourself. It doesn’t have a lot of predefined actions. It takes time and effort to customize it, to create all the positions, sizes, and actions you want. This provides more customization options but can be tedious. In SMBAct, on the other hand, all the actions are predefined, there are many of them, and they cover all the cases you need, to use in practice. You just operate on them, you have access to them all at any time, you can find anyone you need in a second and you don’t have to reinvent anything yourself. If some action is missing but you really need it, we are ready to quickly add it at your request.
- Moom is geared toward users who prefer the mouse to the keyboard. You select actions with the mouse by hovering over the green button in the upper left corner of the window, or by selecting the desired area of the screen again with the mouse. Moom kind of encourages the user to use the mouse. If you prefer the keyboard, Moom works as follows:
- You have to create completely from scratch in the settings all the actions you need (using the mouse and using the grid system) and set the hotkeys for them. If you need some action that you use quite rarely, you have to use the mouse. It will be faster. Otherwise, you have to go to the settings, create this action, assign hotkeys, and only then apply it.
- If you have forgotten the hotkeys, you can call the window-helper, which lists all created actions with the corresponding assigned hotkeys, find there, among all actions the position you need and having found, “remember” the assigned shortcut and apply it. In our opinion, this system is not convenient and efficient and leads to a deterioration of productivity, although the main goal of any desktop window manager is to improve productivity.
SMBAct, on the other hand, is geared more toward those who prefer the keyboard. Most of the actions used in practice are already assigned hotkeys. And even if you forget them, that’s okay! At any time, call the Window Actor with all the actions (in fact, they are the only hotkeys you have to remember), find the necessary action quickly without using the mouse by using fuzzy search, and hit “enter”. That’s it!
- Moom has many features and possible settings, most of which are not used in real life. But having them visually complicates the program, making it seem hard to understand. SMBAct is intuitive and visually simple. It has fewer features, but they’re all business, and SMBAct does its job well, transparently, and consistently.
- In Moom, all custom actions are created in one place, no matter what category of action it is. This can be: move&zoom, move, move to edge or corner, move to other display (and if there are more than two displays, which one is it?), center, resize, grow, shrink, arrange windows for automatically remembering how apps are laid out. And all the created actions are in the title menu. When there are too many actions, the menu gets cluttered and it becomes difficult to navigate and quickly find the action you need. The interface becomes not user-friendly. And periodically you need to spend time revising the actions and layouts to be able to use it efficiently again. The user interface of SMBAct is user-independent. It is easy to navigate.
