Rectangle pricing: what the free tier covers

"Knollsoft" is the name in the bundle identifier of Rectangle, the free window manager for macOS by Ryan Hanson. The app identifies itself to macOS as com.knollsoft.Rectangle, so that string appears in Activity Monitor, in the Accessibility permission list, in Terminal commands and in the preferences file at ~/Library/Preferences/com.knollsoft.Rectangle.plist. It is not a separate product and not malware. Rectangle itself is free and open source. The paid version, Rectangle Pro, uses its own identifier, com.knollsoft.Hookshot, and cost $9.99 in the United States when checked on 18 October 2026.

The rest of this guide covers where the Knollsoft name turns up and what to do with it, what the free version includes, what Rectangle Pro adds, and how to remove either one cleanly. Facts come from the project's GitHub README, the official site, the Homebrew catalogue and the Paddle checkout used by the Pro page, all checked on the date above.

Where the Knollsoft name appears

Most people searching for this phrase have run into the identifier somewhere unexpected. These are the common places.

Activity Monitor and Console

Background processes are often listed by bundle identifier. Rectangle also has a small helper for launching at login, which Homebrew's cleanup list names com.knollsoft.RectangleLauncher. Seeing both is normal when Rectangle is set to start with the Mac.

Privacy and Security settings

Rectangle needs Accessibility permission to move and resize other apps' windows. The README's troubleshooting section resets that permission with:

tccutil reset All com.knollsoft.Rectangle

The same section gives a manual alternative: quit Rectangle, open System Settings, Privacy and Security, Accessibility, first switch Rectangle off, then remove it with the minus button, and restart the Mac. The README notes that the order of those two steps matters.

Library folders

The Homebrew cask for Rectangle lists every location the app writes to. Besides the preferences file, they include ~/Library/Application Support/Rectangle, ~/Library/Caches/com.knollsoft.Rectangle, ~/Library/HTTPStorages/com.knollsoft.Rectangle and ~/Library/WebKit/com.knollsoft.Rectangle. The full list is on the rectangle cask page.

Rectangle Pro

Rectangle Pro shows up as com.knollsoft.Hookshot. The rectangle-pro cask page lists its files under that name, such as ~/Library/Preferences/com.knollsoft.Hookshot.plist. If "Hookshot" appears in a permissions list or a crash report, it is Rectangle Pro.

If nobody remembers installing it

On a shared or second hand Mac, the identifier can turn up without anyone recalling the install. Look in the Applications folder for Rectangle or Rectangle Pro. If Homebrew is set up, brew list --cask shows whether rectangle or rectangle-pro was installed that way. Leftover preference files can also remain after the app itself was deleted, which is why the identifier sometimes appears with no app present. The removal steps further down clear those files.

What the free version covers

Rectangle is free with no time limit, no account and no feature lock. The GitHub repository publishes it under the MIT License, with the copyright line naming Ryan Hanson and noting that it is based on the Spectacle app. The official site at rectangleapp.com describes it as free and open source.

The free app includes:

Keyboard shortcuts for halves, quarters, thirds, two thirds, fourths, sixths, maximise, almost maximise, centre, restore and moving a window to the next or previous display. Repeating a shortcut cycles through sizes, for example from a half to a third to two thirds.

Snap areas. Dragging a window to a screen edge or corner shows a footprint and snaps the window when released. The README's table maps each edge: left or right edge for halves, the top for maximise, corners for quarters, and the bottom thirds for thirds.

Multi window actions such as Tile All, Cascade All, and Tile Windows in Rows or Columns, set from the Extras button in Settings, General.

Stacked window cycling, set in Settings, Behavior, Stacked Windows, for bringing forward windows that share the same snap area.

URL actions. Any action can be triggered with a URL such as rectangle://execute-action?name=left-half, which makes it scriptable from Shortcuts or a shell.

Ignore an app. From the Rectangle menu, Ignore app turns off Rectangle's shortcuts while a chosen app is in front, which helps when an app uses the same keys.

Import and export of the configuration as a JSON file from the Settings tab.

That is a complete window manager. Most people never need more.

What Rectangle Pro adds

Rectangle Pro is described in the README as entirely built on top of Rectangle. It is a separate app with a separate licence, not an in app upgrade.

The Rectangle Pro page lists the additions. The ones that change daily use the most are:

Window throw. One key combination brings up a choice of 16 sizes and positions, and it works on a window under the pointer even if it is not focused.

Custom sizes and positions with their own shortcuts, including what happens on repeated presses.

Workspace layouts that arrange several apps with one shortcut, and can trigger when a display is connected or disconnected.

Next and previous Space actions. The free README states plainly that Apple has no public API for moving windows between Spaces, that Rectangle Pro has these actions, and that there are no plans to add them to the free app.

iCloud sync of the configuration, a configurable snap panel, hiding windows at a screen edge, and cursor based gestures with a modifier key.

Price and licence terms

Item	Free Rectangle	Rectangle Pro
Price	Free	$9.99 in the United States
Payment	None	One time, through Paddle
Trial	Not needed	10 days
Devices	Unlimited	3 active at a time
Refund	Not applicable	Within 14 days of purchase
Current version	2.0.3	3.94
Minimum macOS for current version	14	14 (Homebrew), 13.5 (Pro page)

The Pro page loads its price from Paddle, the online reseller that handles the order, and shows it in the visitor's local currency. Paddle's price lookup for the Pro product returned $9.99 for a United States buyer and £7.65 including VAT for a United Kingdom buyer on the check date. The licence terms, three active devices and a ten day trial, are printed on the official site. The refund window comes from the Rectangle Pro refund policy, which asks buyers to email the developer within 14 days.

Which version runs on which Mac

The minimum macOS has moved up over time, and the official site and the README do not say quite the same thing.

The site still says macOS 10.15 or later. The README, which is updated with each release, says the current version supports macOS 14 and later, and points older Macs to specific releases:

macOS	Free Rectangle	Rectangle Pro
14 Sonoma or later	2.0.3 (current)	3.94 (current)
13.5 to 13.x	1.100	Pro page lists 13.5 or later
12 to 13.4	1.100	3.79
10.15 Catalina	1.100	3.59
10.13.6 High Sierra	0.73	2.7.2

The Pro figures come from the Rectangle Pro versions page. The free figures come from the README. Homebrew's catalogue agrees that both current releases need macOS 14.

Before paying for anything

Two comparisons help decide whether the free Rectangle is enough, or whether anything needs to be bought at all.

What macOS now does by itself

Current versions of macOS include window tiling. Apple's guide to tiling windows on Mac lists five methods: dragging a window to a screen edge or corner, holding Option while dragging for faster tiling, hovering over the green button in the top left corner of a window, the Move and Resize items in the Window menu, and keyboard shortcuts. Dragging a window to the menu bar fills the desktop. The Window menu also has Center and Fill.

For halves and quarters, that covers a lot of what Rectangle's free version does. Where Rectangle still goes further is thirds, sixths and ninths, repeated presses that cycle through sizes, moving a window to the next display with one key, URL actions, and ignoring specific apps. Someone who only ever splits two windows side by side may not need a separate app.

Paid alternatives on the Mac App Store

Several window managers are sold on the Mac App Store. United States prices from Apple's store records on 18 October 2026:

App	Developer	Price
Magnet	BOOTCODE A.S.	$4.99
BetterSnapTool	folivora.AI GmbH	$1.99
Moom Classic	Many Tricks	$6.99
Rectangle	Ryan Hanson	Free, outside the App Store
Rectangle Pro	Ryan Hanson	$9.99, outside the App Store

Neither Rectangle nor Rectangle Pro is sold on the Mac App Store. Both are downloaded from rectangleapp.com, GitHub or Homebrew.

Installing, resetting and removing

Install

Download the dmg from rectangleapp.com or the GitHub releases page, or use Homebrew:

brew install --cask rectangle

Rectangle Pro has its own cask, rectangle-pro. On first launch, either app asks for Accessibility permission. Rectangle can also apply Spectacle's default shortcuts on its first run, which helps anyone moving from that app.

Reset settings without reinstalling

Quit Rectangle and run:

defaults delete com.knollsoft.Rectangle

The next launch starts with default settings. Exporting the JSON configuration from the Settings tab first keeps a copy to import later. The README also notes that Rectangle reads a file at ~/Library/Application Support/Rectangle/RectangleConfig.json on launch if one exists, then renames it so it is not read again.

Remove completely

The README says Rectangle is uninstalled by quitting it and moving it to the Trash, followed by the defaults delete command above. For a Homebrew install, it recommends the zap flag so the preference entries go too:

brew uninstall --zap rectangle

The same note mentions a specific case: if settings do not persist after a restart on a Homebrew install, uninstall with --zap and reinstall.

Rectangle and a crowded menu bar

Rectangle runs from the menu bar, and its menu is where Ignore app and the action list live. On a MacBook with a notch, the menu bar has limited room to the right of the camera housing. When there are more icons than fit, macOS does not show the extras, and a window manager's icon is a frequent casualty because it is rarely clicked.

If the Rectangle icon has gone missing, its shortcuts still work, since they do not depend on the icon being visible. Quitting two or three other menu bar apps usually brings it back into view. On macOS Tahoe 26 and later, also check System Settings, Menu Bar, Allow in the Menu Bar, where Apple lists apps that add menu bar items, each with its own switch.

What to change first

Install the free Rectangle and use it for a week before considering Pro. Most layouts are covered, and the only hard limit is moving windows between Spaces. If Rectangle's icon keeps getting lost among others, a menu bar organizer such as Koffret can keep it behind a divider and still open its menu in place, for a one time $14.99 after a fourteen day trial.