Is Hazel or Magnet better?

Neither clearly leads. Hazel starts at $42/one-time and Magnet at $4.99/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.

Which is cheaper, Hazel or Magnet?

Hazel starts at $42/one-time and Magnet at $4.99/one-time.

Does Hazel or Magnet run on more platforms?

Both run on Mac, so platform support will not decide this one for you.

What is Hazel best used for?

Hazel is most often used for a freelancer who wants invoices and receipts auto-filed into client folders based on the text inside them, anyone whose downloads folder becomes unmanageable and wants files auto-sorted by type or age, a photographer who wants imported files renamed by date pattern and moved to a project folder automatically, a user who wants old files in a scratch folder auto-deleted after a set number of days without remembering to clear it manually. Of those, a freelancer who wants invoices and receipts auto-filed into client folders based on the text inside them and anyone whose downloads folder becomes unmanageable and wants files auto-sorted by type or age are not what Magnet is typically brought in for.

What can Hazel do that Magnet cannot?

Hazel covers Folder watching, Conditional actions, Content-based matching, Duplicate detection. Magnet covers Keyboard shortcuts, Drag to snap, Multi-display support, Mac App Store distribution.

Utilities · head to head

Hazel vs Magnet

Hazel

Utilities

Rule-based file organisation for macOS that watches folders and automatically files, renames or deletes

From: $42/one-time
Rated: -

Full review Website

Magnet

Utilities

Mac App Store window manager sold as a one-time paid app, with no free tier

From: $4.99/one-time
Rated: -

Full review Website

The short version

Each has a real cost: Hazel there is no free tier, only a 14-day trial, so the full 42 dollar cost is a real barrier for a casual user just wanting one simple rule.; Magnet there is no free tier at all, so a user cannot try before buying beyond the Mac App Store return window.
They diverge on capability: Hazel covers Folder watching, Magnet covers Keyboard shortcuts.
Prices and features above were last checked on 1 September 2026.

Where they differ

Only the attributes on which Hazel and Magnet actually diverge.

Attributes where Hazel and Magnet differ
Attribute	Hazel	Magnet
Starting price	$42/one-time	$4.99/one-time

Identical on both: pricing model (One-time purchase), free tier (No), platforms (Mac), user rating (Not yet rated), category (Utilities).

What each one covers

Drawn from each product's published feature list. An absence here means we hold no record of it - not that the product lacks it.

Only in Hazel

Folder watching
Conditional actions
Content-based matching
Duplicate detection
Trash auto-empty
App Sweep

Only in Magnet

Keyboard shortcuts
Drag to snap
Multi-display support
Mac App Store distribution
Menu bar access
Third display layouts

What people use each for

The jobs each tool is most often brought in to do.

Hazel

A freelancer who wants invoices and receipts auto-filed into client folders based on the text inside themnot Magnet
Anyone whose Downloads folder becomes unmanageable and wants files auto-sorted by type or agenot Magnet
A photographer who wants imported files renamed by date pattern and moved to a project folder automaticallynot Magnet
A user who wants old files in a scratch folder auto-deleted after a set number of days without remembering to clear it manuallynot Magnet

Magnet

A user who wants the App Store handling licensing, family sharing and updates automaticallynot Hazel
Someone who prefers paying a small one-time fee up front over evaluating a free tool firstnot Hazel
A less technical user who does not want to install from GitHub or Homebrewnot Hazel
A family sharing one Apple ID that wants one purchase to cover multiple Macs in the householdnot Hazel

Where each one falls short

Documented limitations, not opinions. Every one is a constraint you would hit in normal use.

Hazel

There is no free tier, only a 14-day trial, so the full 42 dollar cost is a real barrier for a casual user just wanting one simple rule.
Rules are entirely hand-built, so the tool provides no value until a user invests time writing and testing conditions.
A misconfigured rule can silently move, rename or delete the wrong files, and mistakes are only obvious after the fact unless tested carefully first.
It is Mac only, so it does nothing for a Windows machine sharing the same file workflow.
It focuses purely on file automation, so a user also wanting window management, clipboard history or gesture control needs entirely separate tools.

Magnet

There is no free tier at all, so a user cannot try before buying beyond the Mac App Store return window.
It offers fewer customisation options than Rectangle, such as fewer configurable snap zones and less granular per-app behaviour.
Update cadence has historically been slower than the actively developed open source Rectangle project.
It is Mac only and App Store only, so it cannot be scripted, redistributed internally by a company, or installed outside Apple normal channels.
Being a small independent app, support depends on the developer responding to App Store reviews or email rather than a dedicated support team.

Pricing, plan by plan

Hazel

$42/one-time

Single User Licence$42/one-time
- One user, Hazel 6
- Free updates within the major version
- 14-day free trial before purchase
Family Pack$65/one-time
- Multiple users covered under one purchase
- Same feature set as the single licence

Magnet

$4.99/one-time

Magnet$4.99/one-time
- Full app unlocked immediately, no trial gating
- Mac App Store purchase and family sharing
- Free updates through the App Store

Which should you pick?

Choose Hazel if

You need folder watching.
You work on Mac.
You also want conditional actions.

Hazel review

Choose Magnet if

You need keyboard shortcuts.
You work on Mac.
You also want drag to snap.

Magnet review

Questions people ask

Is Hazel or Magnet better?: Neither clearly leads. Hazel starts at $42/one-time and Magnet at $4.99/one-time, and user ratings are close enough to be indistinguishable. Choose on capability and platform support.
Which is cheaper, Hazel or Magnet?: Hazel starts at $42/one-time and Magnet at $4.99/one-time.
Does Hazel or Magnet run on more platforms?: Both run on Mac, so platform support will not decide this one for you.
What is Hazel best used for?: Hazel is most often used for a freelancer who wants invoices and receipts auto-filed into client folders based on the text inside them, anyone whose downloads folder becomes unmanageable and wants files auto-sorted by type or age, a photographer who wants imported files renamed by date pattern and moved to a project folder automatically, a user who wants old files in a scratch folder auto-deleted after a set number of days without remembering to clear it manually. Of those, a freelancer who wants invoices and receipts auto-filed into client folders based on the text inside them and anyone whose downloads folder becomes unmanageable and wants files auto-sorted by type or age are not what Magnet is typically brought in for.
What can Hazel do that Magnet cannot?: Hazel covers Folder watching, Conditional actions, Content-based matching, Duplicate detection. Magnet covers Keyboard shortcuts, Drag to snap, Multi-display support, Mac App Store distribution.

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Hazel: Is Hazel a subscription?

No. It is a one-time purchase per major version, currently 42 US dollars for a single user licence.

Magnet: Does Magnet have a free version?

No. It has always been a paid Mac App Store purchase with no free tier.

Hazel: Can Hazel read the content of files, not just names?

Yes, rules can match on text found inside supported file types such as PDFs and text documents.

Magnet: Can I share one purchase across my family Macs?

Yes, through Apple Family Sharing on the Mac App Store, the same as any other App Store app.

Hazel: Does Hazel run in the background automatically?

Yes, it watches configured folders continuously and applies rules as files change, with no manual trigger needed.

Magnet: How is it different from Rectangle?

Magnet is a paid App Store app from the start; Rectangle is free and open source, with paid Pro features sold as a separate app.

Hazel vs Magnet

Hazel

Magnet

The short version

Where they differ

What each one covers

Only in Hazel

Only in Magnet

What people use each for

Hazel

Magnet

Where each one falls short

Hazel

Magnet

Pricing, plan by plan

Hazel

Magnet

Which should you pick?

Choose Hazel if

Choose Magnet if

Questions people ask

Answered from the vendors’ own pages

Related pages

More on Hazel

More on Magnet

Keep looking

Other head to heads