AltTab vs Microsoft PowerToys

AltTab is a free and open source window switcher for macOS that replaces the operating system's default Command-Tab behavior with a full window-by-window view, showing high-quality thumbnail previews of every open window, including hidden and minimized ones, across spaces. The free version includes dark mode, live thumbnail previews, and trackpad gesture support, while AltTab Pro adds window search by title or app name, up to nine independently configurable keyboard shortcuts, automatic thumbnail sizing, and alternate display styles like a dock-style icon view or text-only list. The project reports over 8.5 million downloads and 16,000 GitHub stars, and Pro includes a 14-day free trial.

Microsoft PowerToys is a collection of free, open-source utilities that extend Windows with productivity tools such as window layout management, a quick launcher, bulk file renaming, keyboard remapping, and a system-wide color picker. It is built and maintained by Microsoft with an active open-source community on GitHub.

• Free and open source with a large download base
• More capable than macOS's built-in Command-Tab switcher
• Highly configurable with the Pro tier
• Actively maintained, described as 8 years of refinement

• Completely free and open source
• Actively maintained with frequent Microsoft-backed releases
• Wide range of independent utilities you can enable individually
• Backed by an active GitHub community for bug reports and features

• macOS only
• Search and multiple custom shortcuts require the paid Pro upgrade
• Adds another background utility to manage

• Windows-only, no Mac or Linux version
• Some utilities are still experimental and can be less polished
• Requires manually enabling and configuring each utility you want