Spencer for macOS vs ShiftPlus: What Each Tool Actually Does

Spencer for macOS vs ShiftPlus comes down to layout memory versus full workspace restore. Spencer saves window positions and app visibility for named scenes; ShiftPlus restores the broader workspace — apps open to specific projects, browser profiles, virtual desktops (Spaces), terminal environment variables, and AWS profiles — all captured and restored in one hotkey. Same one-time-purchase model. Native SwiftUI on macOS 14.6+.

Quick answer: which app should you choose?

Choose Spencer if the problem is where your windows end up: it restores layouts and Space arrangements reliably, handles several windows of the same app better than ShiftPlus does today, and covers three Macs for about $19.99. Choose ShiftPlus if the problem is what was open inside those windows — the project, the browser profile, the terminal environment — because Spencer's own FAQ states it cannot reopen files, projects or tabs once closed. The dividing line in practice is the Mac restart: both switch contexts well mid-session, only ShiftPlus rebuilds one from cold.

Cross-Space (virtual desktop) restoration — Spencer doesn't capture Space assignment.
10 browser profiles auto-detected (Safari, Arc, Chrome, Brave, Edge, Vivaldi, Opera, Firefox, DuckDuckGo, Orion) with launch flags.
11 window arrangements per app, per monitor (Left/Right/Top/Bottom halves, four quarters, Fullscreen, Center, None).
Per-workspace terminal env vars across 15+ emulators (Terminal, iTerm, Warp, Alacritty, Ghostty, WezTerm, Kitty, Hyper, …).
AWS profile dropdown that reads ~/.aws/{config,credentials} locally — bind AWS_PROFILE per workspace.
Raycast integration (new in v2.0) — Switch Workspace, Open Quick Link, Activate Last Workspace.
Optional iCloud Sync for multi-Mac users (Pro), private CloudKit container, no ShiftPlus server.
Spencer is great if you only want window-position memory on 1–3 Macs. ShiftPlus covers the rest of the workspace.
Pricing: ShiftPlus is $24 (1 Mac) or $39 (2 Macs) one-time; Spencer is roughly $19.99 (3 Macs).

When to pick which

Pick Spencer if you just need window positions to come back after a reboot and rarely quit apps. Pick ShiftPlus if you switch contexts daily, juggle multiple browser profiles, manage Spaces, or run developer workflows (env vars, AWS, project terminals). They aren't direct substitutes — they overlap on window memory, but ShiftPlus does a strictly larger job.

ShiftPlus vs Spencer feature comparison

Spencer's scope is documented by its vendor and echoed by independent reviewers, so this table states capabilities rather than scoring winners. A dash means the vendor's public documentation does not describe that capability.

ShiftPlus vs Spencer feature comparison
Capability	ShiftPlus	Spencer
Primary job	Rebuild what a workspace contains — projects, URLs, profiles, commands — whether or not the apps are running.	Remember where windows sit and which apps are visible for each named scene.
Window positions	Saves logical placements (left half, fullscreen, a specific display) and recomputes geometry per screen.	Saves and restores window positions per scene, including several windows of the same app.
macOS Spaces	Assigns apps and windows to Spaces on restore; expects your Space count to stay consistent.	Restores layouts across Spaces and can change the number of Spaces per scene. Capped at 16 Spaces.
Open specific projects and files	Opens an editor on a project path, a PDF in Preview, a document in Pages.	Per Spencer's FAQ, it cannot open files or projects once they have been closed.
Browser profiles	Selects a profile across 10 detected browsers and opens that workspace's URLs inside it.	Launches the browser as a generic app; profile selection is not described in Spencer's documentation.
Deep links	Opens Slack to a channel, Spotify to a playlist, Linear to a view.	Not listed in Spencer's product documentation.
Terminal and environment	Runs per-workspace commands and sets env vars, including AWS_PROFILE, across 15+ emulators.	Not listed in Spencer's product documentation.
After a Mac restart	Rebuilds each workspace from stored configuration, so state returns with the windows.	Relaunches and repositions the apps; content closed before the restart is not restored.
Multiple windows per app	Restores reliably within a session; persisting several windows per app across restarts is still in development.	A documented strength — several Finder or Terminal windows each return to their own position.
Stage Manager	Not supported.	Not supported.
Multi-Mac	Optional private iCloud/CloudKit sync on the two-device plan.	One license covers up to three Macs; sync between them is not documented.
Launcher integration	Raycast extension shipped in v2.0 — Switch Workspace, Open Quick Link, Activate Last Workspace.	No launcher extension documented.
Try before buying	14-day full-feature trial.	No trial; a 14-day money-back guarantee instead.
Price	$24 for one Mac, $39 for two. One-time.	Roughly $19.99 for up to three Macs. One-time.

The practical verdict

Choose Spencer if…

Your windows drift when you switch contexts or plug in a different monitor, and that is the whole problem. Spencer is focused, reliable and cheaper per Mac — three activations for about $19.99. It is the better tool if you keep apps running rather than quitting them, if you need several windows of the same app back in their own positions, or if you vary the number of Spaces between scenes. Reviewers consistently praise it for doing one job cleanly.

Choose ShiftPlus if…

What you lose is not window position but content: the project that was open, the browser profile you were signed into, the terminal that had the right environment. ShiftPlus stores those explicitly per workspace, so it rebuilds from a cold start — after quitting apps, after a restart. If you juggle client browser profiles or per-project AWS credentials, it is the only one of the two that covers them.

Spencer defines its own scope, clearly

Spencer's official FAQ states that it can launch apps and reposition multiple windows, but cannot open new windows, browser tabs, individual files or projects after they have been closed. That is not a hidden gap — it is the design. Spencer is a layout-and-visibility tool: it manages where windows sit and which apps are showing, treating each app as a generic launchable thing. ShiftPlus is a state-restoration tool: it stores what a workspace contains and rebuilds that content on demand. The two operate at different layers, which is why Spencer documents compatibility with other window managers and why plenty of people run both.

Launching an app versus reopening what was inside it

Spencer can make sure your editor, browser, chat app and terminal are running and correctly placed. It cannot tell the editor which project to load, the terminal which command to run, or the browser which URL to open. Independent reviews describe the same boundary — Tenere Team summarises it as repositioning open windows rather than restoring closed tabs, files or projects, and OnMyMenubar describes the core feature as launching apps that are not open and hiding ones that should not be visible. ShiftPlus stores that inner layer per workspace: app plus project path, terminal commands and environment variables, deep links, and URLs tied to a specific browser profile.

Browser profiles and URLs

This is the difference most people notice first. Spencer launches your browser; nothing in its documentation or third-party reviews describes switching between profiles. If you consult for two clients who both use Google Workspace, that matters daily. ShiftPlus selects the profile per workspace across the browsers it detects and opens that workspace's URLs inside it, so cookies, logins and extensions stay separated by client rather than by browser window.

The keep-apps-open model, and the restart test

Spencer's FAQ recommends keeping app windows open across layouts and letting Spencer minimise the ones that do not belong to the current scene. Within a session that model is elegant and fast — switching is just unhiding windows whose state never went away. It has two consequences. Apps accumulate: several scenes can mean fifteen or twenty processes resident all day. And a restart resets it, because everything quits and, per Spencer's own FAQ, the content is not restored. That is the honest test between these tools. Both handle switching mid-session well; only ShiftPlus handles the first switch of the morning after the Mac rebooted overnight.

Where Spencer is genuinely the better tool

Multiple windows of the same app: Spencer treats three Finder windows or four Terminal windows as separate entities, each restored to its own position. ShiftPlus handles this within a session, but persisting it across restarts is still in development, so Spencer is more dependable for that case today. Spencer can also vary the Space count per scene, which ShiftPlus does not do. And on price per machine it wins outright — one licence covers three Macs for roughly $19.99, against $39 for two Macs on ShiftPlus. If window memory is the entire requirement, that is the cheaper correct answer.

Pricing, trials and refunds

Both are one-time purchases with no subscription. Spencer is roughly $19.99 for up to three Macs, with a 14-day money-back guarantee rather than a trial — you pay first and request a refund if it does not fit. ShiftPlus is $24 for one Mac or $39 for two, with a 14-day trial that unlocks every feature and needs no card. Prices and terms change, so this page links to both vendors' purchase pages rather than freezing a competitor's price into a comparison table.

Frequently asked questions

What is Spencer for macOS?

Spencer is a macOS workspace manager that saves window positions and app visibility for named scenes — layout memory for your desktop. It restores which apps are showing and where their windows sit, including across multiple Spaces, and it can change the number of Spaces per scene. Per its own FAQ it cannot restore closed browser tabs, individual files or open projects: it manages layout, not content. It is sold at macspencer.app for about $19.99 as a one-time purchase covering up to three Macs.

Is Spencer for macOS worth buying?

It is worth it if your pain is window positions jumping around when you switch contexts or change monitors. Spencer is focused, well reviewed, and inexpensive per machine. It is a weaker fit if your pain is losing project state after quitting apps or restarting — Spencer relaunches the apps, but not what was open inside them. For that layer, a state-restoration tool such as ShiftPlus covers what Spencer does not.

Does Spencer support browser profile switching?

No. Spencer launches the browser as a generic application; switching to a specific Chrome, Arc or Edge profile and opening that profile's URLs is not described in its documentation or in third-party reviews. If your workflow depends on separate browser profiles per client, ShiftPlus is the one of the two that handles it.

Which app is better after a Mac restart?

ShiftPlus. Spencer's FAQ states that it cannot reopen browser tabs, files or projects once closed, so after a restart it launches and positions the apps while you reopen each project and navigate to each URL yourself. ShiftPlus rebuilds a workspace from stored configuration, so projects, URLs, browser profile, terminal commands and environment variables come back with the layout.

Can I run Spencer and ShiftPlus at the same time?

Yes. Spencer documents compatibility with other window managers and the two tools sit at different layers — Spencer on window position and Space layout, ShiftPlus on what each workspace contains. Running both is a reasonable setup if you want Spencer's multi-window precision alongside ShiftPlus state restoration.

Does ShiftPlus have a free trial?

Yes — 14 days with every feature unlocked and no card required. Spencer does not offer a trial; it offers a 14-day money-back guarantee instead, so you buy first and request a refund if it is not a fit. ShiftPlus requires macOS 14.6 or later.

What is the price difference between Spencer and ShiftPlus?

Spencer is roughly $19.99 for a licence covering up to three Macs. ShiftPlus is $24 for one Mac or $39 for two, with no subscription either way. If you have three Macs and only need window-position memory, Spencer is the more economical choice. If you need full state restoration on two Macs, including optional iCloud sync between them, ShiftPlus at $39 is the closer fit.

Is this comparison independent?

No. ShiftPlus publishes this page and benefits commercially if you choose ShiftPlus. To keep it auditable, Spencer's capabilities and limits are taken from its own FAQ and pricing pages plus independent reviews, all linked below, and the places where Spencer is the better tool are stated rather than omitted.

Sources and methodology

Product capabilities were checked against first-party documentation. ShiftPlus publishes this comparison and may benefit if you choose it.