Comparison

FlashSpace vs SpaceJump: replace macOS Spaces or enhance them?

Both of these tools help you organize multiple projects across your Mac's desktops. But they take fundamentally different approaches. FlashSpace builds its own workspace system on top of macOS. SpaceJump works with the native Spaces you already have. That distinction shapes everything about how they feel in daily use.

Last updated: April 2026

The two approaches to organizing Mac desktops

macOS has had Spaces since Leopard. You swipe between desktops, arrange windows across them, maybe use Mission Control to get an overview. It works, but Apple never gave you a way to name them, color-code them, or quickly jump to a specific one. Both FlashSpace and SpaceJump address this gap, just from opposite directions.

FlashSpace creates an entirely separate workspace layer. It doesn't use macOS Spaces at all. You define workspaces in a config file, assign apps to each one, and FlashSpace handles showing and hiding windows to simulate switching between them.

SpaceJump keeps native macOS Spaces and adds what Apple left out. Names, colors, icons, a quick switcher, time tracking. Your Spaces still work exactly like they always did. SpaceJump just makes them easier to identify and navigate.

FlashSpace: the replacement approach

FlashSpace is a free, open-source project by Wojciech Kulik with over 3,000 stars on GitHub. It's actively maintained and clearly built by someone who thinks deeply about developer workflows.

The core idea is that macOS Space switching is too slow. The sliding animation takes time, and you can't control which apps belong to which Space reliably. FlashSpace sidesteps all of this by managing window visibility directly. When you switch to a FlashSpace workspace, it hides every window that doesn't belong and shows the ones that do. No animation. Instant.

You configure workspaces through a JSON or TOML file, assigning specific apps to each workspace. There's multi-display support, a menu bar indicator showing your current workspace, and an overview grid that lets you see all workspaces at a glance. Keyboard shortcuts handle everything.

This gives you a lot of control. If you want "Backend" to show only your terminal and VS Code, and "Design" to show only Figma and Safari, FlashSpace can enforce that strictly. It's the kind of tool that rewards spending time on configuration.

SpaceJump: the enhancement approach

SpaceJump doesn't replace anything. It assumes you already use macOS Spaces and that the basic model of swiping between full desktops works for you. What it adds is identity. Each Space gets a name, a color, and an icon that shows in your menu bar so you always know which desktop you're on.

Press ⌘+0 and a quick switcher appears. You see all your Spaces listed by name, type a couple of characters to filter, hit enter, and you're there. There's also a "jump back" feature that returns you to whatever Space you were on before, which is useful when you briefly check something on another desktop.

SpaceJump also tracks how long you spend on each Space. If you organize Spaces by project or client, this becomes a passive time log. You can export it as CSV for invoicing or just to understand where your hours go.

Setup takes about two minutes. Open the app, name your Spaces, pick colors if you want. No config files.

The trade-off: power vs simplicity

FlashSpace gives you more control over which windows appear where. If you have strong opinions about workspace isolation and you want instant switching without any animation, it delivers. But you're working outside the native macOS desktop system. Your "workspaces" aren't Spaces anymore. Swiping with three fingers doesn't switch between FlashSpace workspaces. Mission Control doesn't know about them.

SpaceJump gives you less control over window assignment but keeps everything native. Three-finger swipe, Mission Control, fullscreen apps as Spaces, all of it still works. You're not learning a new desktop paradigm. You're using the same one with better labels and navigation.

There's also a practical limitation with FlashSpace: a given app can only belong to one workspace. If you want Safari open in both your "Research" and "Personal" workspaces, that's not possible. Native Spaces don't have this restriction, so SpaceJump inherits that flexibility.

Where FlashSpace wins

It's free and open source under GPL-3.0. If you care about inspecting the code that manages your windows, or if you want to contribute improvements, that matters.

Switching is genuinely faster because there's no macOS Space transition animation. For people who switch workspaces dozens of times per hour, the speed difference is real.

The overview grid gives you a bird's-eye view of all your workspaces and what's in each one. SpaceJump's quick switcher is a text list, not a visual grid.

And the configuration model is more powerful. If you want fine-grained workspace rules that persist across reboots and can be version-controlled, FlashSpace's config file approach supports that.

Where SpaceJump wins

Native macOS integration. Your Spaces, gestures, fullscreen apps, and Mission Control all continue working normally. You don't have to decide whether to use Spaces or FlashSpace workspaces. You just use Spaces, with names on them.

Simpler setup. There's nothing to configure beyond typing names for your Spaces. No JSON files, no app-to-workspace assignments. If your workflow changes, you just rename a Space.

Time tracking per Space is something FlashSpace doesn't offer. If you organize Spaces by project, you get automatic logging of how long you spent on each one, exportable to CSV.

The same app can appear on multiple Spaces. You can have a browser window on your "Research" Space and another on "Personal" without any conflict.

Who should pick which

FlashSpace is a good fit if you already dislike how macOS Spaces work. If the sliding animation bothers you, if you want strict control over which apps appear on which workspace, or if you prefer configuring tools through text files, FlashSpace was built for you. Being free helps too if you're evaluating multiple tools.

SpaceJump is a better fit if you like macOS Spaces but wish they had names. If swiping between desktops feels natural to you, if you don't want to change how your desktop system works at a fundamental level, and if time tracking across projects sounds useful, SpaceJump adds what's missing without replacing what already works. The 14-day free trial means you can test it before paying the $9.99.

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