First, a warning: there is more than one product called WindowPin.
The one on the App Store — WindowPin - Window Top — works by picking a window from a list and pinning it, free with a $4.99 Pro purchase. There is also a same-named open-source project built around mirroring and region cropping, which is a completely different tool. Both answer to “WindowPin”, so check before you install.
This article is about the App Store one, which is what most tutorials cover.
The window then floats above normal windows. 3.3 MB, macOS 13 or later, localised into more than a dozen languages.
The App Store lists it as free, with WindowPin Pro at $4.99 as an in-app purchase. What Pro unlocks is whatever the current listing says — it changes between versions, and I am not going to promise a feature list on their behalf.
If your need is “stop this window from being covered”, the free tier is enough. That is the core function, and it is not the kind of thing a developer hides behind a paywall.
The real dividing line is not free versus Pro. It is whether the act of pinning solves your problem at all.
The three items below are shared by KeepTop, WindowPin and Topit alike. They have nothing to do with price.
This is the one people overlook.
A 1440-wide terminal where you read the last three lines. A ticker where you only need to know whether the colour changed. A chat window where you are waiting for a ping.
Floating them at full size means trading half your screen for one line of information. After pinning, it is definitely not covered — but neither is what you were working on.
There is no shrink option, because the design goal is “keep the window exactly as it is, only higher”.
A full-screen app owns its own Space; floating windows live in the desktop Space. Step into a full-screen editor or a full-screen presentation and the pinned window is gone.
This is not a WindowPin bug. It applies to every tool that raises window levels — KeepTop, BetterTouchTool, Rectangle Pro’s pin, all the same.
The only thing that crosses Spaces is native Picture in Picture, because Apple gave it a system-level layer. But it only floats video — see the no-install guide.
Pin three windows and you have three large panels stacking up. No window level fixes a shortage of area.
A pinning tool guarantees “who is on top”. It cannot guarantee “everything is visible”.
To be fair: if your pain is only “do not cover me”, WindowPin free or KeepTop free is enough. There is no reason to switch.
It suits you if:
In that case, changing tools is just busywork.
If any of these apply, what you want is not pinning but shrinking:
PipNow takes the other path: ⌥⌘P turns the frontmost window into a floating mini window, hovering it pops a near-original-size preview, and you can click and type right there. The window stays small, but you do not switch back to read it.
The left column is free pinning apps; the right column is the mini-window approach.
| Pin | Mini window | |
|---|---|---|
| Solves | Being covered | Taking up room |
| Size | Unchanged | Shrunk |
| Detail | Already large | Hover for a preview |
| Full screen | No | No |
| Count | Cover each other | One per corner |
| Cost | Free (Pro optional) | Free tier limited, Pro one-time |
Ask yourself one question: do I want it to stop being covered, or to stop taking up room?
The first — WindowPin free or KeepTop, pick either. The second — no pinning tool will help, however much it costs, because staying at full size is the whole point of the design.
Both are free to try. Five minutes gives you the answer.
Keep every window in sight — try PipNow today
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