This project is dedicated to collecting high-quality macOS software and organizing them systematically by different categories for easy search and use. As it continues to grow, the project has far exceeded our initial expectations and has become more comprehensive and refined.
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If you have any suggestions, ideas, or discover excellent software, feel free to submit a PR to help improve this list. Please read the contributing guidelines before contributing. We also welcome you to continue following this awesome list to build a better macOS tool collection together.
means open source. click the icon to see the item's repository; means free to use, or free personal license; means App store hyperlink; means native app; means hyperlink to a corresponding Awesome list for the item;
Reading and Writing Tools
Applications to edit text, I suggest the open-source editors
Text Editors
Aurora Editor - Lightweight Code Editor (IDE) for macOS.
Bootstrap Studio - A powerful desktop app for creating responsive websites using the Bootstrap framework.
Brackets - A modern, open source text editor that understands web design.
CodeEdit - A lightweight, natively-built editor. Open source. Free forever.
CotEditor - Lightweight plain-text editor for macOS.
Cursor - AI code editor with autocomplete, chat, and coding agent features.
Emacs - Popular Unix-based text editor for programmers and system administrators.
Haystack Editor - Code editor with a canvas UI for better code understanding.
Affine - Affine is the next-generation collaborative knowledge base for professionals.
Agenda - Date-focused note taking app for both planning and documenting your projects.
Amber Notes - Open-source notes app that ChatGPT, Claude and other AI assistants can search and edit over MCP, with each AI edit highlighted and undoable.
Anytype - Local-first note-taking and knowledge management app.
OutlineEdit 3 - Fully-featured outline editor, for everyone who loves great structured notes.
Revu - Local-first spaced repetition app with FSRS scheduling and Anki import.
Saber - Cross platform stylus and text notetaking app. Supports image and pdf imports, can sync.
SideNotes - Quick notes on the screen side with Markdown support.
Standard Notes - An end-to-end encrypted notes app for digitalists and professionals.
Stik - Quick-capture markdown notes app with hotkeys and AI semantic search.
QOwnNotes - Open-source notepad with markdown support and todo list manager.
Quick Note - Colorful sticky notes in the Menu bar.
Quiver - Mix text, code, Markdown, and LaTeX in one note with live preview.
VNote - Open-source Markdown note-taking app with a polished editor.
Zettel - Minimal, distraction-free note-taking app with Markdown and hashtag-based organization.
Journaling
Day One - Excellent journaling app using text, photos, video, audio, location data, and more.
Journey - Journaling app with many features and with apps for every platform available.
Life Note - Journal with the greatest minds in human history.
linked - Link your thoughts to days, distraction free.
Writing
AI Novel Writer - Open-source AI writing workspace for organizing characters, worldbuilding, outlines, chapters, review, and revision in one novel project.
Retrotype - A fun and minimalist writing app that feels like a real typewriter.
novelWriter - Open-source plain text editor for writing novels with minimal markdown-like syntax.
Scrivener - The quintessential word processor for writers.
THORN - All you need to power personal writing and website building.
Ebooks
Calibre - Free, open-source e-book manager and reader.
BookShelves - Ebook reader and library manager with public-domain books and sync.
Clearview - Tabbed style e-book reader for PDF, EPUB (DRM free), CHM, and MOBI.
iChm - Ebook reader for CHM (Microsoft Compiled HTML help) files.
Kindle App - Amazon official reading app of kindle.
Klib - New way to manage highlights for Kindle and iBooks.
Koodo Reader - All-in-one eBook reader supporting over 15 formats.
Rapid Reader - Open-source RSVP speed reader for EPUB, PDF, and web articles with a full-text view.
Readest - Open-source ebook reader with a clean interface and powerful reading tools.
ReadAny - AI-powered e-book reader with semantic search, chat, and note management.
Scribus - Professional layout and publishing software.
SkyFonts - The simplest way to try, install, and manage fonts.
SmoothCSV - Fast, full-featured CSV editor with SQL queries.
Spillo - Powerful, beautiful and amazingly fast Pinboard client for OS X.
TabType - Free, open-source AI autocomplete for every Mac app — on-device ghost-text suggestions powered by a local LLM (MLX); nothing leaves your Mac.
Tad - Application for viewing and analyzing tabular data such as CSV files.
texifier - Great LaTeX editor for Mac with auto-update PDF and autocomplete LaTeX commands.
UPDF - Free PDF editor for reading, annotating, and editing PDFs.
Zotero - Free tool to collect, organize, annotate, cite, and share research.
Collate - Free tool to collect, summarize and query PDFs with AI. All offline and free.
PDFsail - All-in-one PDF tool for editing, converting, merging, compressing, and OCR.
Android Studio - The official IDE for Android, based on Intellij IDEA.
Cate - Open-source IDE on an infinite zoomable canvas, with editor, terminal, browser, and AI agent panels arranged in a spatial workspace.
CodeRunner - Lightweight, multi-language programming text editor and IDE.
Deco IDE - The best IDE for building React Native apps.
Eclipse - Popular open-source IDE for Java with plugin support for many languages.
Espresso - The web editor for Mac is back. For people who make delightful, innovative and fast websites.
Fletch - Native IDE for AI coding agents, giving each agent a sandboxed clone of your repository plus a shared symbol and call-graph index, with diff review before merge.
BeagleEditor - A "beagleful" editor with features like syntax highlighting, plugins and... - A bit ugly, but it works
JetBrains Toolbox App - Manage installed JetBrains tools, download new ones and open recent projects.
GraphCode - Runs coding-agent sessions as a graph, where each node is a live terminal you can attach to mid-run and each edge a hand-off that fires unattended. Claude Code, Copilot CLI, Codex.
Hex Fiend - Fast and clever open source hex editor.
Hosts.prefpane - System preference pane to manage your hosts file.
Icon Preview - Preview your app icon and menu bar icon.
iHosts - The only /etc/hosts editor on Mac App Store.
Itsyconnect - App Store Connect client for metadata, TestFlight, reviews, analytics, and localization.
Poirot - Companion app for browsing Claude Code sessions, reviewing diffs, and rerunning commands.
Muxy - AI-native GUI for managing AI coding sessions, projects, with split panes, Git integration, and AI usage tracking.
PortKiller - Tool for inspecting ports, managing forwards and tunnels, and stopping bound processes.
PPRows - Application to calculate how many lines of code you write.
ProcessSpy - A clean and powerful process monitor.
PushMate - Solves common push notification problems on macOS.
Responsively - A must-have devtool for web developers for quicker responsive web development.
Runner - Open-source workspace where CLI coding agents such as Claude Code, Codex, Copilot CLI, and pi work one task together as a crew, each in its own real terminal.
SCM Breeze - Set of shell scripts (for bash and zsh) that enhance your interaction with git.
SecureCRT - Terminal emulation which supports SSH, Telnet or other protocols.
AQBot - Open-source desktop AI workspace for multi-provider chat, agent workflows, knowledge bases, MCP tools, and an OpenAI-compatible API gateway.
Atomic Agent - Local-first CLI and TUI coding agent that runs open-weight models entirely on your machine, with MCP support and 56 built-in tools.
Atomic Chat - Open-source AI chat client for local and cloud models with MCP support.
BitFun - Open-source AI agent that gives each task its own interactive workspace with chat linked to live state.
BoltAI - A beautiful & powerful ChatGPT app for Mac. Stay ahead by integrating AI into your workflow today.
ChatGPT - A conversational AI system that listens, learns, and challenges
Claude - Your AI partner on desktop. Fast, focused, and designed for deep work.
Claude God - Monitor Claude usage, costs, and session stats.
Claude Usage - Menu bar app for Claude Code that keeps per-pane context (in the status line) and session/weekly usage always visible — no usage or context command to run.
Claudoscope - Tool for browsing and analyzing Claude Code sessions.
ClawdHome - Manage multiple isolated OpenClaw gateway instances from one control panel.
clawpypaste - Menu bar block picker and session browser for Claude Code.
Cherry Studio - A desktop client that supports multiple large language model (LLM) providers.
Chatbox - User-friendly Desktop Client App for AI Models/LLMs (GPT, Claude, Gemini, Ollama...).
CodexBar - Show usage stats for OpenAI Codex and Claude Code, without having to login.
Cursor Voice - Voice assistant that lives by your cursor, sees your screen, and can control apps via the OpenAI Realtime API.
DataNexa - Open-source desktop database MCP gateway that aggregates multiple databases into a single access point with read-only enforcement and auditing for AI agents.
DeepDeck - Desktop AI workspace built on DeepSeek Harness for creating and reusing WebMCP tools for website tasks.
Desktop Control - GPU-accelerated CLI for AI agents to control any macOS app via screen, mouse, and keyboard.
Fazm - Open-source voice-controlled AI agent for apps, files, and workflows.
Flock - Terminal multiplexer for running multiple Claude Code and shell sessions in one workspace.
Fluent - AI assistant that works across apps with model and context integration.
Gemini Collector - Back up Google Gemini conversations, attachments, and AI-generated media locally as JSON.
GroAsk - Menu bar launcher that sends selected text to AI assistants and CLI agents.
Grux - Menu bar assistant that reads your active window and reaches local mail, calendar, notes, and files, using your own API key or a local model.
RecurseChat - Local-first AI chat app with customizable workflows.
Runtime - AI taskmate and take control of the web & your office tools
SpotAsk - Native macOS menu bar AI assistant for quick questions: ask first, then use your own AI service for an in-app answer or send the question to another AI, app, or terminal command.
ThinkWatch Lite - Local gateway for Claude Code, Codex, and other AI coding clients that switches upstreams without client changes, records the cost of each request, and redacts API keys before requests leave.
TokenMeter - Track Claude Code usage, rate limits, costs, and activity heatmaps.
TokenTracker - Local-first menu bar app and CLI that tracks token usage and cost across 20+ AI coding tools.
Tura - Tura is a local, open-source coding agent for developers who are tired of vague skill claims, token-saving extensions with no evidence, and agents that change a repository before understanding it.
Usage4Claude - Real-time monitoring of Claude usage quotas across time windows and plans.
Jan - An open-source alternative to ChatGPT that runs entirely offline on your computer.
LingShu - Open-source, model-agnostic macOS agent for verified code, documents, slides, and computer actions.
LokalBot - On-device meeting notes, dictation, inline autocomplete, and searchable work memory for macOS.
Loadout - See and manage what coding assistants load — Claude Code skills, subagents, slash commands, plugins, and MCP servers, with real usage counts.
Maestro - Multi-agent AI coding tool with spec-driven workflows.
MiniClaw - Local-first personal AI agent with memory and automation tools.
Off Grid AI Desktop - Private, local-first AI for your Mac: local LLM chat, image generation, voice dictation, and memory search, all on-device.
Orchard - MCP server that connects AI assistants to Apple apps.
Prevail - Local-first AI life OS: any model per life-domain over a plain-markdown vault on your Mac. Signed and notarized.
Witsy - desktop AI assistant / universal MCP client.
remio - Local-first AI chat client that answers from your knowledge base.
Warden - A Native Swift macOS app that lets you run multiple LLM models using your own API keys.
Wayfinder - Local-first visual voyage map for preserving Codex and Claude Code sessions, branches, failures, decisions, and file changes.
Communication
Collaboration and Team Tools
Adium - Free instant messaging application for Mac OS X. Connect to AIM, MSN, SMPP, Yahoo and more.
BlurScreen App - Instantly blur sensitive on-screen content for recording or screen sharing.
Yalqen - Open-source Chromium browser for developers with vertical tabs, a keyboard-first command bar, built-in developer tools, and ad and tracker blocking.
Yandex - The quick and secure browser from Yandex for computers.
Zen - A beautifully designed, privacy-focused, and feature-rich browser
Translation Tools
(Or you could just use the Mac OS built-in dictionary)
OpenAI Translator - Translation app and browser extension powered by AI models.
ScreenTranslate - Capture any area or select text to translate instantly, fully on-device.
Translate Like Me - Open-source menu bar translator that replaces the selected text in any app, in your own writing style, via Claude, ChatGPT or Grok.
Translatium - Translation app for words, phrases, and images in 100+ languages.
Education
Leafy - Look up any word on screen with ⌥A, including in PDFs and images, and save it to a searchable local library.
Wokabulary - Collect, practice, and organize your individual foreign language vocabulary.
Finance
Posnic - Offline-first open-source POS and billing software for retail shops and restaurants.
Pulse - Native menu bar market tracker for US, Hong Kong and China stocks, crypto, indices, ETFs and portfolio P&L.
SubManager - Subscription tracker with renewal reminders.
SubList - Track subscriptions, renewals, and spending in one place with reminders, analytics, and iCloud sync.
StockDock - Menu bar app for real-time stocks, ETFs, crypto and portfolio P&L. Privacy-first, no account, multi-currency.
MRRDock - Menu bar app that adds up your MRR from Stripe, RevenueCat, Paddle, Lemon Squeezy, Polar, Dodo Payments and Gumroad into one total. Multi-currency, keys stay in the Keychain, no account.
Encryption
Cryptomator - Multi-platform transparent client-side encryption of your files in the cloud.
Mana Security - vulnerability management app for individuals.
Vulert - Dependency vulnerability monitoring service for open-source packages.
NoxKey - Keychain-based secret manager for API keys and tokens with Touch ID.
OverSight - Tool for monitoring microphone and webcam access.
ParetoSecurity - A MenuBar app to automatically audit your Mac for basic security hygiene.
PureSnitch - Open-source application firewall with a Little Snitch-style world map, rule manager, DNS over HTTPS, and pf-based blocking, with no telemetry.
ClipFlow - Free clipboard history manager with terminal-style navigation.
Pesty - Free and open-source clipboard manager inspired by Paste, with a slide-up color-coded strip, pinboards, and search.
Whisk - Keyboard-first clipboard manager with a Liquid Glass panel, filters by source app and content type, and rich previews.
Menu Bar Tools
Agent Island - MacBook notch companion for Claude Code and Codex sessions, showing live status and auto-resuming selected long-running tasks.
AirPoise - Menu bar app that uses AirPods motion sensors for head-posture reminders and configurable head-gesture shortcuts.
Anvil - Tool for serving local static sites and Rack apps with simple URLs.
Atoll - Turns the notch into a Dynamic Island-style hub for media controls, live activities, and quick utilities.
Bartender - Organize or hide menu bar icons on your Mac.
Belay - Keeps your Mac awake only while a local AI coding agent is working, and lets it sleep the moment the work stops.
Candela - Display care for external monitors: OLED burn-in protection, panel health history, and everyday brightness, volume, and contrast controls.
cctop - Open-source menu bar monitor that shows live status for AI coding sessions (Claude Code, Codex, opencode, pi) and jumps to the right terminal pane or editor window.
ChargeMonitor - Menu bar battery monitor with real-time charging stats and energy impact insights.
CodexIsland - Turns the MacBook notch into a Dynamic Island-style live activity for Claude Code and Codex CLI rate limits and spend, computed locally with no telemetry.
SaneBar - Privacy-first menu bar manager with hidden zones and automation rules.
Sharptooth - Menu bar tool for managing Bluetooth devices with hotkeys and automation.
BeardedSpice - Control web players and supported apps with your keyboard media keys.
Blink - A little robot that watches your running dev servers and iOS simulators, and restarts them without going back to the terminal.
Boring Notch - Turn your MacBook notch into a music and file control center.
Bye AppQuit - A minimal menu bar app to quickly view and kill running processes.
DayBar - An application that can display the local date and reminder events in the menu bar.
Dato - A better menu bar clock with calendar, events, and time zones.
DynamicHorizon - Adds media controls, notifications, and system indicators to the notch area.
Repose - Menu bar break timer that dims your screen and pauses during calls.
Fishing Funds - Display real-time trends of Chinese funds in the menubar.
GoogleDriveSync - A menu bar app for seamless Google Drive syncing.
Folder Peek - Quickly access documents, files, folders, and apps from the menu bar.
HeyMate - AI assistant in the MacBook notch that answers questions about your screen out loud and runs Claude Code, Codex, or OpenCode agents after you approve their plan, with media, file shelf, and calendar widgets.
Hidden - A ultra-light MacOS utility that helps hide menu bar icons.
Hue in the Menu - Philips Hue light management in the menu bar with multi-room support.
Ice - Menu bar manager for hiding icons and organizing layouts.
ILoveNotch - Turns the MacBook notch into a tray for media, files, calendar, reminders, notes, and timers.
Keelhaven - Menu bar app that runs scheduled, encrypted restic backups to a local disk, S3, SFTP, or a REST server.
KeyStats - Menu bar tracker for daily keystrokes, clicks, movement, and scrolling.
Later - Save all your Mac apps for later with one click.
Lunavect - Menu bar app and desktop widgets showing which Claude Code or Codex session is working, waiting for input, or done, with usage limits and activity.
LuxShot - Native and privacy-first menu bar OCR tool.
MacTools - Open-source menu bar toolkit with plugins for display controls, system toggles, cleanup, device status, and everyday utilities.
Mask This - Menu bar app that masks sensitive information in the clipboard.
MeetingBar - Menu bar app for your calendar meetings
MenubarCC - Menu bar crab that shows your Claude Code sessions at a glance: walking while Claude works, bouncing when it needs you.
MenubarX - A powerful Mac menu bar browser, pin webpage like an App.
MenuScores - A menu bar app that delivers real-time sports news and scores.
Mixio - Menu bar app with per-app & tab volume control, 10-band EQ with native style UI.
Mole Widget - Lightweight system monitor with live CPU, memory, disk, network, battery, and process stats in a resizable desktop widget managed from the menu bar.
MonitorControl - Control external display brightness and volume directly.
muxbar - Menu bar app for tmux session management — list, attach, kill sessions, live preview, and a closed-lid mode for in-bag work.
mysa - A macOS menu bar app for quick breathing breaks, with a frosted screen overlay and handwritten quotes.
NetFluss - Native menu bar app for real-time upload/download speeds and top bandwidth-using apps.
NotchNook - Customizes your Mac's menu bar to seamlessly integrate with the notch design.
Notchly - Lightweight Dynamic Island for macOS with AI coding agent notifications.
One Thing - Put a single task or goal in your menu bar.
One Switch - Mac menu bar app that adds various switches to the Mac's menu bar.
OnlySwitch - ⚙️ All-in-One menu bar app, hide 💻MacBook Pro's notch, dark mode, AirPods, Shortcuts
SwiftBar - Powerful macOS menu bar customization tool.
Tactile - Adds subtle trackpad haptic taps over clickable elements, with optional visual cues for accessibility.
TextSniper - Simple yet powerful OCR app in your Menu Bar. Instantly copy and paste text from anywhere.
Today - View today’s schedule and calendar events from the menu bar.
Tomatino - Menu bar Pomodoro timer that switches your Focus mode and your music with each session.
TomatoBar - World's neatest Pomodoro timer for macOS menu bar.
TypeCue - Types a prepared script into any app, one hotkey press per line, as real keystrokes at a human pace, for demo recordings and live presentations.
UTC Time - Show the time in UTC in the menu bar or a widget.
DiskWise - Open-source SwiftUI disk cleaner whose only deletion path is the Trash, with per-session undo and a knowledge base that explains each cache entry.
Dusty - Open-source menu bar disk cleaner that deletes only from a fixed allowlist, shows every path before removing it, and can undo a clean.
Harbofly - Menu bar app that auto-discovers and frees the disk space dev build artifacts and caches hog (DerivedData, node_modules, SPM/Homebrew caches). Zero telemetry, notarized.
MAC-LIMPO - Menu bar cleaner for developer caches (Xcode, Docker, simulators, node_modules) with a 2D/3D disk usage treemap.
MacDirStat - Open-source disk space analyzer that shows what's taking up space as an interactive treemap, inspired by WinDirStat.
MacOSCleaner - Free, open-source macOS cleaner with disk analyzer, app uninstaller, and smart cleanup.
MacSift - Open-source disk cleaner that groups files by app and moves them to the Trash.
MangoDisk - Free, open-source disk cleaner and space analyzer that scans locally and shows paths and sizes before deletion.
Mole - Native Mac maintenance utility for cleanup, app management, disk analysis, and system monitoring.
OmniDiskSweeper - Scans files by size so you can quickly find space hogs.
Pearcleaner - A free, source-available and fair-code licensed mac app cleaner.
PureMac - Free, open-source macOS cleaner with no telemetry. Cleans system and user caches, Xcode junk, Homebrew cache, mail attachments, and finds large or old files. Supports scheduled auto-cleaning.
Purge - Open-source cache cleaner that moves files to the Trash instead of deleting them, using a fixed allowlist and no telemetry.
SquirrelDisk - Open-source disk usage analyzer with sunburst and treemap views for disks and cloud storage.
File Organization Tools
AppPorts - Move apps to external storage while keeping working launch links in /Applications.
Strategr - Time-boxing planner for structuring your day.
StrokeMouse - Custom mouse gestures that can trigger keyboard shortcuts, open apps, perform window actions, run shell commands, or execute AppleScript after drawing a stroke.
SwiftBiu - Text productivity tool with a customizable action bar and AI extensions.
Table Habit – Habit tracker with growth charts and offline-first sync.
Time Out - Easy break reminders, with micro-break and flexible customization if you want it.
TimeScribe - Simple and free working time recording.
Timing - Automatic time tracking with productivity insights and billing-friendly records.
Textream - Free teleprompter with real-time word tracking and voice-activated scrolling.
Trace - Open-source spotlight alternative and shortcut toolkit.
Trello - A collaboration tool that organizes your projects into Kanban boards.
MacsyZones - Organize your windows with ease and boost your productivity.
Lasso - Intuitive and easy to use grid-based window manager.
Magnet - Window manager that keeps your workspace organized.
MakeItHome - Pointer-driven launcher for screen-edge quick actions and app switching.
Moom - Window management tool for moving, resizing, and saving layouts.
Nudge - Window manager with keyboard shortcuts and drag-to-edge snapping.
Omni - Notorized Niri and Hyprland inspired tiling window manager with animations.
Plonk - Menu bar window manager with snap zones, hotkeys, and saved workspaces that relaunch your apps and put every window back on its monitor; an AI agent can drive it over MCP.
rcmd - Use the ⌘ Right Command key to switch applications based on their name.
Rectangle-app - Rectangle is a window management app based on Spectacle, written in Swift.
ShiftIt - Managing window size and position in OSX.
ShortcutCycle - Switch between context-based app groups with a single hotkey.
Sidebar - The modern Dock replacement for your Mac.
Sensei - Performance toolkit for monitoring, cleanup, and hardware diagnostics.
SiliconScope - Sudoless Apple Silicon system monitor (menu bar + dashboard) with first-class ANE, Media Engine and memory-bandwidth tracking plus an E/P-core breakdown — the chip-level signals Activity Monitor doesn't show.
Sleepless - Keeps your laptop awake with lid-closed support, auto-off timer, and battery-floor cutoff.
Tuxera NTFS - Full read-write compatibility with NTFS-formatted drives on a Mac.
Overkill - Stop iTunes from opening when you connect your iPhone.
Gaming Software
ChessCafe - Animated 3D chess with three AI levels, multiple armies, and hot-seat multiplayer.
Classic Game Box - Open-source retro-console emulator frontend built on libretro cores.
Highball - Run Windows games on Apple Silicon through Wine, with the graphics layer (DXMT, DXVK or D3DMetal) chosen per game from an open compatibility database.
OpenEmu - Retro game emulator frontend for multiple console systems.
PlayCover - Run iOS apps and games on Apple Silicon Macs with mouse, keyboard and controller support.
Porting Kit - Install Windows® Games inside your Mac.
PPSSPP - A awesome PSP emulator for any OS you can dream of!
Ryubing - A fork of the discontinued Switch emulator, Ryujinx.
Suyu - A familiar, open source, and powerful Nintendo Switch emulator.
Whisky - A tool for running Windows apps on macOS, built with SwiftUI and supporting D3DMetal and DXVK backends.
ConsoleMini - Controller-first big-picture launcher that turns a Mac mini into a PS1-PS4 + retro console (wraps DuckStation, PCSX2, RPCS3, shadPS4, PPSSPP, RetroArch, mGBA, Flycast).
Remote Login Software
AnyDesk - Provides remote access across multiple machines.
HopToDesk - Open-source remote desktop and remote support tool with end-to-end encrypted sessions.
MoonProxy - GUI desktop client for FRP that puts local services on the internet with one click.
Moonlight - GameStream client for PCs (Windows, Mac, Linux, and Steam Link).
Parsec - Low-latency remote desktop and game streaming tool.
RealVNC - The original and best software for remote access across desktop and mobile.
RoyalTSX - Remote connection manager for multiple protocols.
Buy software, once - The place to find all the software you can buy one time, and own for a lifetime.
Open Alternative - Discover Open Source Alternatives to Popular Software. A curated collection of the best open source alternatives to everyday SaaS products. Save money with reliable tools hand-picked for you.