| A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | AA | AB | |
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1 | If you're looking for free design references, resources, and more, have a look at my other list here | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
3 | Free Mac Apps | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
4 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
5 | Open source or free apps that I use on my Mac (and replicate other paid apps) or are paid but have great free versions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
7 | If you have any suggestions, please add them as issues in the Github (also feel free to star!) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
9 | βΉοΈ If you want to install multiple Homebrew and Mac App Store packages at once, use the guide here | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
10 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
11 | β Essentials - The first things I always install | πΊ Homebrew Formulae / mas id | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
12 | β | Raycast | A much better Spotlight, with lots of 3rd party integrations | http://raycast.com | brew install --cask raycast | |||||||||||||||||||||||
13 | β | shottr | Great screenshots and OCR text | https://shottr.cc/ | brew install --cask shottr | |||||||||||||||||||||||
14 | β | Rocket | Type emojis using a colon (:) anywhere e.g. :rocket: = π | https://matthewpalmer.net/rocket/ | brew install --cask rocket | |||||||||||||||||||||||
15 | β | MeetingBar | A menubar utility that shows your next meeting, lets you automate auto-joining, and create instant meetings | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/meetingbar/id1532419400?mt=12 | brew install meetingbar | |||||||||||||||||||||||
16 | β | UTM | Securely run operating systems on your Mac (free Parallels!) | https://mac.getutm.app | brew install --cask utm | |||||||||||||||||||||||
17 | β | VMware Fusion Pro | Now free for personal use - run virtual machines on your Mac to securely emulate macOS, Windows, and Linux | https://support.broadcom.com/group/ecx/productdownloads?subfamily=VMware+Fusion | brew install --cask vmware-fusion | |||||||||||||||||||||||
18 | β | Notion Calendar | A really good, free calendar! | https://www.notion.so/product/calendar/ | brew install --cask notion-calendar | |||||||||||||||||||||||
19 | β | Ice | A better way to hide menu bar icons (with options for a bar below menu bar!) See alternatives here | https://github.com/jordanbaird/Ice | brew install jordanbaird-ice | |||||||||||||||||||||||
20 | β | Stats | View stats about your system including CPU, remaining battery etc in your menu bar (like iStats) | https://github.com/exelban/stats | brew install --cask stats | |||||||||||||||||||||||
21 | β | The Unarchiver | The best tool for opening .zip/.rar/.7z files | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/the-unarchiver/id425424353?mt=12 | brew install --cask the-unarchiver | |||||||||||||||||||||||
22 | β | Amphetamine | Keep your Mac awake - even MacBooks with their lids closed! | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/amphetamine/id937984704?mt=12 | 937984704 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
23 | β | DockDoor | Preview your open windows by hovering apps in your dock | https://github.com/ejbills/DockDoor | brew install --cask dockdoor | |||||||||||||||||||||||
24 | β | BoringNotch | Make your Notch dynamic | https://github.com/iamharshdev/TheBoringNotch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
25 | β | Arc | The best Chromium based browser for the Mac! | https://arc.net | brew install --cask arc | |||||||||||||||||||||||
26 | β | FireFox | Open source, fast, and privacy focused; you know what this is! | https://www.mozilla.org/firefox/ | brew install --cask firefox | |||||||||||||||||||||||
27 | β | Zen Browser | A new Firefox-based, privacy browser β defintiely give it a try! | https://zen-browser.app | brew install --cask zen-browser | |||||||||||||||||||||||
28 | β | Velja | Choose which browser links open in (great for G-suite Chromium x Safari everything else juggling!) | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/velja/id1607635845?mt=12 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
29 | β | Sublime Text | A lightweight, really nice text editor | https://www.sublimetext.com/ | brew install --cask sublime-text | |||||||||||||||||||||||
30 | β | Ghostty | A fast, feature-rich, and cross-platform terminal emulator that uses platform-native UI and GPU acceleration | https://ghostty.org | brew install --cask ghostty | |||||||||||||||||||||||
31 | β | Visual Studio Code | Microsoft's code editor, for Mac! Has a built in terminal and file browser | https://code.visualstudio.com/ | brew install --cask visual-studio-code | |||||||||||||||||||||||
32 | β | Amazon Q | Turn off data sharing (see comment) Autocomplete for terminal, from AWS (requries a free AWS account) | https://docs.aws.amazon.com/codewhisperer/latest/userguide/command-line-getting-started-installing.html | brew install --cask codewhisperer | |||||||||||||||||||||||
33 | β | Zed | A high performance code editor to compete with VS Code | https://zed.dev | brew install --cask zed | |||||||||||||||||||||||
34 | β | Lossless Switcher | Switches your current audio device's sample rate to match the lossless song on your Apple Music app, automatically | https://github.com/vincentneo/LosslessSwitcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
35 | β | Shazam | Click the menu bar to find out what song is playing around you, or set it to just identify everything playing around you | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/shazam/id897118787?mt=12 | 897118787 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
36 | β | NepTunes for Last.fm | The last.fm app is really bad on Mac β hereβs a better one! | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/neptunes-for-lastfm/id1006739057?mt=12 | 1006739057 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
37 | β | VLC | The go to for playing anything that doesn't play in QuickTime | The go to for playing anything that doesn't play in QuickTime | brew install --cask vlc | |||||||||||||||||||||||
38 | β | Handbrake | Convert video to any media (finally out of beta!) | https://handbrake.fr/ | brew install --cask handbrake | |||||||||||||||||||||||
39 | β | Bitwarden | Lastpass's restrictions got you down? Here's an open source version! | https://bitwarden.com | There is a cli and normal available | |||||||||||||||||||||||
40 | β | ImageOptim | Strip out non-essential data in images and reduce their file sizes, or enable minification to compress them | https://imageoptim.com/mac | brew install --cask imageoptim | |||||||||||||||||||||||
41 | β | Freescaler | Simple free and open source tool used to upscale your low resolution images using advanced Al models | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/freescaler/id6443796196?mt=12 | 6443796196 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
42 | β | Notion | Notes but on a different level - my life is here! | https://www.notion.so/ | brew install --cask notion | |||||||||||||||||||||||
43 | β | MarkEdit | A great free markdown editor | https://github.com/MarkEdit-app/MarkEdit | brew install --cask markedit | |||||||||||||||||||||||
44 | β | noScribe | Use Whisper and pyannote locally to transcribe and perform diarization on your meetings | https://github.com/kaixxx/noScribe | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
45 | β | Onyx | General maintenance tasks for your Mac | https://www.titanium-software.fr/en/onyx.html | brew install --cask onyx | |||||||||||||||||||||||
46 | β | AppCleaner | Fully uninstall apps (also great for restarting trials, just remove the app using AppCleaner and reinstall!) | https://freemacsoft.net/appcleaner/ | brew install --cask appcleaner | |||||||||||||||||||||||
47 | β | Grand Perspective | View all your files (and what's using that 'Other' space visualised into squares, and manage them | http://grandperspectiv.sourceforge.net/ | brew install --cask grandperspective | |||||||||||||||||||||||
48 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
49 | Everything | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
50 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
51 | π±οΈ Workflow | πΊ Homebrew Formulae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
52 | β | Raycast | A much better Spotlight, with lots of 3rd party integrations | https://www.raycast.com | brew install --cask raycast | |||||||||||||||||||||||
53 | β | shottr | Shottr is a small, fast, human-sized screenshot app built for those who care about pixels. | https://shottr.cc/ | brew install --cask shottr | |||||||||||||||||||||||
54 | β | Rocket | Type emojis using a colon (:) anywhere e.g. :rocket: = π | https://matthewpalmer.net/rocket/ | brew install --cask rocket | |||||||||||||||||||||||
55 | β | MeetingBar | A menubar utility that shows your next meeting, lets you automate auto-joining, and create instant meetings | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/meetingbar/id1532419400?mt=12 | brew install meetingbar | |||||||||||||||||||||||
56 | β | UTM | Run virtual machines on your Mac to securely emulate macOS, Windows, and Linux (alternative to Parallels) | https://mac.getutm.app | brew install --cask utm | |||||||||||||||||||||||
57 | β | VMware Fusion Pro | Now free for personal use - run virtual machines on your Mac to securely emulate macOS, Windows, and Linux | https://support.broadcom.com/group/ecx/productdownloads?subfamily=VMware+Fusion | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
58 | β | Notion Calendar | A really good, free calendar! | https://www.notion.so/product/calendar/ | brew install --cask notion-calendar | |||||||||||||||||||||||
59 | TRex | Use OCR to copy any text on your screen to your clipboard (Shottr has this, but this is an alternative) | https://github.com/amebalabs/TRex | brew install trex | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
60 | Alfred | Spotlight, but on steriods | https://www.alfredapp.com/ | brew install --cask alfred | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
61 | Rectangle | Free keyboard window snapping (replicates Magnet) | https://rectangleapp.com/ | brew install --cask rectangle | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
62 | Alt Tabs | Command + Tab with previews! | https://alt-tab-macos.netlify.app/ | brew install --cask alt-tab | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
63 | CopyClip | Clipboard history in your menu bar | https://apps.apple.com/us/app/copyclip-clipboard-history/id595191960?mt=12 | 595191960 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
64 | Numi | A text based calculator app | https://numi.app/ | brew install --cask numi | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
65 | Tomito | A simple Pomodoro timer that helps you focus on work and get things done. | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/tomito/id1526042938?mt=12 | 1526042938 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
66 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
67 | βοΈ Utilities | πΊ Homebrew Formulae | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
68 | β | Ice | A better way to hide menu bar icons (with options for a bar below menu bar!) See alternatives here | https://github.com/jordanbaird/Ice | brew install jordanbaird-ice | |||||||||||||||||||||||
69 | β | Stats | View stats about your system including CPU, remaining battery etc in your menu bar (like iStats) | https://github.com/exelban/stats | brew install --cask stats | |||||||||||||||||||||||
70 | β | The Unarchiver | The best tool for opening .zip/.rar/.7z files | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/the-unarchiver/id425424353?mt=12 | 425424353 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
71 | β | Amphetamine | Keep your Mac awake - even MacBooks with their lids closed! | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/amphetamine/id937984704?mt=12 | 937984704 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
72 | β | DockDoor | Preview your open windows by hovering apps in your dock | https://github.com/ejbills/DockDoor | brew install --cask dockdoor | |||||||||||||||||||||||
73 | β | BoringNotch | Make your Notch dynamic | https://github.com/iamharshdev/TheBoringNotch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
74 | OnlySwitch | All-in-one menu bar app for quick settings including hiding desktop icons, keyboard cleaner and more! | https://github.com/jacklandrin/OnlySwitch | brew install only-switch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
75 | Balena Etcher | Flash OS images to SD cards & USB drives, safely and easily. | https://etcher.balena.io | brew install --cask balenaetcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
76 | Mist | Download macOS from Apple, and create ISOs and Disk Images | https://github.com/ninxsoft/Mist | brew install --cask mist | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
77 | Keka | Compress files in a bunch of formats quickly and easily | https://www.keka.io/en/ | brew install --cask keka | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
78 | Maccy | A great clipboard manager - great if you don't use Raycast | https://github.com/p0deje/Maccy/ | brew install maccy | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
79 | AirBattery | Automatically collect the battery usage of all your devices without installing any client app on them | https://lihaoyun6.github.io/airbattery/ | brew install lihaoyun6/tap/airbattery | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
80 | AlDente | Limit max charging percentage to prolong your battery life [Caution: Only use if you know what you're doing] | https://github.com/davidwernhart/AlDente | brew install --cask aldente | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
81 | Hidden Bar | Allows you to hide menu bar icons (replicates Bartender) | https://github.com/dwarvesf/hidden | brew install --cask hiddenbar | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
82 | BetterDisplay 2 | [Free parts] More options for resolutions, scaling and HiDPI modes, XDR brightness, and 3rd party monitor brightness | https://github.com/waydabber/BetterDisplay | brew install --cask betterdisplay | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
83 | CrystalFetch 4 | Download and create Windows 11 ISO files on macOS, direct from Microsoft | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/crystalfetch-iso-downloader/id6454431289?mt=12 | brew install --cask crystalfetch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
84 | F3XSwift | Use f3write and f3read to test your SD card for correct capacity as well as defects (check if SD cards are legit!) | https://github.com/vrunkel/F3XSwift | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
85 | Eul | Shows system stats | https://github.com/gao-sun/eul | brew install --cask eul | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
86 | TopNotch | Make the notch disappear on the new MacBooks with notches | http://topnotch.app | brew install --cask topnotch | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
87 | Apparency | An extension that lets you see more information about an app using Quick Look | https://www.mothersruin.com/software/Apparency/get.html | brew install --cask apparency | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
88 | cocontBattery | Check your Mac's battery health, or any connected iOS device | https://www.coconut-flavour.com/coconutbattery/ | brew install --cask coconutbattery | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
89 | Karabiner | Powerful keyboard remapping tool | https://karabiner-elements.pqrs.org | brew install --cask karabiner-elements | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
90 | Cryptomator | Encrypt data quickly and easily | https://cryptomator.org/ | brew install --cask cryptomator | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
91 | Utterly | Noise cancels your calls using AI | https://www.utterly.app/ | brew install --cask utterly | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
92 | QuickShade | Change display brightness on non-Apple monitors | https://apps.apple.com/us/app/quickshade/id931571202?mt=12 | 931571202 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
93 | Command X | Cut and paste files in Finder | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/command-x/id6448461551?mt=12 | brew install --cask command-x | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
94 | MonitorControl | Use your hardware keys to control your monitor's brightness | https://github.com/MonitorControl/MonitorControl/releases | brew install --cask monitorcontrol | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
95 | OpenCore Patcher | Install macOS on unsupported devices AND/OR download previous macOS/OS X installers easily, from Apple | https://dortania.github.io/OpenCore-Legacy-Patcher/ | brew install --cask opencore-patcher | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
96 | Actions | Additional actions for the Shortcuts app | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/actions/id1586435171 | 1586435171 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
97 | Plash | Make any website your desktop wallpaper | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/plash/id1494023538?mt=12 | 1494023538 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
98 | Pasteboard Viewer | Lets you view the contents of the clipboard in multiple formats | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/pasteboard-viewer/id1499215709 | 1499215709 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
99 | Folder Peek | Quick-access to folders and files via the menubar | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/folder-peek/id1615988943?mt=12 | 1615988943 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
100 | Second Clock | Show a second clock for a different time zone in your menu bar | https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/second-clock/id6450279539?mt=12 | 6450279539 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||