# Essential Mac Apps > Essential Mac Apps (https://essentialmacapps.com) is a curated directory of Mac apps: find great apps for your Mac, see the apps people use instead of the ones they know, and list your own for free. 81 apps are listed across 12 categories, with alternatives to 53 well-known apps. - Every listing is a Mac app that a person reviewed before it went live: Mac App Store apps, apps downloaded from the developer's site, and open source apps. - Each app page has the price, pricing model, the oldest macOS it runs on, whether it runs natively on Apple silicon, whether it is open source (with its repository and GitHub stars), how it is distributed, its Homebrew cask, a description, screenshots, and the apps it is an alternative to. - Verified listings have a check mark: the developer put the "Featured on Essential Mac Apps" badge (https://essentialmacapps.com/badge) on their website, or the listing is featured. - Listing an app is free with the badge at https://essentialmacapps.com/submit. A featured listing costs $29 one-time. - The full catalog, with every app's details, is at https://essentialmacapps.com/llms-full.txt. ## Pages - [Home](https://essentialmacapps.com): the newest Mac apps, featured apps, and categories - [Categories](https://essentialmacapps.com/categories): every category with its apps - [Alternatives](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives): well-known Mac apps and the apps people use instead - [Open source](https://essentialmacapps.com/open-source): 59 open source Mac apps, most GitHub stars first - [Submit your app](https://essentialmacapps.com/submit): how to list a Mac app - [The badge](https://essentialmacapps.com/badge): how a listing is verified - [Everything in one file](https://essentialmacapps.com/llms-full.txt): every app with its detail ## Categories - [Developer Tools](https://essentialmacapps.com/category/developer-tools): 14 apps. Code editors, terminals, database clients, virtual machines and other developer tools for Mac, free and paid. - [Utilities](https://essentialmacapps.com/category/utilities): 16 apps. Small Mac utilities that fix everyday annoyances: clipboard managers, keyboard remappers, scrolling tools, browser pickers and more. - [Productivity](https://essentialmacapps.com/category/productivity): 7 apps. Note-taking apps, calendars, RSS readers and other productivity apps for Mac that help you plan, capture and keep up. - [Writing](https://essentialmacapps.com/category/writing): 3 apps. Markdown editors, plain-text editors and writing apps for Mac, from quick viewers to full research tools. - [Design](https://essentialmacapps.com/category/design): 5 apps. Design apps for Mac: vector and raster editors, digital painting, color pickers, image optimizers and UI design tools. - [Video](https://essentialmacapps.com/category/video): 5 apps. Video players, converters and editors for Mac, including free open source options for MKV playback, trimming and GIFs. - [Window Management](https://essentialmacapps.com/category/window-management): 5 apps. Window managers for Mac that snap, tile, resize and switch windows with the keyboard or mouse. Free alternatives to Magnet and Moom included. - [Menu Bar & System](https://essentialmacapps.com/category/menu-bar-system): 7 apps. Menu bar apps and system tools for Mac: system monitors, menu bar managers, external display brightness, app updaters and more. - [Screen Recording](https://essentialmacapps.com/category/screen-recording): 5 apps. Screen recorders for Mac, from free open source tools like OBS and Kap to polished apps with auto zoom and webcam overlays. - [Audio](https://essentialmacapps.com/category/audio): 4 apps. Audio apps for Mac: system-wide equalizers, per-app volume control, virtual audio drivers for recording, and audio editors. - [Security & Privacy](https://essentialmacapps.com/category/security-privacy): 5 apps. Security and privacy apps for Mac: password managers, firewalls, file encryption and private messaging, many free and open source. - [Files & Storage](https://essentialmacapps.com/category/files-storage): 5 apps. File apps for Mac: archivers and RAR extractors, disk space analyzers, FTP and cloud storage clients, and BitTorrent. ## Alternatives - [Alternatives to CleanShot X](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/cleanshot-x): Kap, OBS Studio, Screen Studio, Screen Charm, Screen Movie - [Alternatives to Obsidian](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/obsidian): Zettlr, FSNotes, Notesnook, Standard Notes, Notion - [Alternatives to Permute](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/permute): LosslessCut, HandBrake, Picmal, Compresto, GetCompress - [Alternatives to ScreenFlow](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/screenflow): OBS Studio, Screen Studio, Screen Movie, Screen Charm, Kap - [Alternatives to Sublime Text](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/sublime-text): Zed, VSCodium, CodeEdit, CotEditor, Cursor - [Alternatives to Evernote](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/evernote): Notesnook, Standard Notes, FSNotes, Notion - [Alternatives to Magnet](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/magnet): Rectangle, Loop, Amethyst, ChainYourMac - [Alternatives to Moom](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/moom): Rectangle, Loop, Amethyst, ChainYourMac - [Alternatives to Visual Studio Code](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/visual-studio-code): VSCodium, Zed, CodeEdit, Cursor - [Alternatives to BBEdit](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/bbedit): CotEditor, Zed, VSCodium - [Alternatives to Bear](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/bear): FSNotes, Standard Notes, Notesnook - [Alternatives to Nova](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/nova): CodeEdit, Zed, VSCodium - [Alternatives to Pastebot](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/pastebot): Maccy, Paste, Supaste - [Alternatives to TablePlus](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/tableplus): Sequel Ace, Beekeeper Studio, DB Browser for SQLite - [Alternatives to 1Password](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/1password): KeePassXC, Bitwarden - [Alternatives to BetterDisplay](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/betterdisplay): MonitorControl, Lunar - [Alternatives to DaisyDisk](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/daisydisk): GrandPerspective, Mole - [Alternatives to Keyboard Maestro](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/keyboard-maestro): Karabiner-Elements, Hammerspoon - [Alternatives to Paste](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/paste): Maccy, Supaste - [Alternatives to Adobe Audition](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/adobe-audition): Audacity - [Alternatives to Adobe Illustrator](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/adobe-illustrator): Inkscape - [Alternatives to Adobe Photoshop](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/adobe-photoshop): Krita - [Alternatives to Archiver](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/archiver): Keka - [Alternatives to Bartender](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/bartender): Ice - [Alternatives to Base](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/base): DB Browser for SQLite - [Alternatives to BetterZip](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/betterzip): Keka - [Alternatives to Boom 3D](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/boom-3d): eqMac - [Alternatives to Choosy](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/choosy): Finicky - [Alternatives to ColorSlurp](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/colorslurp): Pika - [Alternatives to Contexts](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/contexts): AltTab - [Alternatives to Fantastical](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/fantastical): Itsycal - [Alternatives to Final Cut Pro](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/final-cut-pro): LosslessCut - [Alternatives to Folx](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/folx): Transmission - [Alternatives to Infuse](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/infuse): IINA - [Alternatives to iStat Menus](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/istat-menus): Stats - [Alternatives to Little Snitch](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/little-snitch): LuLu - [Alternatives to Loopback](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/loopback): BlackHole - [Alternatives to Maccy](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/maccy): Paste - [Alternatives to MacUpdater](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/macupdater): Latest - [Alternatives to Movist Pro](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/movist-pro): IINA - [Alternatives to Optimage](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/optimage): ImageOptim - [Alternatives to Parallels Desktop](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/parallels-desktop): UTM - [Alternatives to Reeder](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/reeder): NetNewsWire - [Alternatives to Setapp](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/setapp): Applite - [Alternatives to SmoothScroll](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/smoothscroll): Mos - [Alternatives to SoundSource](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/soundsource): Background Music - [Alternatives to Squash](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/squash): ImageOptim - [Alternatives to Transmit](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/transmit): Cyberduck - [Alternatives to Ulysses](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/ulysses): Zettlr - [Alternatives to Velja](https://essentialmacapps.com/alternatives/velja): Finicky ## Optional - [Sitemap](https://essentialmacapps.com/sitemap.xml) - [AI usage policy](https://essentialmacapps.com/ai.txt)