Mac apps
worth keeping.
Native, carefully made software for macOS, picked by people who use it every day. No Electron wrappers, no paid placements.
Six apps we'd install first
Things 3
Editor's pickThings turns projects, areas and a Today list into a calm daily plan. Every interaction is tuned for speed, from Quick Entry to Magic Plus, and it syncs across Mac, iPhone and iPad.
Open source Ghostty
A fast, feature-rich, truly native terminal.
Paid CleanShot X
The screenshot tool that does everything.
Raycast
OrbStack
EnconvoOur app
Find the right tool for the job
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Things 3
The task manager that feels like paper, only smarter.
Raycast
A faster way to do everything on your Mac.
iA Writer
Focused Markdown writing, nothing more.
Zed
A code editor that runs at the speed of thought.
Ghostty
A fast, feature-rich, truly native terminal.
OrbStack
Docker and Linux machines, light as a feather.
Pixelmator Pro
A pro image editor, built entirely for the Mac.
CleanShot X
The screenshot tool that does everything.
IINA
The modern media player for macOS.
MacWhisper
Accurate transcription that stays on your Mac.
Enconvo
An AI agent launcher that works across your whole Mac.
Little Snitch
See and control every network connection.
Ricly
Seventeen file tools in the Finder right-click menu.
Perch
Shows what your coding agents are waiting for, in the notch.
BoxBox
Tells you when your AI coding agents finish or need you.
Haptiker
Volume, brightness and app switching from the trackpad's edges.
PulseTiles
Window snapping that only happens while you hold ⌘.
NeatShot
Free screenshots and screen recording that stay on your Mac.
Agent Smith
A team of AI agents that works in your Mac's shell.
MacOS Cleaner
A free cleaner and uninstaller that shows you everything first.
KarmaDisk
Storage maps, duplicates and lossless photo compression.
Strata Mac Cleaner
Labels what's safe to clean and what to review first.
MacClean
A cleaner that knows where WeChat, QQ and AI models hide gigabytes.
SpaceFix
Shows what's safe to delete and what needs a look.
Zed
A code editor that runs at the speed of thought.
Ghostty
A fast, feature-rich, truly native terminal.
IINA
The modern media player for macOS.
NetNewsWire
A free, open-source RSS reader done right.
Maccy
A tiny, keyboard-first clipboard manager.
Tinycast
A small open-source launcher that stays light.
Itsycal
A tiny calendar that lives in the menu bar.
MarkEdit
TextEdit, if it spoke Markdown.
Markdown Preview
Read .md files as formatted documents.
iTerm2
The terminal that taught macOS new tricks.
Sequel Ace
The free MySQL and MariaDB client.
CodeEdit
A native, open-source code editor in Swift.
Clocker
World clocks and meetings in the menu bar.
Affinity
Pro vector, pixel and layout tools in one app.
Amphetamine
Keep your Mac awake, on your terms.
The Unarchiver
Open almost any archive format.
AppCleaner
Uninstall apps and everything they left behind.
Raycast
A faster way to do everything on your Mac.
OrbStack
Docker and Linux machines, light as a feather.
MacWhisper
Accurate transcription that stays on your Mac.
Enconvo
An AI agent launcher that works across your whole Mac.
Alfred
The launcher power users have trusted for a decade.
Session
A focus timer that blocks the noise.
Dropover
A floating shelf for drag and drop.
MindNode
Mind maps that grow into outlines and plans.
Bear
Beautiful notes, linked and tagged.
Drafts
Where text starts, before it knows where it goes.
Craft
Documents that look designed by default.
Tot
Seven dots. Seven notes. That's it.
Things 3
The task manager that feels like paper, only smarter.
iA Writer
Focused Markdown writing, nothing more.
Pixelmator Pro
A pro image editor, built entirely for the Mac.
CleanShot X
The screenshot tool that does everything.
Little Snitch
See and control every network connection.
Mela
Recipes, without the life story.
Dato
The menu bar clock macOS should have had.
Soulver 3
A notepad that does the math as you write.
PCalc
The calculator for engineers and scientists.
Yoink
Park anything at the edge of the screen.
Due
Reminders that nag until you do the thing.
Final Call
A full-screen countdown before every meeting.
Fantastical
A calendar that understands plain sentences.
OmniFocus
Industrial-strength GTD for complex lives.
Cardhop
Contacts, rebuilt around a single search field.
Timing
Automatic time tracking that needs no timers.
Reeder
One timeline for feeds, videos and social.
Mimestream
A native Gmail client built on Gmail's own API.
Paste
Clipboard history you can actually browse.
hora Calendar
A native Mac app for Google Calendar.
BusyCal
A deeply configurable calendar for busy schedules.
Pastebot
Clipboard history with filters and saved pastebins.
Ulysses
A complete writing environment for long work.
NotePlan
Tasks, calendar and notes in plain Markdown.
Setups, not lists
New Mac essentials
The first ten things we install on a fresh Mac, before anything else.
Free & open source
Native apps you can read, build and keep forever, without paying a thing.
The developer's desk
Terminals, editors, databases and debuggers with no Electron in sight.
Menu bar masters
Small apps that live up top, earn their spot and never get in the way.