- Reading and Writing Tools
- Developer Tools
- Design and Product
- Communication
- Data Recovery Tools
- Audio and Video Tools
- Download Management Tools
- Cloud Storage
- Input Methods
- Browsers
- Translation Tools
- Security Tools
- Proxy and VPN Tools
- Utilities
- Gaming Software
- Remote Login Software
- QuickLook Plugins
- Third Party App Markets
- Mac App Download Sites
Applications to edit text, I suggest the open-source editors
- Atom - Hackable text editor for the 21st century made by GitHub. Atom Plugins.
- OpenOffice - Compatible with other major office suites, Apache OpenOffice is free to download, use and distribute. 。
- Sublime Text - Sophisticated text editor for code, markup and prose. You'll love the slick user interface, extraordinary features and amazing performance, Sublime Text Plugins.
- Bear Writer - Beautiful, flexible writing app for crafting notes and prose.
- Evernote - Infamous note-taking app, available on many platforms.
- Kindle App - Amazon official reading app of kindle.
- Klib - New way to manage highlights for Kindle and iBooks.
- ReadKit - Mac read-later client supporting all major providers: Instapaper, Pocket and Readability. Even more, ReadKit is a full-featured RSS reader as well.
- Reeder 3 - News reader for Feedbin, Feedly, Feed Wrangler and so on.
- Coda2 - Fast, clean and powerful text editor.
- Espresso - The web editor for Mac is back. For people who make delightful, innovative and fast websites.
- Visual Studio Code - Microsoft's free & open-source editor, TypeScript friendly, VSCode Plugins.
- Visual Studio Community for Mac - Fully-featured IDE Free for students, open-source and individual developers.
- Xcode - Essential IDE for iOS/macOS development.
- BetterRename - The most powerful and complete Mac file renaming application on the market.
- Beyond Compare - Compare files and folders using simple, powerful commands that focus on the differences you are interested in and ignore those you are not.
- Dash - Awesome API documentation browser and code snippet manager.
- Finicky - Application that allows you to set up rules that decide which browser is opened for every link that would open the default browser.
- iHosts - The only
/etc/hostseditor on Mac App Store. - Kaleidoscope - Powerful compare tool for text, images and folders. Works perfectly with git, svn or other version control tools.
- LaunchRocket - Brew services management in Mac System Preferences.
- Vagrant - Tool for building and distributing development environments.
- WWDC - The Mac OS unofficial WWDC app.
- zeplin - Collaboration tool for work between designers and developers.
- Patterns - Regular expression editor.
- Cocoa Rest Client - Free, open-source, native Apple OS X app for testing HTTP/REST endpoints.
- Insomnia - The most intuitive cross-platform REST API Client.
- Little Snitch - Network monitor with a world map for visualizing network connections.
- Paw - Advanced HTTP client.
- Wireshark - The world’s foremost and widely-used network protocol analyzer.
- asciinema - Easily record terminal sessions and replay them in a terminal as well as in a web browser.
- Cakebrew - GUI client for Homebrew. Install, check or remove apps, no command-line needed.
- ccat - The colorizing cat which works similar to cat but displays content with syntax highlighting.
- Glances - Glances is a cross-platform curses-based system monitoring tool.
Unix systems. It aims to be a better 'top'.
- hyper - A terminal built on web technologies.
- iTerm2 - iTerm2 is an amazing terminal emulator for OS X.
- mas - Simple command line interface for the Mac App Store.
- m-cli - Swiss Army Knife for macOS.
- mycli - CLI for MySQL that can do auto-completion and syntax highlighting.
- ndm - Manage npm straight from the couch.
- Serial - Full-featured serial terminal for the Mac.
- GitHub Desktop - The official GitHub GUI.
- GitKraken - The most popular Git GUI for Windows, Mac and Linux.
- Docker - Powerful, performs operating-system-level virtualization.
- Virtual Box - Powerful x86 and AMD64/Intel64 virtualization product.
- VMWare Fusion - Powerful, commercial VM developed by VMware.
- Chrome MySQL Admin - Powerful Chrome app to manage your MySQL.
- DBeaver - Universal SQL Client.
- DataGrip - Database management software by JetBrains. FREE for Students, check here for more info.
- MDB Explorer - MDB tool to open, read, export your MDB files to other formats and databases.
- PSequel - PostgreSQL GUI tool for Mac OS X.
- Postico - Modern PostgreSQL client for Mac.
- Sequel Pro - MySQL database management for Mac OS X.
- TablePlus - Supports: PostgreSQL, MySQL, RedShift, MariaDB... High-end security ensured.
- Tableau Public - Free data-visualization software.
- Sketch - Professional digital design for mac.
- Sketch Toolbox Plugin Manager - Simple plugin manager for Sketch.
- Measure Plugin - Make it a fun to create spec for developers and teammates.
- User Flows Plugin - Generating flow diagrams from Artboards.
- Sketch Toolbox Plugin Manager - Simple plugin manager for Sketch.
- Principle - Application for designing animated and interactive user interfaces.
- MindNode - Mind-mapping software with an emphasis on simplicity and ease-of-use.
- OmniGraffle - Diagramming and graphic design for Mac, iPhone, and iPad.
- Gifox - Gif Recording and Sharing.
- Monosnap - Make screenshots. Draw on it. Shoot video and share your files. It's fast, easy and free.
- Mark Man - Measure & Spec Fast.
- TinyPNG4Mac - Open-source tool to compress images.
- Tropy - Research Photo Management.
- svgus - Organize, clean and transform your SVGs.
- Slack - Awesome tool for team collaboration and communication.
- Airmail - Fast email client. For both Mac OS and iOS.
- Cyberduck - Free FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, S3, Backblaze B2, Azure and OpenStack Swift browser.
- Transmit - Highly flexible and intuitive FTP client, supports SFTP, S3 and iDisk/WebDAV.
- VLC - Free, open-source, cross-platform multimedia player as well as framework that plays most multimedia files, DVDs, Audio CDs, VCDs and various streaming protocols.
- HandBrake - Tool for converting video from nearly any format to a selection of modern, widely supported codecs.
- Perian - (No longer under active development)
Let QuickTime play all the common formats of free plug-ins.
- Transmission - Fast, easy, free BitTorrent Client.
- You-Get - Tiny command-line utility to download media contents (videos, audios, images) from the web.
- Dropbox - File hosting service that offers cloud storage and file synchronization with collaborative edit features.
- Rocket - Makes typing emoji faster and easier using Slack-style shortcuts.
- Type2Phone - Use Your Mac as Keyboard for iPhone, iPad & Apple TV.
- Brave - Web browser with an emphasis on privacy and speed.
- Chrome -
Chrome, developed by Google
- Chromium - Open-source, free web browser project by Google, to provide the source code for Google Chrome.
- Firefox - Meet Firefox Quantum. Fast, free, open-source web browser developed by the Mozilla Foundation.
- Safari - Native browser for Macs.
- TorBrowser - Anonymity Online. Protect your privacy. Defend against network surveillance and traffic analysis.
- Grammarly - Refine your english
- BlockBlock - Me: "Please alert me whenever anything is persistently installed." BlockBlock: "You got it"
- Dylib Hijack Scanner - Simple utility that will scan your computer for applications that are either susceptible to dylib hijacking or have been hijacked.
- stronghold - Easily configure MacOS security settings from the terminal.
- KextViewer - View all modules on that are loaded in the OS kernel.
- KnockKnock - See what's persistently installed on your Mac.
- LinkLiar - Link-Layer MAC spoofing GUI for macOS.
- LockDown - Open-source tool for El Capitan that audits and remediates security configuration settings.
- OverSight - Monitor mic and webcam, alerting you when the internal mic is activated, or whenever a process accesses the webcam.
- RansomWhere? - Generic Ransomware Detection.
- TaskExplorer - Explore all processes running on your Mac with TaskExplorer.
- What's Your Sign? - Adds menu item to Finder.app to display the cryptographic signing information for any file.
- Tunnelblick - Free, open-source graphic user interface for OpenVPN on OS X.
- Shimo - VPN Client for Mac.
- BitBar - Place the output from any script or program right in your Mac OS X menu bar.
- BetterZip 3 - Archive tool supports ZIP, TAR, TGZ, TBZ, TXZ (new), 7-ZIP, RAR。
- Hazel - Automated file organization for your Mac. Responsibly and beautifully designed.
- PDF Archiver - Nice tool for tagging and archiving tasks.
- AirServer - Most advanced screen mirroring software receiver for Mac, PC and Xbox One.
- Numi - Beautiful calculator app for Mac.
- OnyX - Multifunction utility to verify disks and files, run cleaning and system maintenance tasks, configure hidden options and more.
- Alfred - Award-winning app which boosts efficiency with hotkeys, keywords, text expansion and more. Search your Mac and the web, and be more productive with custom actions to control your Mac.
- BetterTouchTool - Great, feature-packed app that allows you to configure many gestures for your Magic Mouse, Macbook Trackpad, Magic Trackpad and also Mouse Gestures for normal mice.
- Karabiner - Powerful and stable keyboard customizer for OS X.
- Keytty - App to keep your hands on the keyboard. Move, click, scroll, drag and more with a few strokes.
- OmniPlan - The best way to visualize, maintain, and simplify your projects. Project Management made easy.
- Divvy - Window management at its finest with its amazing Divvy Grid system.
- 1Password - Cross-platform password management tool.
- Keeweb - Free, cross-platform password manager compatible with KeePass.
- ForkLift - The most advanced dual pane file manager and file transfer client for macOS.
- Quicklook-Plugins - A list of useful "Quick Look" plugins for developers.
- CheatSheet - Hold the ⌘-Key to get a list of all active shortcuts of the current application. It's as simple as that.
- f.lux - Makes the color of your computer's display adapt to the time of day.
- AppCleaner - Small application which allows you to thoroughly uninstall unwanted apps.
- Caffeine - Don't let your Mac fall asleep!
- Coolant - Menubar app that lets you know when an app is consuming 100% CPU or more than a gigabyte of memory (or any arbitrary limits you choose).
- DaisyDisk - Gives a great overview of disk usage. Can also make more disk-space available by cleaning up your disk.
- iStat Menus - Advanced Mac system monitor on the menubar.
- iStats - Command-line tool that allows you to easily grab the CPU temperature, fan speeds and battery information on OSX.
- Mounty - Tiny tool to re-mount write-protected NTFS volumes under Mac OS X 10.9+ in read-write mode.
- NitroShare - Cross-platform network file transfer utility.
- Porting Kit - Install Windows® Games inside your Mac.
- SSH Tunnel - Application for managing SSH connections.
- OpenEmu - A great video game console emulator, supports many different emulators in a single application. (e.g. Sony PSP, GameBoy, NDS and so on)
- RealVNC - The original and best software for remote access across desktop and mobile.
Using Homebrew Cask to install. List of useful Quick Look plugins for developers. If you install it manually, you can move the downloaded .qlgenerator file to ~ /Library/QuickLook and then $ qlmanage -r
- BetterZipQL - Preview the compressed format file for BetterZip software.
brew cask install betterzipql - ProvisionQL - Preview iOS / macOS app and provision information.
brew cask install provisionql - QLColorCode - Preview source code files with syntax highlighting.
brew cask install qlcolorcode - QLPrettyPatch - Preview .patch files.
brew cask install qlprettypatch - qlImageSize - Display image size and resolution.
brew cask install qlimagesize - QLMarkdown - Preview Markdown files.
brew cask install qlmarkdown - QLVideo - Preview most types of video files, as well as their thumbnails, cover art and metadata.
brew cask install qlvideo - QuickLookAPK - Preview Android APK files.
brew cask install quicklookapk - QuickLookASE - Preview Adobe ASE Color Swatches generated with Photoshop，Illustrator，Prisma among many others.
brew cask install quicklookase - QuickLookCSV - Preview CSV files.
brew cask install quicklook-csv - QuickLookJSON - Preview JSON files.
brew cask install quicklook-json - QuicklookStephen - Preview plain text files without or with unknown file extension. such as README、INSTALL、Capfile、CHANGELOG...
brew cask install qlstephen - quicklook-pat - Preview Adobe Photoshop pattern files.
brew cask install quicklook-pat - Suspicious Package - Preview the contents of a standard Apple installer package.
brew cask install suspicious-package - WebP - Preview WebP images.
brew cask install webpquicklook
If you come across websites offering pirated software or cracks, please post HERE. We love apps, but only authentic ones. :)
Here are some of the major software download sites, there are a number of OSX Mac software sites
- Homebrew - The missing package manager for macOS.