Find a better Mac app alternative.

BetterTouchTool

BetterTouchTool is the Swiss-army knife of Mac input customisation. Trackpad and Magic Mouse gestures, keyboard shortcuts, mouse buttons and Stream Deck keys all become triggers for hundreds of actions, plus a window snapper, clipboard manager and launcher. It suits tinkerers who want one app to own their whole input layer, with per-app conditions, JavaScript and AppleScript actions and a btt:// URL scheme. Pricing is generous: 45-day trial, $15 for two years of updates or $25 lifetime, and it is on Setapp. The trade-off is depth; sixteen years of features is a lot to learn.

Arc

Arc rethought what a browser looks like: sidebar tabs, workspaces, split view and a command bar that made Chrome feel dated. For two years it was the darling of the Mac productivity crowd. Then The Browser Company halted feature development in May 2025 to build Dia, and was acquired by Atlassian later that year. Arc still works and still gets security patches, but its future is maintenance, not momentum. It remains free and polished — but if you are wondering where to go next, our alternatives page covers the browsers Arc users actually switch to.

Notion

Notion is the default answer to "where does our team write things down" — pages, wikis, databases and now AI in one workspace. Its flexibility is the draw: the same tool runs personal notes, project trackers and company handbooks. The trade-offs are real, though. It is cloud-first with weak offline support, the Mac app is a wrapper rather than native, and your notes live in Notion's format on Notion's servers. Free for personal use; paid plans add collaboration. If longevity, privacy or speed matter more than databases, see our alternatives page.

Things 3

Things 3 by Cultured Code is the benchmark for Mac task management. Elegant enough to actually use daily, powerful enough for complex projects. Areas, projects, headings, and tags create a flexible hierarchy without overwhelm. Quick Entry with Autofill captures tasks from any app. Magic Plus drag-to-schedule on the Today view. Seamless sync via Things Cloud across Mac, iPhone, and iPad. No subscription — one licence, forever.

Bartender 5

Bartender 5 gives you complete control over macOS menu bar icons. Hide, rearrange, or show items only when they update. Create custom menu bar sections, set trigger conditions, and search all menu bar items with a single keystroke. Particularly useful on MacBooks where the notch eats into menu bar real estate. Includes a full menu bar replacement mode for the minimalist who wants to see only what matters.

CleanShot X

CleanShot X replaces macOS's native screenshot tool entirely. Capture screenshots, scrolling captures, and screen recordings. Annotate with a powerful markup toolbar, blur sensitive data, pin screenshots to your screen for reference, and upload to CleanShot Cloud with one click. All-in-One mode gives you a permanent screenshot crosshair shortcut. Scrolling capture finally works reliably. One of those apps where you wonder how you survived without it.

Bear

Bear is a focused, beautiful Markdown note-taking app with a deeply integrated tag system. Notes are stored as plain Markdown — no lock-in, no proprietary format. Rich Markdown editing with inline previews, code blocks, tables, and task lists. Hashtag-based organisation scales from a handful of notes to thousands. Bear 2.0 introduced backlinks, a canvas mode, and a completely rewritten sync engine. Elegant dark mode, multiple themes, and a native feel on every Apple device.

Fantastical

Fantastical by Flexibits is the most recommended third-party calendar app for Mac and iOS. Its standout feature is natural language input — type 'Lunch with Sarah next Tuesday at 1pm at Café Nero' and it creates the event correctly. Supports Apple Calendar, Google Calendar, Exchange, and more. Beautiful full-screen calendar, task management, meeting proposals, and weather integration. Available via subscription or the Mac App Store.

Magnet

Magnet is the most downloaded window manager on the Mac App Store with millions of installs and a near-perfect rating. Drag a window to a screen edge or corner and it snaps into halves, thirds, quarters, or full-screen. Keyboard shortcuts cover all 45 layout positions, and multi-monitor setups are handled cleanly. It's the app most Mac users buy the moment they want better window control — and the benchmark every alternative is measured against.

Alfred

Alfred is the benchmark productivity launcher on macOS. It replaces Spotlight with instant file search, web searches, clipboard history, and a polished scripting layer called Workflows. The free tier is genuinely useful, but the one-time Powerpack unlocks the real power: custom Workflows, integrations with 1 Password, file actions, and a thriving community of extensions. It's the app most power users think of first when they want to move faster on their Mac.

Cotypist

Cotypist brings local autocomplete to everyday Mac writing. It learns from the words around the cursor, suggests the next phrase, and lets you accept useful completions with Tab in supported text fields. The app is aimed at Apple Silicon Macs running macOS 14 or later. Suggestions are generated on the Mac, which makes it a better fit for private notes and work documents than tools that require every keystroke to be processed in the cloud. A free plan remains available after the Pro trial, with optional paid tiers for additional features. Test compatibility with your main apps before upgrading.

Raycast

Raycast is a blazing-fast, fully extensible launcher that replaces Spotlight for serious Mac users. Search apps, files, and the web in milliseconds, then go further with 1,300+ community extensions for GitHub, Linear, Notion, Figma, and more. Built-in clipboard history, window management, snippets, and an AI assistant trained on your workflow. Free tier is genuinely excellent; Pro adds AI and team features. Built natively in Swift — no Electron.

Yoink

Yoink adds a small, unobtrusive shelf to your screen that temporarily holds files and content while you drag-and-drop between windows. Instead of juggling windows with one hand to drag a file between Finder and another app, drop it onto Yoink first, switch windows, then pick it up again. Supports files, images, text, URLs, and more. Stacks multiple items. Integrates with Finder, Safari, and dozens of apps. Sounds too simple — until the first time it saves you five minutes.