Apple Mac Freeware and Open Source Apps

Source: AJB Blog — https://blog.ajb.bz/best-free-mac-apps-top-open-source-tools-for-2026
Author: Alan Bollinger
Published: Sep 13, 2026
Rights: © 2026 AJB Blog. All Rights Reserved.

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I originally published this list in 2009.

A lot has changed since then. Some of the applications from the original list are gone, others have been replaced by better alternatives, and macOS itself now includes software that once required a third-party application.

So this is the 2026 version.

These are free, open source, or otherwise useful Mac applications that I actually use or would recommend. More importantly, each one has a reason to exist alongside the software that already comes with your Mac.

Homebrew

Homebrew is the package manager for macOS.

It does not really replace an Apple application. It gives you an easy way to install software that Apple does not provide, particularly command-line tools and developer utilities.

For example:

brew install git
brew install jq
brew install ripgrep

You can also install many graphical Mac applications:

brew install --cask rectangle
brew install --cask vlc
brew install --cask keka

If you do any development, scripting, server administration, or serious command-line work on your Mac, Homebrew is one of the first things I would install.

Rectangle

macOS has built-in window management, but Rectangle makes it much more useful, particularly if you prefer keyboard shortcuts.

Rectangle lets you quickly move and resize windows into halves, quarters, full screen, and other positions.

It is a small enhancement that makes a big difference when you regularly work with several applications at once.

brew install --cask rectangle

Maccy

macOS has a clipboard, but it only gives you the current contents.

Maccy adds clipboard history.

It keeps a searchable history of things you have copied so you can retrieve something without having to go back and find the original text, URL, code, or other content.

It is one of those utilities that solves a very specific problem and becomes indispensable once you start using it.

brew install --cask maccy

VLC

QuickTime Player is perfectly good for playing common video and audio files.

VLC is what I use when "common" is not enough.

VLC supports a huge range of audio and video formats and codecs and is available on macOS, Windows, Linux, and other platforms.

If you regularly encounter video files that QuickTime does not understand, VLC is the answer.

brew install --cask vlc

VLC is also useful simply because it gives you the same media player across multiple operating systems.

Keka

macOS includes Archive Utility, and for ordinary ZIP files it works fine.

Keka is what I use when I need more.

It supports a much broader range of archive formats, including 7Z, ZIP, TAR, GZIP, BZIP2, XZ, and RAR extraction. It also supports encrypted archives and splitting large archives into multiple files.

brew install --cask keka

If you regularly exchange files with Windows or Linux users, download archives from the internet, or work with compressed project files, Keka is a useful addition to macOS.

Obsidian

Apple Notes has become a surprisingly capable note-taking application.

I still prefer Obsidian.

The difference is primarily how the information is stored and organized. Obsidian works with Markdown files stored locally on your computer rather than making the application itself the center of your knowledge base.

That makes it particularly useful for technical documentation, research, writing, project notes, and large collections of interconnected information.

Obsidian also provides backlinks, graph views, plugins, templates, and other tools for building a personal knowledge base.

Apple Notes is excellent for quickly jotting something down.

Obsidian is what I use when the notes themselves become important.

LibreOffice

macOS already comes with Pages, Numbers, and Keynote, and they are perfectly good applications for creating documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.

I use LibreOffice when compatibility matters.

If I am working with older Microsoft Office documents, exchanging files with Windows users, or dealing with a document format that Apple's iWork applications do not handle particularly well, LibreOffice is my go-to office suite.

It supports a wide range of document, spreadsheet, presentation, and publishing formats and is free and open source.

It is not necessarily a replacement for Pages, Numbers, and Keynote. It is the office suite I reach for when I need broader format support.

BBEdit

macOS includes TextEdit, but TextEdit is designed for basic text editing and formatted documents.

BBEdit is what I use when I need a serious text editor without firing up a full development environment.

It is excellent for plain text, Markdown, HTML, configuration files, scripts, and large text files.

For quick edits, it is faster and more appropriate than opening a full IDE.

Visual Studio Code

BBEdit is great for editing text.

Visual Studio Code is what I use when that text happens to be a software project.

VS Code provides syntax highlighting, debugging, source control, extensions, integrated terminals, language tooling, and support for practically every modern development stack.

It is not really a replacement for TextEdit or BBEdit. It is the next step when editing a file becomes developing an application.

Git

Git is not really a Mac application, but if you develop software on a Mac, you almost certainly need it.

Git provides distributed version control for source code and other files.

macOS does not include Git as a complete developer workflow, and Homebrew makes installation simple:

brew install git

If you work with GitHub, GitLab, Bitbucket, or practically any modern software project, Git is foundational.

Ghostty

macOS includes Terminal.app.

I use Ghostty instead.

Ghostty is a modern terminal emulator for macOS and Linux. It provides a fast, native terminal experience with modern features while staying focused on being a terminal rather than trying to become an entire development environment.

If you spend much of your day in a shell, it is worth trying.

Termius

macOS already includes SSH through the terminal.

Termius provides a graphical SSH client and makes managing connections to multiple remote servers more convenient.

I use it when I want saved hosts, organized connections, and a more convenient interface than maintaining everything manually from the command line.

You do not need Termius if you only SSH into one or two machines.

If you manage a collection of servers, it becomes much more useful.

Sequel Ace

MySQL and MariaDB can be managed entirely from the command line.

Sequel Ace provides a graphical interface instead.

It lets you connect to databases, browse tables, inspect records, write queries, and perform common database administration tasks without living entirely in the terminal.

For a developer who works with MySQL or MariaDB, it is a useful complement to command-line database tools.

HandBrake

QuickTime Player can perform some basic media operations, but it is not a general-purpose video transcoder.

HandBrake is.

HandBrake is free and open source and can convert and compress video between formats, codecs, resolutions, and other settings.

It is particularly useful when you have a large video file that needs to be converted into something smaller or more compatible.

Transmission

macOS does not include a BitTorrent client.

Transmission fills that gap.

It is a lightweight, open source BitTorrent client that focuses on downloading and managing torrents without trying to become a giant media-management application.

Use it for legitimate file sharing and downloads.

Disk Inventory X

Finder can show you how much space your folders are using, but it is not particularly good at answering the question:

Where the hell did all my disk space go?

Disk Inventory X provides a visual map of your disk usage so you can quickly see which files and directories are consuming the most space.

It is a utility you may only need a few times a year, but when your disk suddenly runs out of space, it is extremely useful.

OnyX

macOS includes a lot of maintenance and configuration functionality, but much of it is hidden behind system interfaces, settings, or command-line tools.

OnyX brings many of those functions together in a graphical utility.

It provides access to maintenance tasks, system settings, caches, databases, and other macOS functions.

This is a tool for people who know what they are trying to accomplish. I would not recommend randomly changing settings just because OnyX exposes them.

Ollama

macOS does not provide a simple built-in way to run a wide range of large language models locally.

Ollama fills that gap.

It makes running local AI models relatively straightforward and provides a command-line interface that works well for development and experimentation.

I use it for experimenting with local models, coding assistance, RAG, agents, and other AI development work.

Local AI is particularly interesting when you want to experiment without sending every prompt and document to a cloud service.

AdBlock

Safari and other browsers can block unwanted web content through extensions.

AdBlock is one option for blocking advertisements and other unwanted content while browsing.

For me, the biggest benefit is simply making the web less cluttered and reducing the amount of advertising and tracking content loaded by websites.

A Few Command-Line Utilities

If you spend time at the command line, Homebrew makes it easy to add small utilities that extend the tools already included with macOS.

A few of the ones I use regularly:

brew install jq
brew install ripgrep
brew install fd
brew install tree
brew install wget

jq

jq is a command-line JSON processor.

If you work with APIs, configuration files, or JSON output, it is incredibly useful.

ripgrep

ripgrep is a fast recursive text search tool.

It is particularly useful for searching source code and large directories.

fd

fd is a simpler, faster alternative to many common uses of find.

tree

tree displays directories as a tree, which is handy when you need to understand the structure of a project quickly.

wget

wget is a command-line utility for downloading files and other resources.

These are not exciting applications.

They are just useful tools that earn their place on my Mac.

What Happened to the Original List?

The original version of this article was published in 2009.

At the time, my recommended Mac software included applications such as Adium, TextWrangler, TweetDeck, Songbird, OpenOffice.org, Gmail Notifier, and Azureus.

Some were eventually discontinued. Others were replaced by better applications. In several cases, macOS eventually absorbed much of the functionality they provided.

That is the problem with software lists.

They age.

So rather than pretending this is a definitive list of every great Mac application, this is simply the list I would start with today.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the best free Mac applications?

That depends on what you do with your Mac.

For general-purpose use, my shortlist includes Rectangle, Maccy, VLC, Keka, Obsidian, and LibreOffice.

For development, I would add Homebrew, Git, Visual Studio Code, Ghostty, and Sequel Ace.

For media and other specialized tasks, HandBrake, Transmission, Disk Inventory X, and Ollama are useful additions.

What are the best open source Mac applications?

Some of my favorites are VLC, Keka, Obsidian, LibreOffice, Git, HandBrake, Transmission, Rectangle, Maccy, and Ollama.

Do I need VLC if I have QuickTime Player?

Not necessarily.

QuickTime handles common media formats well.

VLC becomes useful when you encounter formats, codecs, or files that QuickTime does not handle.

Do I need Keka if macOS can open ZIP files?

Not necessarily.

Archive Utility is fine for basic ZIP files.

Keka is useful when you encounter other archive formats or need features such as encryption and archive splitting.

Is Obsidian better than Apple Notes?

They solve somewhat different problems.

Apple Notes is excellent for quickly capturing notes and works extremely well within the Apple ecosystem.

I prefer Obsidian for larger collections of notes, technical documentation, research, and knowledge management because the underlying notes are Markdown files that remain accessible outside the application.

Do I need LibreOffice if my Mac has Pages, Numbers, and Keynote?

Not necessarily.

Pages, Numbers, and Keynote are excellent iWork applications.

I install LibreOffice when I need broader compatibility with Microsoft Office formats, older documents, Windows users, or file formats that iWork does not handle as well.

Do I need Homebrew?

If you only use your Mac for web browsing, email, documents, and media, probably not.

If you develop software or spend significant time using the command line, Homebrew is extremely useful.

What is the best free video player for Mac?

I use VLC.

It is free, open source, cross-platform, and supports a very large number of media formats.

What is the best free office suite for Mac?

LibreOffice is my choice when I need a full office suite with broad file-format support and an open source license.

What is the best note-taking application for Mac?

I use Obsidian for knowledge management and longer-term notes.

Apple Notes remains excellent for quick notes and tight integration with Apple's ecosystem.

What is the best text editor for Mac?

For plain text and quick editing, I use BBEdit.

For software development, I use Visual Studio Code.

What is the best terminal for Mac?

I currently use Ghostty, although Terminal.app is perfectly capable for many users.

What is the best way to find what is using my Mac's storage?

Disk Inventory X provides a visual representation of disk usage that makes large files and directories easy to identify.

Final Thoughts

There is no reason to install 50 applications on a new Mac just because somebody published a list of "must-have" software.

Start with what Apple provides.

Then fill the gaps.

Need better window management? Try Rectangle.

Need clipboard history? Maccy.

Need media support beyond QuickTime? VLC.

Need archives beyond ZIP? Keka.

Need something more flexible than Apple Notes? Obsidian.

Need broader document compatibility than iWork? LibreOffice.

Need a real text editor? BBEdit.

Need a development environment? Visual Studio Code.

Need a better terminal? Ghostty.

Need local AI? Ollama.

That is really what this list is about: software that adds something useful to the Mac rather than software that exists simply because you can install it.