A curated collection of must-have applications for Mac users
Welcome to this carefully curated list of essential Mac applications that can enhance your productivity, creativity, and overall computing experience. Whether you're a developer, creative professional, or everyday user, these apps represent some of the best software available for macOS.
This list is organized by categories to help you quickly find the types of applications you need. Each app includes a brief description and a direct link to help you learn more or download the application.
Looking for free apps only? Check out our Essential Free Mac Apps list featuring only the best free applications.
| Icon | Description |
|---|---|
| ⭐️ | Indicates a must have app |
| 💰 | Indicates a paid app |
| 🌐 | Indicates an open source app |
- Productivity & Organization
- Development & Code
- System Utilities
- Launcher & Automation
- Communication & AI
- Web & Browsing
- Media & Entertainment
- Cloud & Sync
- Clipboard & Text
Essential tools for managing your tasks, notes, passwords, and daily workflow.
⭐️ 1Password💰
The world's most-loved password manager that securely stores your passwords, credit cards, and sensitive information while making it easy to log into websites and apps with just one click.
An award-winning calendar app that combines beautiful design with powerful features like natural language event creation, multiple calendar support, and seamless integration with your existing calendar services.
ItsyCal 🌐
A tiny menu bar calendar that replaces the system date display with a customizable calendar dropdown, showing your events at a glance without taking up dock space.
⭐️ Obsidian
A powerful knowledge management and note-taking app that uses linked markdown files to create a personal knowledge graph. Perfect for researchers, writers, and anyone who wants to build connections between their ideas.
Files are stored locally as Markdown, which are standard text files, so they can theoretically last forever.
⭐️ Pixelmator Pro💰
A powerful, full-featured image editor designed exclusively for Mac that combines professional-grade tools with an intuitive interface, perfect for photo editing, digital art, and graphic design. Instead of Photoshop, try this at a fraction of the price.
Professional tools for developers, programmers, and anyone working with code or files.
A modern, AI-powered code editor and IDE that enhances your development workflow with intelligent code completion, built-in AI assistance, and seamless integration with development tools.
If Kiro isn't for you, consider Windsurf, Zed, Cursor, or another VSCode offshoot. They're all excellent.
A powerful dual-pane file manager and FTP/SFTP client that makes file operations, remote server management, and bulk file transfers effortless with its intuitive interface and advanced features.
Another great option is Transmit by Panic, which is an excellent app, but is not nearly as actively developed.
Homebrew 🌐
The missing package manager for macOS that installs the stuff you need that Apple didn't include. Essential for developers to easily install and manage command-line tools and applications.
⭐️ iTerm2 🌐
A powerful terminal emulator for macOS that replaces Terminal with advanced features like split panes, search, autocomplete, and extensive customization options for developers and power users.
A fast, easy-to-use Mac database management application for working with databases (MySQL, MariaDB, MSSQL, PostgreSQL). Features an intuitive interface for browsing, querying, and managing your database structures and data.
Essential system tools for maintenance, file management, and keeping your Mac running smoothly.
Google's official tool for transferring files between your Mac and Android devices, providing a simple drag-and-drop interface for managing photos, music, and documents. You never know when you'll need to exchange files with an Android device.
Professional-grade backup software that creates bootable backups of your Mac, ensuring your data is safe and your system can be quickly restored in case of hardware failure.
Clop💰
An automatic clipboard optimizer that compresses and optimizes images, videos, and PDFs when you copy them, saving storage space and improving sharing performance without manual intervention.
⭐️ DaisyDisk💰
A beautiful disk space analyzer that helps you visualize what's taking up space on your Mac with an intuitive sunburst chart, making it easy to find and remove large files and folders.
An automated organization tool that watches your folders and automatically organizes your files based on rules you create, keeping your Mac clean and organized without manual effort.
A free, open-source app uninstaller that thoroughly removes applications and their associated files, helping you keep your Mac clean by finding and deleting leftover files that standard uninstalling leaves behind.
A simple utility that prevents your Mac from going to sleep by simulating tiny mouse movements, perfect for presentations or when you need to keep your system active.
⭐️ Keka 🌐
A comprehensive file archiver for macOS that supports dozens of file formats including ZIP, 7Z, TAR, and RAR, with a clean interface and powerful compression options.
A simple menu bar app that automatically hides or quits applications after periods of inactivity, helping you maintain focus and reduce clutter in your dock and menu bar.
A subscription service that gives you access to over 240 premium Mac apps for one monthly fee, eliminating the need to purchase individual licenses and keeping all your apps updated automatically.
Supercharge your productivity with powerful launchers and automation tools.
A simple utility that merges multiple files into one, supporting various file types including text, images, and PDFs with an intuitive drag-and-drop interface.
This app is great for things like joining mp3s to make an audiobook whole, or a multi-part podcast into a single episode.
⭐️ Raycast 🌐
A blazingly fast, totally extendable launcher that replaces Spotlight with powerful features like clipboard history, window management, system controls, and a rich ecosystem of extensions.
Stay connected and leverage AI assistance for your daily tasks.
⭐️ ChatGPT
OpenAI's revolutionary AI assistant that can help with writing, coding, analysis, and creative tasks through natural conversation, now available as a native Mac app.
If you're a user of Fastmail - which I think you should be, even if you use a Gmail address - this is a modern, privacy-focused email client designed for Mac that offers a clean interface to the Fastmail website, which preserves all of the Fmail features, utilizies JMAP for secure email exchange, and looks beautiful.
A powerful team collaboration platform that brings all your communication together in organized channels, direct messages, and integrated workflows for seamless teamwork.
A beautifully designed Mastodon client from the makers of Tweetbot, offering an elegant interface, powerful timeline management, and seamless integration with the decentralized social network.
⭐️ WhatsApp
The world's most popular messaging app. Yes, it's made by Meta. But it's solid and ubiquitous.
Video conferencing platform with reliable performance and cross-platform compatibility.
Enhanced web browsing experience with privacy and productivity features.
A modern RSS reader and news aggregator that helps you stay informed by organizing content from your favorite websites, blogs, and publications in a clean, customizable interface.
Firefox 🌐
Mozilla's privacy-focused web browser that offers excellent customization options, strong security features, and a commitment to user privacy without sacrificing performance. Should be everyone's backup browser, if it's not your primary.
Wipr💰
A fast and efficient ad blocker for Safari that blocks ads, trackers, and other unwanted content while preserving your privacy and improving page loading speeds.
Enjoy your favorite content with these excellent media applications.
Audacity 🌐
A free, open-source audio editor and recorder that provides professional-grade tools for recording, editing, and mixing audio with support for multiple tracks and effects.
Deluge 🌐
A lightweight, cross-platform BitTorrent client that offers a clean interface and powerful features including plugin support, web interface, and daemon mode for remote management.
Deluge is not the most modern-looking app, nor is it even very attractive, but unlike other popular apps, it has some great features, such as multiple watch folders with multiple target destinations. Plus it's rock solid.
A simple yet powerful video downloader that supports over 1,200 sites including YouTube, Vimeo, and social media platforms, with automatic quality detection and batch downloads.
⭐️ IINA 🌐
A modern video player for macOS that supports virtually all media formats with a clean, native interface. Built specifically for Mac users, it offers advanced features like online subtitle search, playlist management, and seamless integration with macOS.
Kid3 🌐
A powerful audio tag editor that supports multiple formats including MP3, FLAC, and AAC, allowing you to edit metadata, rename files, and organize your music collection efficiently.
A feature-rich podcast player with intelligent speed adjustment, voice boost technology, and smart playlists that make listening to podcasts more enjoyable and efficient.
A versatile media converter that handles video, audio, and image files with support for hundreds of formats, batch processing, and seamless integration with macOS. Perfect for converting FLAC to mp3 or other audio or video conversions.
A beautiful, feature-rich music player from Plex that provides an exceptional listening experience with advanced features like gapless playback, crossfading, and intelligent playlists, designed specifically for music lovers.
VOX💰
A premium audio player designed for audiophiles that supports high-resolution audio formats including FLAC, DSD, and more. Features a beautiful interface, advanced audio engine, and cloud music streaming capabilities.
Keep your files synchronized and securely accessible across all your devices.
⭐️ Dropbox💰
The world's leading cloud storage service that seamlessly syncs your files across devices, enables easy sharing and collaboration, and provides reliable backup for your important documents.
⭐️ Tailscale
A modern VPN service that creates secure networks between your devices using WireGuard technology, making it easy to access your files and services from anywhere securely.
Enhance your text workflow with powerful clipboard management tools.
Maccy 🌐
A lightweight, open-source clipboard manager that keeps your copy history organized and easily accessible through a simple menu bar interface, perfect for users who prefer minimalist tools. This is a free app and it's open source.
⭐️ Pastebot💰
An elegant clipboard manager that automatically saves everything you copy, organizes it intelligently, and makes it easy to access your clipboard history with powerful search and filtering options. If you don't want to pay for it, consider Maccy.
This list is curated based on personal experience and community recommendations. If you have suggestions for additional essential Mac apps or updates to existing entries, feel free to contribute by:
- Opening an issue to suggest new apps
- Submitting a pull request with your additions
- Reporting broken links or outdated information
Criteria for inclusion:
- Must be actively maintained
- Should provide significant value to Mac users
- Must be available for macOS
- Should have a good reputation in the Mac community
Last updated: August 2025