Open-source Mac apps
34 native apps with their code on GitHub, free to use, and ranked by how many people star them.
GitHub data checked
| App | Price | Mac App Store | Homebrew | Open source | GitHub stars |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Zed | Open source | No | zed | Yes | 92k |
 Ghostty | Open source | No | ghostty | MIT | 62k |
 IINA | Open source | No | iina | GPL-3.0 | 47k |
 Stats | Open source | No | stats | MIT | 43k |
 Rectangle | Open source | No | rectangle | Yes | 30k |
 Ice | Open source | No | jordanbaird-ice | GPL-3.0 | 30k |
 CodeEdit | Open source | No | codeedit | MIT | 23k |
 Karabiner-Elements | Open source | No | karabiner-elements | Unlicense | 23k |
 Maccy | Open source | No | maccy | MIT | 22k |
 Mos | Open source | No | mos | Yes | 22k |
 iTerm2 | Open source | No | iterm2 | GPL-2.0 | 18k |
 AltTab | Open source | No | alt-tab | GPL-3.0 | 16k |
 Hammerspoon | Open source | No | hammerspoon | MIT | 16k |
 KeyCastr | Open source | No | keycastr | BSD-3-Clause | 15k |
 LuLu | Open source | No | lulu | GPL-3.0 | 13k |
 Loop | Open source | No | loop | GPL-3.0 | 12k |
 Boring Notch | Open source | No | No | GPL-3.0 | 11k |
 NetNewsWire | Open source | No | netnewswire | MIT | 10k |
 ImageOptim | Open source | No | imageoptim | GPL-2.0 | 10k |
 Secretive | Open source | No | secretive | MIT | 9.1k |
 QuickRecorder | Open source | No | No | AGPL-3.0 | 8.7k |
 Xcodes | Open source | No | xcodes-app | MIT | 8.6k |
 Gifski | Open source | Yes | No | MIT | 8.6k |
 Sequel Ace | Open source | Yes | sequel-ace | Yes | 7.6k |
 Keka | Open source | Yes | keka | Yes | 7.5k |
 VoiceInk | Open source | No | voiceink | Yes | 6.9k |
 DockDoor | Open source | No | dockdoor | Yes | 6.4k |
 Hex Fiend | Open source | No | hex-fiend | BSD-2-Clause | 5.9k |
 MarkEdit | Open source | No | markedit | MIT | 5.9k |
 Latest | Open source | No | latest | GPL-3.0 | 4.8k |
 Cork | Open source | No | cork | Yes | 4.7k |
 Pika | Open source | No | pika | MIT | 2.6k |
 KnockKnock | Open source | No | knockknock | GPL-3.0 | 817 |
 OverSight | Open source | No | oversight | GPL-3.0 | 682 |
About open-source Mac apps
What are the best open-source apps for Mac?
By GitHub stars, the most popular open-source apps we list are Zed, Ghostty, IINA, Stats and Rectangle. Every app here is native to macOS and free to use.
Are open-source Mac apps safe to install?
Their source code is public, so anyone can read what they do. We link only to the official GitHub repository and the developer's site, and most can be installed with Homebrew, which checks the download against a known checksum.
Which licenses do these apps use?
The apps in this list use AGPL-3.0, BSD-2-Clause, BSD-3-Clause, GPL-2.0, GPL-3.0, MIT and Unlicense. 8 projects use licenses GitHub does not identify; check the repository for the terms.
Every open-source app we list
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.
Stats
Free system monitor for the menu bar.
Rectangle
Window snapping with keyboard shortcuts.
Ice
A powerful, free menu bar manager.
CodeEdit
A native, open-source code editor in Swift.
Karabiner-Elements
The keyboard customizer.
Maccy
A tiny, keyboard-first clipboard manager.
Mos
Smooth scrolling for any mouse.
iTerm2
The terminal that taught macOS new tricks.
AltTab
Windows-style alt-tab, with window previews.
Hammerspoon
Script your Mac with Lua.
KeyCastr
Show your keystrokes on screen.
LuLu
The free, open-source outbound firewall.
Loop
Window management with a radial menu.
Boring Notch
A free, open-source notch companion.
NetNewsWire
A free, open-source RSS reader done right.
ImageOptim
Smaller images, same pixels.
Secretive
SSH keys that never leave the Secure Enclave.
QuickRecorder
A lightweight, high-performance screen recorder.
Xcodes
Install and switch Xcode versions painlessly.
Gifski
High-quality GIFs from any video.
Sequel Ace
The free MySQL and MariaDB client.
Keka
The macOS file archiver.
VoiceInk
Open-source, on-device voice typing.
DockDoor
Window previews when you hover the Dock.
Hex Fiend
A fast hex editor for enormous files.
MarkEdit
TextEdit, if it spoke Markdown.
Latest
Every app update, in one place.
Cork
A friendly face for Homebrew.
Pika
A colour picker with contrast built in.
KnockKnock
See what's persistently installed.
OverSight
Know when your mic and camera turn on.