Quick Links
MacOS may often be associated with premium, beautiful-looking, locked-down apps. But that doesn’t mean it doesn’t attract the fine folks working on open-source software. Like Windows and Linux, the Mac has native versions of some of the best open-source projects available.
Here’s a selection of must-have open-source apps to boost your Mac experience.
1LibreOffice
LibreOfficeis a fantastic solution if you often work with Microsoft Office formats or need an alternative to Apple’s office suite on Mac. A fork of OpenOffice.org, it packs several apps to handle various document-related tasks.
For example, it has Writer as a word processor, Calc as a spreadsheet program, Impress as a presentation tool, Draw as a vector-graphics editor, Base as a database management program, and Math as a formula editor. It’s compatible with a wide range of document formats, including Microsoft Office formats, and doesn’t force you into a specific cloud ecosystem. More importantly, it doesn’t cost you anything.
2Rectangle
Sequoia is the first macOS version to introduce built-in window tiling options. However, Apple’s solution still falls behindRectanglein terms of versatility. This open-source utility allows you toorganize all your windowsand snap them into specific locations on your display. It can work with keyboard shortcuts and has far more tiling options than the official macOS tool.
You can create complex layouts involving thirds or sixths of the display and are not limited to halves and quarters. The app also works with multiple monitors and hasa $10 Pro versionwith even more features, such as Todo mode to pin a specific app and the ability to sync your Rectangle configuration over iCloud.
3IINA
AlthoughVLCis a more popular open-source media player,IINAstands out with its modern design and macOS aesthetic. It also offers deeper macOS integration with proper support for force touch, picture-in-picture, trackpad gestures, and more.
IINA is based on “mpv,” a powerful command-line media player, and can play virtually any media file. It also allows you to search subtitles online, has a standalone music mode, and supports HDR. Moreover, IINA can play online streams.
4Bitwarden
Bitwardenis a popular open-source password manager perfect for folks who don’t want to spend on an expensive password manager and findApple’s own Passwords appa little too barebones. The free version has all the core functions you need, including passkey support, the ability to store notes, credit cards, and identities, and the ability to store unlimited passwords.
It can be installed on as many devices as you want and has apps and extensions for all major operating systems and web browsers. You can even share your vault with one user, generate strong passwords, and have the ability to host its server app on your own network or server.
5Keka
Looking for a powerful file archiver for macOS?Kekais an excellent open-source option. It packs all the essentials you want in an archive manager, such as the ability to create and extract archives, support for encrypting archives, and the ability to split archives. You can also set compression levels and automatically delete files after compressing them.
With Finder’s limited capabilities in handling archives (particularly creating them), the Keka is a no-brainer for most people who regularly work with archives. It can handle all popular archive file formats, such as 7z, ZIP, RAR, TAR, GZIP, and DMG. It’s also free to use and available via the app’s official website and theMac App Store. The latter is paid, though.
6NetNewsWire
RSS readers aren’t as popular as they used to be in the Web 2.0 era. However, many still rely on them to get their daily dose of content.NetNewsWireis ideal for such folks on Mac. It’s free, feature-rich, and fast. More importantly, it’s open-source.
It has a fairly no-nonsense user interface, can automatically find RSS feeds from the submitted URL, supports folders for easy feed management, and has customizable article themes. It also packs a built-in reader view that fetches the complete article from the feed source when the feed entry only has an excerpt.
7Handbrake
Handbrakeis arguably the best video transcoder you may get for any platform. It allows you to convert video files from virtually any format to MP4, MKV, or WebM. It can also rip DVDs and Blu-ray discs that lack copy protection.
It has built-in presets for different devices, resolution and frame rate combinations, web usage, and more. You can also drill down and select each aspect of your encode from the app’s advanced options. Other highlights include batch processing, support for chapter markers and subtitles, and HDR pass-through.
8Calibre
Calibreis a powerful ebook management system that not only includes a capable ebook reader, but also allows you to convert ebooks between different formats, such as EPUB, MOBI, PDF, and AZW3.
It can create your own ebook library with all relevant metadata fetched from online sources. It also supports downloading newspapers and magazines from different sources, subscribing to RSS feeds to find and download new content, and sharing ebooks with different e-readers.
9Kap
Whether you need a nifty screen recorder to capture GIFs or are making a tutorial for your YouTube channel,Kapis the macOS app to have. It can record and export your screen in GIF, MP4, WebM, or APNG formats and allows you to include or exclude audio, highlight mouse clicks, and trim the footage.
Kap also supports plugins to extend its functionality. Two of the popular plugins include one that can directly upload a GIF of a screen capture toGiphyand another that can stream the captured video onStreamable.
10ImageOptim
If you often struggle to optimize images for use on the web, theImageOptim appis perfect for you. It packs in half a dozen image optimization tools to reduce the size of your images while preserving the image quality. ImageOptim can also strip the EXIF metadata for better privacy and is completely free to use.
The app is easy to use, and all you need to do is drag and drop your images into its window for quick and efficient optimization. For the sake of simplicity, it overwrites the original files with optimized versions.
