12 open-source instruments I exploit day-after-day on my Mac

Some of the most effective software program within the global community is produced totally by volunteers and launched free of charge. Over the years, I’ve come to depend on many of those instruments to remain productive and accountable for my Mac.

Here are some open-source must-haves that I exploit just about each single day.

Maccy

Of all of the apps that make my job simpler, Maccy is correct on the prime of the pile. This open-source clipboard supervisor could be downloaded free of charge from the developer’s GitHub page, or you’ll be able to choose to pay and assist the venture on the Mac App Store or Gumroad.

Though I predominantly use it with textual content, it really works with every little thing that your Mac can copy: photographs, information, colours, textual content with formatting, and no matter else you’ll be able to Command+C. Though it’s true that one of macOS 26 Tahoe’s big features is a revised Spotlight that features a clipboard supervisor, I’d nonetheless advocate Maccy for the best way it integrates into your workflow.

I entry Maccy with the Command+Shift+C keyboard shortcut, then use the arrow keys to pick out what I need to paste. From right here, it’s a case of hitting Return to repeat it to the clipboard, or Option+Return to repeat and paste instantly. You may even pin gadgets if you end up pasting the identical outdated issues the entire time. Over the course of per week, this should save me not less than an hour of tabbing forwards and backwards between home windows.

LuLu

LuLu is a free and open-source software program firewall that permits you to determine which apps can speak to the web. Even although I’ll not straight work together with LuLu each single day, it’s all the time there within the background doing its job and filtering my community visitors. The app lives within the menu bar, so you’ll be able to shortly flip it off or assessment any previous choices you’ve made.

In addition to easy “Allow” and “Deny” prompts, you’ll be able to write your personal guidelines. This could be helpful if you wish to stop a selected app from speaking to particular domains or servers. When you first arrange LuLu, you’ve gotten the choice of importing all of your current guidelines (add all put in apps to your allow-list), or you’ll be able to select to begin from scratch and audit every little thing.

When you first set up LuLu, you’ll must grant it permission to your community extensions, enable it to switch your system extensions, and provides it entry to your net visitors. The app works nice alongside current VPNs and different visitors filters.

LocalSend

LocalSend is the open-source model of Apple’s AirDrop. Before upgrading to the iPhone 17 Pro, my iPhone 13 Pro was extremely flaky when it got here to AirDrop. If I might get my MacE-book Pro to indicate up in any respect, transfers would ceaselessly fail. LocalSend has no such points so long as each gadgets are on the identical wi-fi community.

Though I’m much less reliant on it now, it’s nonetheless my go-to for wirelessly transferring information between my Steam Deck and Mac, and different older Macs in my family when AirDrop flakes out. It’s one of many few apps I manually set to routinely begin at any time when macOS does, which speaks volumes.

LocalSend now has a beta web version you’ll be able to check out too!

Firefox

I attempt to solely use Safari on my Mac, but when I’ve to make use of one other browser, then Firefox is my go-to. It’s not the quickest browser, nor does it have the most important library of accessible add-ons, nevertheless it’s free of Google’s tracking nonsense and it constantly scores prime marks utilizing the Electronic Frontier Foundation’s CoverYourTracks instrument.

Despite Safari’s ubiquity (round 14% in comparison with Firefox’s 2%), not all web sites play properly with Apple’s browser. In these cases, Firefox involves the rescue. The undeniable fact that Firefox 143 restored installable web apps on its Windows model provides me hope for future Mac variations, since I exploit a couple of instruments that don’t work properly with Apple’s “Add to Dock” web app implementation.

Home Assistant

Home Assistant is a free and open-source good house platform that I’ve operating 24/7. I exploit an old Mac mini as a Home Assistant server, which runs macOS within the background and Home Assistant OS on prime inside a digital machine. You might argue that Home Assistant isn’t technically operating on a Mac, however I’d argue that macOS continues to be important to the operation.

Despite being an iPhone and Mac family, Home Assistant is a vital part of my Apple Home setup. Since the platform requires comparatively little overhead, I nonetheless plan on utilizing the identical Mac mini as a community video recorder (NVR) sooner or later (and it’s pulling double-duty as a media center front-end proper now too).

VirtualBox

VirtualBox is the virtualization software program that powers my Home Assistant setup, so it’s not simply software program I exploit day-after-day, however each second of day-after-day. Despite some effort, I couldn’t get Home Assistant operating in “rival” virtualization app UTM, and VirtualBox got here to the rescue. Thankfully, it’s been plain crusing even when including USB interfaces like a Zigbee radio.

This is lucky since VirtualBox solely received an Apple silicon release in mid-2025, regardless of its place as one of many global community’s hottest virtualization apps.

PearCleaner

I’ve not too long ago been encountering a pesky bug the place macOS will seemingly gobble up all my free area, and I can’t fairly work out why. While I hunt for a everlasting resolution, having a near-full inside drive has prompted me to deal with my Applications folder with elevated skepticism. PearCleaner is an open-source instrument that may assist with this.

PearCleaner lets you cleanly uninstall apps out of your Mac. Even although putting in an app requires that you simply drag the APP file to your Applications folder, these apps retailer knowledge throughout your drive. PearCleaner hunts down the leftovers like caches, templates, and different orphaned knowledge, then removes them alongside the app in query.

If you’ve solely simply found PearCleaner, don’t fear. There’s an “Orphaned Files” view that you need to use to spring clear your Mac of botched uninstalls.

Ice

Ice is a menubar supervisor that means that you can disguise and present menu bar icons on command. It’s arguably much less helpful now that macOS 26 allows you to take away third-party menu bar icons totally underneath System Settings > Menu Bar, although the app nonetheless has its place for these icons you don’t need to take a look at on a regular basis however want occasional entry to.

Apps like Ice require entry to display screen recording privileges with a purpose to operate correctly as a part of Apple’s permissions system. With closed-source apps, there’s no telling what the app is doing with this knowledge, however since Ice reveals its supply code for anybody to research, it may be audited by anybody at any time.

Jellyfin

Jellyfin is an open-source media server that serves as a completely free and volunteer-led alternative to Plex. Like Home Assistant, Jellyfin is all the time operating within the background on my Mac mini server, serving up offline media over the native community. It works with films, TV exhibits, music, books, pictures, and may operate as a dwell TV and DVR system. There’s even a “SyncPlay” function with the intention to watch the identical content material remotely.

The Jellyfin venture contains two components: the server and the consumer. The server is what runs on the machine that hosts your media, whereas consumer apps are constructed purely for consumption. There are clients obtainable for desktop and cellular platforms, good TV ecosystems like Roku and WebOS, and even the Xbox. The platform additionally helps UPnP media streaming to compliant gadgets and net browsers.

Homebrew

In the identical method that I’m typically uninstalling software program every day, I’m additionally continually downloading new apps and instruments. My first port of name at any time when I’m searching for an app—particularly an open supply one—is to make use of the Mac package deal supervisor Homebrew. It takes what’s arguably the best feature of most Linux distributions and brings it to your Mac.

Using a couple of easy instructions, you need to use Homebrew to put in casks (functions) and formulae (command-line utilities) by way of the Terminal. Once put in you need to use it to seek for packages, set up new ones, take away outdated ones, and preserve every little thing updated. This is way faster than manually downloading apps, plus it affords a neat method of maintaining them updated.

Many of the apps on this list are available via Homebrew, together with Firefox and Jellyfin.

Itsycal

Itsycal is a kind of tiny little high quality of life enhancements that you simply turn into totally depending on. This app places a small calendar in your Mac’s menu bar. Click the icon and also you’ll see a month calendar view, click on on a date and also you’ll see what occasions you’ve gotten scheduled for that day.

Click the plus icon to shortly add a brand new occasion. Use the pin button to maintain the calendar seen, so you’ll be able to test one thing in one other window with out dropping your house. Configure the app to indicate all, some, or none of your calendars, and alter the menu bar icon to match. It’s such a easy little app, nevertheless it’s one which I can’t do with out.

I prefer it a lot that Itsycal is without doubt one of the solely menu bar icons that I don’t disguise with Ice.

IINA

IINA is a sublime media participant constructed for macOS that’s primarily based on the mpv venture. It performs nearly something, from video to audio and even on-line streams. The app is very responsive, it seems to be the half, and neatly incorporates touchpad gestures for searching for and adjusting quantity. You may even open on-line media inside IINA straight utilizing browser extensions for Firefox and Chrome.

The app features a plugin system, which comes with the Online Media plugin that cleverly makes use of command-line instrument yt-dlp to entry on-line movies. Though macOS has Preview for quickly previewing most videos, IINA continues to be vital.

Looking for much more open-source goodness? Check our the best open-source tools for students, too.