Best Developer Tools for Mac.
IDEs, editors, terminals, and dev utilities for Mac.
Developer tools for Mac range from the editors you stare at all day — Zed, VS Code, CotEditor — to the small utilities you forget are running: local servers, Git clients, API scratchpads, and menu bar monitors for AI coding sessions. macOS remains the default machine for a huge share of working developers, and the tooling ecosystem reflects it.
This category favors apps that are fast, scriptable, and light on system resources — a dev tool that drags the machine down isn't saving you anything. A large share of the entries are open source, so you can read exactly what they do before trusting them with your codebase.
BoltAI
The best AI client for Mac
LocalCan
Local domains and persistent Public URLs
Affinity
All the design and photo editing tools you need in one app–for free
BucketMate
Native S3 GUI Client for macOS
CC Usage Bar
Switch between multiple Claude Code accounts instantly, without the usual logout ritual or browser detours. See live usage and rate limits, keep credentials secure, stay in flow.
Claudoscope
Gives developers a clear, real-time view of their Claude Code sessions, tracking usage, costs, and history while scanning for leaked credentials, all locally with zero telemetry.
DevUtils
All-in-one offline toolbox for developers (42+ tools)
FFmpeg
A complete, cross-platform solution to record, convert and stream audio and video
GIMP
An acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program
Git Glance
Keeps your recurring revenue visible without the usual dashboard clutter, combining Stripe, Polar and Lemon Squeezy data while nudging you about every meaningful change.
Homebrew
The Missing Package Manager for macOS (or Linux)
Inkscape
Vector graphics editor
Krita
Free and open-source painting and sketching program
MacPorts
An open-source community initiative to design an easy-to-use system for compiling, installing, and upgrading either command-line, X11 or Aqua based open-source software
Paw
Advanced API tool for Mac
Postico
Modern PostgreSQL client for macOS
Proxyman
Native HTTP debugging proxy
RocketSim
Enhance Xcode Simulator productivity
Seeports
Run local HTTP servers on macOS by dragging any folder to instantly serve files with automatic port assignment, multiple server management, logs, and directory listings.
SF Symbols
Browse and export Apple's SF Symbols
TablePlus
Modern native database management tool
TablePro
Native database client for MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, MongoDB, Redis, and more
tldr-pages
A collection of community-maintained help pages for command-line tools, that aims to be a simpler, more approachable complement to traditional [man pages](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_page)
Visual Studio Code
A code editor redefined and optimized for building and debugging modern web and cloud applications
Whiplash
Helps developers stay on top of Claude Code, Gemini CLI, and Codex sessions in one place, tracking what's running, idle, or finished, with task awareness.
Zed
Zed is a high-performance, multiplayer code editor from the creators of Atom and Tree-sitter