The best Mac apps for developers (2026)

Microsoft's FAQ says it plainly: VS Code is free for private or commercial use. It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux, and in the browser at vscode.dev, so your setup follows you between machines. The extension marketplace is the real reason it's first: whatever you write, from Python notebooks to Terraform, someone has built language support, a debugger and a linter for it.

Good: costs nothing, huge ecosystem, the integrated terminal and Git panel cover most daily work. Less good: it's an Electron app, so it feels heavier than a native editor, and a pile of extensions can slow it down.

Cursor's docs say it's built on the VS Code codebase, and its one-click import brings over your extensions, themes, settings and keybindings. So switching costs you an afternoon at most. What you get on top is an editor built around agents: describe a change, let it edit across files, review the diff.

Good: familiar if you know VS Code; agents that work across a whole repo. Less good: the free plan's agent and chat requests are limited, and the heavy-use tiers get expensive fast. The AI parts need a connection.

Zed is the editor to try if VS Code feels sluggish. It's free forever on its Personal plan, which also lets you bring your own API keys or external agents. Pro adds unlimited edit predictions and $5 of AI tokens a month, then bills by usage. It now runs on Mac, Windows and Linux.

Good: quick to open and quick to type in; AI is there when you want it and out of the way when you don't. Less good: a smaller extension catalog than VS Code, so check your languages and tools before you commit.

If you ship to Apple platforms, you use Xcode, and it only runs on a Mac. It's free from the Mac App Store; publishing to the App Store needs the separate paid Apple Developer Program. The current release, Xcode 27, can use coding models and agents from Anthropic, Google and OpenAI, alongside SwiftUI previews, simulators, Instruments for profiling, and Xcode Cloud for CI.

Even if you never write Swift, install the Command Line Tools with xcode-select --install. Plenty of other tools expect them.

Good: everything for Apple platforms in one app. Less good: a very large download, and little reason to use it for anything else.

JetBrains merged Community and Ultimate into one IntelliJ IDEA download. Core Java and Kotlin development is free without a subscription, and every install starts with 30 days of Ultimate so you can see what the advanced tooling adds. If you work in a big JVM codebase, its refactoring and code inspections are the reason people put up with a heavier IDE. JetBrains makes sibling IDEs for Python, Go, web and more.

Good: deep code understanding and refactoring. Less good: heavier than an editor; the subscription adds up if you need Ultimate.

Ghostty is a GPU-accelerated terminal with a native macOS app (SwiftUI, Metal rendering) and a GTK app on Linux. It's open source under the MIT license. It feels like the built-in Terminal should feel: quick, light, and configured with a plain text file.

If you'd rather stay with an older favorite, iTerm2 is still free (GPL v2) and Mac-only, with years of features behind it.

Good: native, fast, free. Less good: no Windows app, and configuration is a text file rather than a settings window.

Warp treats the terminal as an app: commands and output come in blocks you can select and share, and there's an agent that can run commands for you. The free plan includes the terminal, the agent CLI and bring-your-own AI inference; Build adds $20 of monthly agent usage. It runs on Mac, Windows and Linux.

Good: the friendliest terminal here if you're new to the command line. Less good: the best parts depend on cloud features and a paid plan.

Homebrew is the package manager most Mac developers install on day one. One command installs it; after that, brew install node, brew install postgresql and brew install --cask for full apps. It's a non-profit project run by volunteers, and it works on Mac, Linux and WSL. Its site lists current macOS releases as supported, so check that page if you're on an older version.

Good: one consistent way to install and update tools. Less good: you'll eventually want to learn brew cleanup.

OrbStack replaces Docker Desktop with a native Swift app that runs containers, Kubernetes and full Linux machines, and it can migrate your existing containers, volumes and images. It's always free for personal, non-commercial use. Commercial use needs Pro at $8 per user per month ($96 a year).

Good: light, quick to start, easy to switch to. Less good: you'll pay for it at work.

Some Git jobs are easier to see than to type: an interactive rebase, a messy merge conflict, staging three lines out of a hunk. Fork is a fast Git client for Mac and Windows with a free evaluation. A license is a one-time purchase for one user on up to three machines.

Good: clear history view, good conflict resolution, no subscription. Less good: if you live in the command line, you may only open it twice a week.

Count what you typed today. Some of it was code. A lot of it was English: the prompt to your agent, the PR description, the review comment, the Slack reply about why staging is down. Sayburst puts that on a key. Hold fn, talk, let go, and clean text is pasted into whatever has focus: Cursor's agent panel, VS Code, Zed, Warp, a GitHub comment box.

Good: speech recognition runs on your Mac, so your code talk never leaves the machine. One-time price, no account. Less good: it's for prose, not syntax. It needs an Apple silicon Mac on macOS 14 or later.