Articles

Honest writing about indie Mac software. Listicles, comparisons, and opinion pieces from someone who builds menu bar utilities for a living. No affiliate fluff. Free competitors get real coverage.

Pillar pieces

Mac menu bar apps explained A primer on what menu bar apps are, why macOS has cultivated them since 1984, and how to evaluate one before installing. 10 min read · Apr 28, 2026
macOS missing features: 12 things macOS still doesn't do Twelve real gaps in macOS in 2026 and the indie utilities that fill each one. Clipboard, color picker, mute mic, scrolling screenshots, more. 11 min read · Apr 28, 2026
Why subscriptions ruin Mac software An indie Mac developer's case against the SaaS-ification of desktop apps. Economic, cultural, and technical reasons it's making Mac software worse. 12 min read · Apr 28, 2026
The case against the Mac App Store for indie apps Why most serious indie Mac developers ship outside the Mac App Store. No paid upgrades, sandboxing limits, the 30% cut. 11 min read · Apr 28, 2026

Listicles

Best free menu bar apps for Mac (2026) Ten genuinely free Mac menu bar apps worth installing. No subscriptions, no signup walls, no creepy analytics. 9 min read · Apr 28, 2026
Best one-time-purchase Mac apps Twelve Mac apps you buy once and own forever. No recurring fees, no SaaS dashboard. 10 min read · Apr 28, 2026
Best Mac apps under $10 Indie Mac apps under ten dollars that punch above their price. 8 min read · Apr 28, 2026
Best lightweight Mac utilities Twelve native, single-purpose Mac utilities under 50MB of RAM. No Electron bloat. 9 min read · Apr 28, 2026
Best native Mac apps (no Electron) Twenty Mac apps written in Swift, Objective-C, or AppKit. Apps that feel like the platform they ship on. 11 min read · Apr 28, 2026
Best Mac apps for a clean menu bar Eight apps for hiding, organizing, and consolidating menu bar icons. 8 min read · Apr 28, 2026

Comparison roundups

Mac clipboard managers compared Eight clipboard managers ranked. Maccy, Pastebot, Paste, TeenyClip, Alfred, Raycast, Flycut, CopyClip. 10 min read · Apr 28, 2026
Maccy alternatives Seven Mac clipboard managers that pick up where Maccy stops. Image previews, sync, snippets. 9 min read · Apr 28, 2026
Mac screenshot tools compared Six screenshot tools ranked. CleanShot X, Shottr, macOS built-in, Snagit, Skitch, Xnapper. 9 min read · Apr 28, 2026
CleanShot X alternatives Six alternatives to CleanShot X without the $29 + $8/month subscription bundle. 9 min read · Apr 28, 2026
Bartender alternatives Six menu bar managers to replace Bartender after the 2024 ownership change. 9 min read · Apr 28, 2026

Nine Mac menu bar utilities. $4.99, $9.99, or $14.99 depending on the app. Lifetime.

Most of the articles above lead back here at some point. Native Swift, sandboxed, single-purpose, one-time license, no telemetry, no subscriptions.

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