What is the best alternative to Xcode on Mac?

Raycast is our top pick. It shares Developer tools with Xcode and has 140 upvotes from the community. Postico 2 and Transmit 5 are close behind.

What is the best free alternative to Xcode on Mac?

iTerm2 is the best-ranked free alternative to Xcode. 4 of the alternatives listed here are completely free.

Is there an open-source alternative to Xcode?

Yes. 5 alternatives are open source, including Zed, iTerm2 and Cyberduck.

How many alternatives to Xcode are there for Mac?

Mac App Index lists 16 apps that share a category with Xcode: 4 completely free, 7 free to start and 5 open source.

Best Xcode alternatives for Mac

Xcode is a free app in Developer tools. We found 16 Mac apps that cover the same ground. Of those, 4 are completely free, 7 are free to start and 5 are open source. Raycast leads on overlap and community votes, followed by Postico 2 and Transmit 5.

The app you want to replace

Xcode

Apple's IDE for every Apple platform

Free · Developer tools

View Xcode

16 alternatives to Xcode

How we picked: every app here shares at least one category with Xcode. Apps that also share features rank higher, and community upvotes break ties. Price and licence never buy a better spot. How we rank apps

1
Hot
Raycast
A faster launcher with superpowers
140Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
2
Postico 2
PostgreSQL client for Mac
85$69.99Developer tools
- Also in Developer tools
- One-time purchase
3
Transmit 5
File transfer for servers and cloud storage
84SubscriptionDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
4
Zed
Code editor built for speed and collaboration
83Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
- Open source
5
Proxyman
Inspect and debug HTTP traffic
82Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
6
Sublime Text
Fast text editor for code and prose
54$99Developer tools
- Also in Developer tools
- One-time purchase
7
Tailscale
Private network across your devices
38Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
8
iTerm2
Terminal replacement for macOS
38FreeDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
- Open source
9
Cyberduck
Open-source browser for servers and cloud storage
28$23.99Developer tools
- Also in Developer tools
- Open source
- One-time purchase
10
Ghostty
Fast, native terminal emulator
26FreeDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
- Open source
11
BBEdit
Professional text and code editor
25Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
12
TablePlus
Native client for many databases
20Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
13
OrbStack
Fast Docker containers and Linux machines
16Free + in-appDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
14
CotEditor
Plain-text editor built for macOS
14FreeDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
- Open source
15
Visual Studio Code
Free code editor from Microsoft
14FreeDeveloper tools
- Also in Developer tools
16
Fork
Fast and friendly Git client
6$59.99Developer tools
- Also in Developer tools
- One-time purchase

Frequently asked questions

What is the best alternative to Xcode on Mac?: Raycast is our top pick. It shares Developer tools with Xcode and has 140 upvotes from the community. Postico 2 and Transmit 5 are close behind.
What is the best free alternative to Xcode on Mac?: iTerm2 is the best-ranked free alternative to Xcode. 4 of the alternatives listed here are completely free.
Is there an open-source alternative to Xcode?: Yes. 5 alternatives are open source, including Zed, iTerm2 and Cyberduck.
How many alternatives to Xcode are there for Mac?: Mac App Index lists 16 apps that share a category with Xcode: 4 completely free, 7 free to start and 5 open source.