What are the best subscription-free developer tools apps for Mac?

By community activity, Postico 2, Sublime Text and Ghostty are the top picks on Mac App Index right now.

Do any of these developer tools apps need a subscription?

No. Every app on this page is either free (5) or sold for a one-time price (4). Major version upgrades may still be paid separately.

How many subscription-free developer tools apps are there for Mac?

Mac App Index lists 9 apps: 5 completely free, 0 free to start, 4 paid upfront and 0 by subscription. 4 are open source.

Subscription-free developer tools apps for Mac

9 developer tools apps for Mac with no recurring fee: 5 are free and 4 are sold for a one-time price. Most popular right now: Postico 2, Sublime Text and Ghostty.

All Free Freemium Paid Subscription

Postico 2

PostgreSQL client for Mac

85$69.99Developer tools

Sublime Text

Fast text editor for code and prose

54$99Developer tools

Ghostty

Fast, native terminal emulator

26FreeDeveloper tools

CotEditor

Plain-text editor built for macOS

14FreeDeveloper tools

Xcode

Apple's IDE for every Apple platform

43FreeDeveloper tools

Cyberduck

Open-source browser for servers and cloud storage

28$23.99Developer tools

Fork

Fast and friendly Git client

6$59.99Developer tools

iTerm2

Terminal replacement for macOS

38FreeDeveloper tools

Visual Studio Code

Free code editor from Microsoft

14FreeDeveloper tools

How we picked: every app here is listed in developer tools on Mac App Index and is free or sold for a one-time price, with no recurring fee. Apps are sorted by community activity; switch to Top or New to reorder them. How we rank apps

Frequently asked questions

What are the best subscription-free developer tools apps for Mac?: By community activity, Postico 2, Sublime Text and Ghostty are the top picks on Mac App Index right now.
Do any of these developer tools apps need a subscription?: No. Every app on this page is either free (5) or sold for a one-time price (4). Major version upgrades may still be paid separately.
How many subscription-free developer tools apps are there for Mac?: Mac App Index lists 9 apps: 5 completely free, 0 free to start, 4 paid upfront and 0 by subscription. 4 are open source.