A handpicked collection of free tools that turn macOS into a serious development machine. Every app here is genuinely free or open-source, actively maintained, and installable with a single command.

1. Visual Studio Code

The editor that ate the world. VS Code combines a lightweight feel with IDE-level power through its extension marketplace. Built-in Git, terminal, debugger, and remote development make it a complete toolkit.

2. iTerm2

The terminal macOS should have shipped with. Split panes, instant replay, powerful search, and deep customization. The tmux integration alone makes it worth switching from Terminal.app.

3. Rectangle

macOS window management is broken. Rectangle fixes it with keyboard shortcuts for snapping windows to halves, thirds, and quarters. Free, open-source, zero configuration.

4. Maccy

A lightweight clipboard manager that lives in your menu bar. Everything you copy is saved and searchable. Press a shortcut, type what you’re looking for, and paste.

5. Obsidian

Your second brain, in plain Markdown files you own forever. Backlinks, graph view, and 1,000+ community plugins. Perfect for technical notes and documentation.