Top 10 FREE Mac Apps
Tips & Tricks
After fixing hundreds of Macs, here’s what we actually tell customers to install — and why.
We see a lot of Macs come through our workshop. And one thing we’ve noticed is that the healthiest, longest-lasting machines tend to belong to owners who are a little more intentional about what they install. These are the ten free apps we genuinely recommend to customers — not a generic list from the internet, but tools our technicians actually use and trust.
Mac Fan Control
Mac Health
If you only install one app from this list, make it this one. Mac Fan Control gives you real-time visibility into your Mac’s temperature sensors and lets you manually adjust fan speed when needed. Apple’s default fan behaviour is quiet-first — meaning it often lets temperatures climb higher than ideal before ramping up the fan.
We recommend this to every customer after a repair. Watch your CPU temperature during normal use. If you’re regularly seeing above 80°C while doing light tasks like browsing or email, your Mac likely needs a clean and fresh thermal paste — and we can help with that.
Overheating is one of the leading causes of logic board failure over time. Catching it early with Mac Fan Control can save you a very expensive repair down the line.
VLC Media Player
Essential
VLC is the Swiss Army knife of media players. It plays literally every video and audio format — MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV, FLAC, and hundreds more — without needing extra codecs or plugins. It’s completely free, open source, and contains zero ads or spyware.
macOS’s built-in QuickTime is fine for standard files, but the moment you encounter an unusual format, VLC handles it effortlessly. It’s been around for over 20 years and is one of the most trusted apps on any platform.
The Unarchiver
Essential
macOS can open standard ZIP files natively, but the moment someone sends you a RAR, 7z, TAR, or any other compressed format, you’re stuck without a third-party tool. The Unarchiver handles all of them instantly — just double-click and it opens. It’s lightweight, free, and available directly from the Mac App Store.
Rectangle
Productivity
One of the most frustrating things about macOS compared to Windows is the lack of proper window snapping. Rectangle fixes this completely. It lets you snap windows to halves, thirds, corners, and fullscreen using simple keyboard shortcuts or by dragging to the edges of the screen.
Once you use it for a day, you won’t be able to imagine working without it. Free, open source, and works beautifully on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs alike.
OnyX
Mac Health
OnyX is a powerful maintenance tool for macOS that gives you access to system cleaning and optimisation options that Apple hides from regular users. It can clear system caches, run maintenance scripts, rebuild databases, and tweak dozens of hidden macOS settings.
We recommend running OnyX’s cleaning routines every few months to keep your Mac running smoothly. Make sure you download the correct version for your macOS — each version of OnyX is built for a specific macOS release.
Don’t just click “Execute All” without reading what each option does. OnyX is powerful — that means it can also undo things you didn’t intend to if used carelessly.
Bitwarden
Security
Weak or reused passwords are one of the biggest security risks for any Mac user. Bitwarden is a free, open-source password manager that stores all your passwords in an encrypted vault and autofills them across browsers and apps. It works across all your devices — Mac, iPhone, iPad, Windows — and the free tier is genuinely excellent.
We see customers lose access to everything from iCloud to business accounts because of forgotten or compromised passwords. Bitwarden solves this problem completely and costs nothing.
LibreOffice
Productivity
Microsoft Office costs a significant amount per year — LibreOffice gives you a full office suite for free. It includes a word processor (Writer), spreadsheet (Calc), and presentation tool (Impress), all of which can open and save Microsoft Office formats. It’s not as polished as Microsoft’s apps, but for most everyday tasks it works perfectly.
For customers who need full Office compatibility, Google Docs and Google Sheets are also excellent free browser-based alternatives that require no installation at all.
GIMP
Creative
Adobe Photoshop costs over $20 per month. GIMP is a free, open-source image editor that handles the vast majority of what most users actually need — cropping, resizing, color correction, layer editing, and more. It has a steeper learning curve than Photoshop, but for non-designers who occasionally need to edit images, it’s more than capable.
If GIMP feels too complex for your needs, try Photopea — a free Photoshop-like editor that runs entirely in your browser with no installation needed.
DaVinci Resolve
Creative
If you edit videos at all — even just personal clips or YouTube content — DaVinci Resolve is extraordinary for a free app. It’s the same software used by professional film and TV editors worldwide, and the free version is genuinely full-featured. It handles 4K video, colour grading, audio mixing, and visual effects with ease.
The only caveat: it’s demanding on your hardware. If your Mac is older or has limited RAM, you may notice some slowdown during heavy editing. If that’s the case, it may be time for a hardware checkup.
coconutBattery
Mac Health
Battery health is something most Mac users never check until it’s too late. coconutBattery gives you a detailed breakdown of your battery’s current capacity versus its original design capacity, charge cycle count, and whether your battery is performing within normal parameters.
A healthy MacBook battery should retain at least 80% of its original capacity. If coconutBattery shows you’re below that — especially if you’re having issues with your Mac shutting down unexpectedly or losing charge quickly — it’s time for a battery replacement. We carry batteries for most MacBook models and can usually replace them the same day.
A degraded battery doesn’t just affect battery life — it can also cause your Mac to throttle its performance to compensate for reduced power output. Replacing a worn battery often makes an old Mac feel noticeably faster.
A Note From Our Workshop
The best thing you can do for your Mac — beyond installing good software — is keep it physically healthy. That means regular cleaning to prevent dust buildup, monitoring temperatures with Mac Fan Control, and keeping an eye on battery health with coconutBattery.
If any of these tools flag something concerning, or if your Mac is simply not performing the way it should, bring it in. We’ll run a full diagnostic for free and give you an honest assessment of what’s going on.
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