One of the most important aspects of being a web developer is having the correct tools and applications at your disposal to get the job done. These applications can range from text editors with helpful features, to screen capturing software to display video and/or audio to a client or your users. Today, we will have a look at 30+ amazing Mac applications for web developers.
Panic's Coda
Anyone who knows me had to imagine this would be the first on the list. I use Coda everyday and couldn't imagine development without it. If you are looking for a super powerful and functional text editor, I highly recommend Coda.
Price: Free trial, $99 for regular license.
TextMate
Another popular text editor for Mac is TextMate created by MacroMates. Another nice feature is the price is a bit lower than that of Codas.
Price: Free Trial, $55 per license.
Eclipse
Eclipse is a very popular IDE that has become the tool many programmers prefer to use. There are many Eclipse Plugins as well that support different web and computer languages. No matter what language you program in, Eclipse can most likely accommodate you.
Price: Free!
QuickSilver
A favorite of many Mac owners, QuickSilver is a very extendable interface that allows you to quick launch programs, manage shortcuts, contacts, music, and many other applications.
Price: Free!
Komodo Edit
If you are looking for a powerful free and open source text editor that runs on any platform, then Komodo Edit might be the one for you. Primarily focused on dynamic web languages, Komodo Edit comes with many features and customizable plugins to help you get the job done.
Price: Free and Open Source!
Billings 3
Billings 3 is a wonderful time billing and invoicing tool, perfect for anyone who does any freelance work. Billings 3 integrates with the Mac interface brilliantly and its features save a lot of manual labor.
Price: $39.99 per license, $25.00 to upgrade.
BB Edit
BBEdit is a text editor for Mac that claims 'It Doesn't Suck', and you know what? It most certainly does not. Packed full of helpful features, including project management, BBEdit is the text editor of choice for many web developers.
Price: Free Trial, $125 per license, $49 for educational license.
MAMP
Most recent Macs come with everything that MAMP does, but by downloading and installing MAMP you can get your own local server up and running in under 5 minutes. In case you were wondering, MAMP stands for Mac, Apache, MySQL, and php/perl/python, whatever your server side language of choice. If you need help installing check out this quick screencast on getting MAMP setup on your Mac.
Price: Free, additionally a paid version 'MAMP Pro' is available for $55.00.
Panic Transmit
Saying that Transmit is a superb FTP program for Mac would be an extreme understatement. Just look at all the features of the program on their homepage, there are far too many to list here. If you are looking for a high quality FTP program for Mac, Transmit is a great choice.
Price: Free Trial, $29.95 per license.
Paparazzi
If you do a lot of writing or use screenshots often, you may consider downloading paparazzi. Paparazzi is a small but powerful (and free) screenshot program that makes taking snapshots of websites a breeze.
Price: Free!
Magnifique
While not necessarily a development tool, Magnifique heps you customize the look and feel of your Mac workspace by quickly changing in between themes of your choice. Great for those who need a little inspiration, or who need a change of 'scenery'.
Price: Free!
Flow
Flow is a visual workflow manager, built to give you full control and understanding over your current project. The concept of flow is slightly difficult to describe, so I recommend checking the screenshots or giving the trial a go. While it is a bit on the pricy side, it is extremely helpful if you work at a company where you often work with a large group of people and need to stay organized.
Price: Free Trial, $249 per license.
Man Hour
Man Hour is a simple and flexible time tracking program. It's strength lies in it's flexibility of letting you change what you charge per hour depending upon the project at hand. The price tag is also very easy on the eyes.
Price: Free Trial, $9.99 per license.
CyberDuck
Cyberduck is a popular and free ftp program requiring Mac OS X 10.4 or higher. It also supports FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, Mosso Cloud Files and Amazon S3.
Price: Free and Open Source!
FileZilla
FileZilla is a very well known open source FTP program that runs on most operating systems. Simple, easy to use, and works as it should.
Price: Free and Open Source!
TextExpander
Recently Jeffrey posted a screencast titled 'How I can code twice as fast as you.' While the title was sort of a joke, Jeffrey showed how valuable a good text expander program can be and how much time it can save. My personal favorite is TextExpander for Mac OS X. Text Expander will save you all kinds of time by allowing you to setup shortcut names for anything you type over and over again.
Price: Free Trial, $29.95 per license.
DropBox
Dropbox is a very easy to use program that allows you to share, sync, and backup files on your hard drive. Even better is that you get a 2GB account for free, which should be plenty to backup those files you can't afford to lose.
Price: 2 GB free, $9.99/month for more space.
Growl
Growl is another one of those applications that is a little hard to explain, but extremely helpful to have. Basically, Growl lets you know when certain things happen, in a very unobtrusive way. For instance, Growl integrates perfectly with Coda and lets you know when a file or folder has been successfully uploaded or downloaded, or if there was an error that occurred. Check out the about page for more screenshots and information.
Price: Free.
LaunchBar
LaunchBar is a lot like QuickSilver, with a very powerful search tool. LaunchBar also allows you to setup and use simple text commands to run programs, edit files, and manipulate data. It is free to use until April 1, 2009.
Price: Free until Apr 1, $32 per license after that.
Money3
Money3 is the latest version of the Money accounting program built specifically for Mac OS X. Version 3 offers a completely new user interface and the ability to manage all different types of accounts. In addition, Money can also help you plan and track your budget. Furthermore, it was cool to get to use the 'sup' tag.
Price: Free Trial, $39.00 per license.
On The Job
On The Job is a fully packed software program built to track time and expenses, and provide you with super simple client invoicing. The multiple billing currency option is particularly helpful.
Price: Free Trial, $39.95 per license.
Versions
Version control is very important for anyone involved in development, and Versions makes it super simple to maintain. Even if you have never worked with subversion, Versions is a breeze.
Price: Free Trial, $53 per license.
Snipply
Snipply is an Adobe AIR application used to organize chunks and snippets of code into separate categories. If you have used Code, it is similar to Coda Clips. I prefer to keep my larger code libraries in Snippley as it is very easy to use and doesn't clutter my clips. Best of all it is absolutely free!
Price: Free and Open Source!
Espresso
There has been a lot of talk about Espresso and how it will rival many of the current popular text editors. It is currently in public beta and requires Leopard. Check out all of the features offered on the homepage.
Price: Free to try, pre order for $80.00. Discount for CSSEdit users.
CSSEdit
From the same people that built Espresso, CSSEdit is a text editor focused mainly on, well, CSS. Packed with all kinds of helpful features and references, CSSEdit is great for those who frequently design websites or templates.
Price: Free Trial, $40.00 per license
Capture Me
Looking for a simple and free screen capturing program? Then you might enjoy Capture Me, which contains features resizing on the fly, custom file types for images, and an easy to use interface.
Price: Free and Open Source!
BackDrop
Backdrop is a great program for those of us who constantly have multiple windows and panles open and need to clear up some space. If you need to focus on some code, or just do some writing, just activate BackDrop and watch your clutter disappear, allowing you to get back to work.
Price: Free!
ServerSkine
If you are constantly searching and trying to keep track of different clients domain and server information, ServerSkine can be a lifesaver. ServerSkine allows you to organize all of your different server and domain accounts of your clients in one easy to use program.
Price: Free!
Snapz Pro X
Snapz Pro X is a very powerful and versatile video and screen capturing software program for Mac. If you have checked out the Wordpress for Designers series, this is the software I use to create the screencasts.
Price: Free Trial, $69 per license.
Skype
While not limited to Mac OS only, Skype is a must have application for those who freelance or do any kind of work from home. Use it to make free calls to your boss or company, catch up with a client, or sit it on a video chat for a meeting.
Price: Free, discount for calls to certain areas of the world.
SpanningSync
SpanningSync allows you to synchronize iCal and Address Book with Google Calendar and Gmail Contacts. For those power gmail users, SpanningSync can be a huge help when it comes to organizing your events.
Price: Free, discount for calls to certain areas of the world.
Your Favorites?
For the sake of time and this article, there is no way we could include every excellent Mac application, so what are some of your favorites? What applications do you find to be most helpful when it comes to development?
Thanks Twitter!
A special thanks to those that replied to me on twitter when I asked what were some of your favorite Mac apps. I did my best to take all of your replies into thought before I finalized the list. Thanks Twitter!
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User Comments
( ADD YOURS )Chris Gwynne March 27th
First comment yay… excellent round up, thank you!
( )Sirwan March 27th
yay!
( )lawrence77 March 27th
but I’m not a MAC user!
I except 30+ Amazing Windows Apps for Developers…….
( )Sirwan March 28th
just act cool and follow the crowd… “yay for macs” …. ¬_¬
lawrence77 March 29th
Yeah I too love MAC…
But MAC is best but Windows is Better!
Adam Byram March 27th
Cornerstone is also a great tool for SVN – comparable to Versions. They each have pros/cons, but if you’re checking out Versions, Cornerstone is worth a look as well: http://www.zennaware.com/cornerstone/
( )Mark March 27th
I would go Cornerstone over Versions, even though it is a bit more expensive.
( )jason March 27th
netbeans! a good choice similar to eclipse and
( )Niche Blogger Today - Jonathan Thomas March 27th
Great post! I love Coda – I couldn’t live without it. Also, I love Evernote, it’s changed the way I work.
( )Mike March 27th
Great List, though I’m sure Espresso 1.0 has just recently been released.
Nothing for MySQL? Have been using SequelPro, however Querious (http://www.araelium.com/querious/) seems pretty nice too!
( )Witti March 27th
The Querious website seems to be down, you can also download an try this tool via http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/29981/querious
( )Wade March 30th
I use Oracle SQL Developer. It’s free, multi platform and very useful for development work, not as much for dba work
( )Peter March 27th
I don’t know what I’d do without Coda and CSSEdit.
Go get a real job, I suppose..
( )marc March 27th
Hi,
I myself like Invoice3 very much for my invoices (http://www.kedisoft.com/invoice/) Great control of your invoice designs and all I need in functionallity.
Cheers,
( )marc
Todd Austin March 27th
Great list, but I couldn’t work without Expandrive.
( )Jake March 27th
Since there are screenshot programs in the list, how about Little Snapper?
I agree with Mike, where are the programs for DB management? SequelPro is an awesome tool.
( )Nathan Ledet March 27th
If you need to jump to a terminal window real quick – Visor is the tool I use.
http://blacktree.com
Aside from that – i think I have a majority of those tools in your list…great list for sure!!
( )Nina Morena March 27th
Great post. I have Growl, Coda, Filezilla and MMAP…going to peep the new Expresso & CSSEdit.
Good post.
( )Belzebob March 27th
My favorites:
( )- Netbeans 6.5 instead of eclipse -> nicer interface and some additional features
- TimeLog and GrandTotal
- Typinator as alternative to TextExpander
- Cornerstone instead of Versions
Belzebob March 27th
Errr, i forgot XAMPP
( )Woz March 27th
That’s an extremely useful list. Here’s a few more useful apps to add.
Araxis Merge or Changes – excellent diff tools.
Cornerstone – SVN client (although I use Versions)
Hex Fiend – simple, but useful hex editor
HTTP Client – handy for debugging http requests / responses
Komodo Pro – fantastic editor, with awesome Perl debugger plus loads more
LittleSnapper – great screen/web capture tool from RapidWeaver team.
MesaSQLite – great SQLite database designer/editor/query tool
Navicat – excellent, but pricey MySQL tool.
OmniGraffle Pro – handy for UI experimentation and loads more
That’s a trawl through my Applications folder anyway!
Woz
( )Junni March 27th
I use Eclipse, Transmit and Growl at the moment. Coda seems nice, so I’ll try it out!
For svn I use the terminal, but I’m willing to try out graphicals applications
( )Rik Girbes March 27th
i have coda, but depending on how good you are with scripting, i would go for textmate….
coda looks nicer but isnt better at all..
(btw, thats just my opinion)
ooh and GREAT list!!!! amazing thanks!!
( )Benedict Aluan March 27th
Agreed.
Peter March 29th
What advantages to you see with textmate Rik? I’ve never used it, but I use Coda all the time, and I love it.
If textmate is better though, I’d definitely be willing to give it a try.
crysfel March 27th
i use Eclipse too, some time ago i used BBEdit on mac. on windows i like notepad++
( )Nick March 27th
Great post! Unfortunately Corporate has not upgraded our computers to Leopard
which most of these apps only work on. Also, what is with the shortage of open source great looking apps for the Mac?
You forgot the screenshot and screencast program, Jing. http://www.jingproject.com
@brewern
( )Butch Page March 27th
The most used apps on my Mac are Coda, MAMP, Quicksilver and Growl.
( )Benedict Aluan March 27th
The only thing I hate about Coda is that, it does not have “reformat code” feature.
( )Jeffrey Way March 27th
My favorites are Coda, Espreso, QuickSilver, MAMP, Growl, and DropBox (not really Mac specific).
( )lawrence77 March 27th
Jeffrey way I see you use Windows in all screecasts……
( )But here you gave fav’s in MAC???
Mike March 27th
TextMate, Skitch for awesome screengrabs, Transmit and SmartSVN. Would also be lost without Things!
( )Andrew March 27th
Great list! Looking forward to “30 Amazing Windows Apps for Developers”
( )Andrew March 27th
. . . Although I realize that quite a few of these have Windows versions.
( )Johnathan Barrett March 27th
There’s already a shit load of stuff for Windows. I found it hard finding something I felt comfortable coding in on Mac until I found Coda.
( )Stephen March 27th
Little Snapper is a great program to store all your inspirational bits you find all over the web.
( )http://www.realmacsoftware.com/littlesnapper/
Sam March 27th
Great list. I prefer TextMate over Coda. MAMP, FileZilla and Skype are great tools to have. I’ll definitely try out some more from the list.
( )Diego SA March 27th
Just downloaded some of these Apps.
( )Matt Radel March 27th
Nice list. Personally I think Aptana (it’s basically uber-Eclipse though) & skEdit are worthy of mention in the html editor realm.
I would LOVE to see an in-depth tutorial on using versions with a local machine as a subversion server. Been banging my head against the wall trying to get that to work.
( )Jason Palmer March 27th
Dude what’s with the douchebag haircut and kissy lips?
Weird.
( )Antoine "Khaz" Lenoir March 27th
I must admit that some of those appz are very useful !
( )I use Textmate and CyberDuck with a high rate, but Aptana Studio is very useful too (because of the PHP debugger)
Richard Powell March 27th
I was an obsessive Paparazzi use for a long, but have happily replaced it now with LittleSnapper (http://www.realmacsoftware.com/littlesnapper/) which adds a lot of iPhoto-like features to managing screencaps.
( )David March 27th
Great post.. would love to see a tutorial on how to really benefit from CSSEdit.
( )Sk1ppeR March 27th
Do you know any alternative of ManHour for Windows ? Or a program with similar functions ?
( )Cody March 27th
Something to note about MAMP, mysql is out of date 5.0 to 5.1 has a lot of bug fixes.
( )Philo March 27th
Great Article, useful apps!
( )Dan Harper March 27th
I love TextMate and Espresso as editors (prefer them both over Coda, tbh). I use XAMPP instead of MAMP for local server area. Transmit or CyberDuck are both awesome for FTP.
Other recommendations:
( )- Things: To-do list manager for Mac & iPhone
- Fluid: Run websites as their own application (great for Gmail! – see AppStorm’s review)
dixhuit March 27th
Spanning Sync isn’t free. Not unless you’re only planning to use it for 15 days.
( )Michael Thompson March 27th
SKITCH. How the hell did you leave Skitch off? LifeHacker and most of the Gawker network use it, as well as just about every developer I know.
Want to share a screenshot? Click “Upload” and it’s ready to share. Crop, resize, draw, type — hands-down the best. ADD IT TO THE LIST. SERIOUSLY.
( )Corey M March 27th
Agreed! Skitch trumps all the other screengrab utilities on this list in an order of magnitude.
( )Dave March 27th
Absolutely! I’ve been using Skitch for a long time now and it’s free to boot. I picked up Little Snapper in the MacHeist bundle (which I strongly encourage you all to get) and I an anxious to try it out to see how it compares to Skitch. I’m sure it will do some things better and others not as well…
The Devil March 27th
LittleSnapper buys Skitch a drink in a bar, only to take it to a filthy hotel and perform degrading sexual acts to it and never call it again.
Juarez P. A. Filho March 28th
Totally agreed. I use Sktich for some months and it’s just work. I upload some clients sketches with password and on boy it’s really AWESOME.
( )Jesse Storimer March 29th
So Right, Skitch is a must-have on any Mac that I use.
I also find HTTPClient to be invaluable when doing development. It shows raw HTTP requests/responses.
etc March 27th
Great list…
Could be possible to have a similar list for Windows environment ?
( )Ryan March 27th
For anyone interested in espresso, you can get it in the macheist bundle along with 11 other programs for $39. I am no way affiliated with them but this is a good deal for anyone looking to pick up espresso.
http://www.macheist.com/
( )The Devil March 27th
Not quite, it’s in the list of applications but is still locked. BoinxTV is locked until $400k is raised for charity and $250k is raised so far, but no idea how much will need to be raised in order for them to unlock Espresso yet.
The MacHeist bundle is a great deal though, and a good way to donate.
( )Mark March 27th
Mamp kinda sucks. Just set up Apache yourself, it isnt too difficult to do. And the default install of PHP doesnt have GD
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Step_by_Step_Installation_on_a_Mac_OS_X_10.5_Server
Very simple.
And it is easier to add virtual named hosts and modify the /etc/hosts file
( )Witti March 27th
OMG, thank’s for that link, now gdlib is working with my Leo installation.
( )Daquan Wright March 29th
Setting up a local web server (apache, php, perl, mysql, etc…) yourself can generally be a pain in the ass, this website agrees: http://techwhimsy.com/local-development-installing-xampp
I prefer xampp, I hear it is updated more often and the more popular choice. Though I heard wamp/mamp use up less resources.
For those coda/mamp lovers who love web development, the windows alternative is definitely Notepad++ (absolutely amazing editor) and xampp/wamp.
Great list, I know little about macs but I’ve learned much when it comes to using a better tool to get a job done.
( )Brian March 27th
Very cool list. I really like the idea of Snippely! Does anybody use this app?
( )Leandro Ardissone April 1st
It’s a nice idea, but I don’t like Adobe AIR apps, so I use Snipplr.com which integrates perfectly with TextMate.
( )Matt March 27th
Oh Man. VMWare Fusion should be the #1 item. This is a MUST have for any developer.
( )lowell March 27th
give me a Bash shell, TextMate, git and i’m straight.
( )Rob March 27th
I know everyone is down on Adobe, but I got Dreamweaver with an educational discount, and haven’t found anything better to switch to. I do like Coda’s interface, though.
++VMWare Fusion
( )Kevin April 21st
I would love to know what makes TextMate and Coda so much better than Dreamweaver also. It seems that I’m in a great minority here. I’m definitely willing to switch if there’s seems to be good reason to…
( )THE FiSH July 8th
Dreamweaver is absolute crap. It’s fine for an individual who thinks creating websites is an easy hobby like scrapbooking, but when you look at the code of any website, you can tell the people that know what they’re doing from those who don’t. Dreamweaver inserts bad code everywhere it can, and it takes the creativity away from you as well. But hey, if you’re not creative nor a developer, then Dreamweaver is the perfect program… of course if that’s the fact, then shouldn’t you find something else to do rather than web?
I use TextMate. I love being able to set the background to be transparent allowing me to see the sites that I’m working on while I’m coding. I love all the colors of the code and how you know what code is what, and where errors are based on the many colors.
I used coda for a bit, but found that TextMate was just a better piece of software.
I use TextMate, Transmit, all the Adobe products shouldn’t have to be mentioned, firefox with it’s addons that makes like happy, fluid… like the guy above said is amazing, and now SequelPro after reading this…
Daniel Balfour July 20th
I’m swimming with THE FISH on this one babe, and how!? This guy/girl seriously took the words right out of my mouth.
Mention “Dreamweaver” ?? Hah! Maybe if we were talking about overpriced spam ware then sure! In fact, anyone that even suggest DW is worse off then an amateur/novice because they actually ‘think’ they’re onto something.
You want to learn to code? Do it the right way. I must say, I was on the fence between Coda & TextMate for a while. The fact that TextMate is less intuitive then I’d like and that it doesn’t have ANY remote file (ftp, etc) support is a serious drawback. But once you get used to coding it this beautiful binary masterpiece you can hardly look back. The autocomplete, transparent background, fully customized code bundles, I mean the only contender against this baby is Coda, with BBEdit at a VERY distant third. Needless to say, DW isn’t even in the race! It’s just not happening for Adobe.
Again, I’m with THE FISH on that FF plugs should’ve been mentioned, specifically webdev toolbar and Firebug. Other then that everything’s a coin toss, save for one application – CSSEdit 2.6. There’s one app that can’t be overpraised. CSS 2.6 allows you to ‘edit’ LIVE websites on the fly. Want to see what CNN.com would look like in Blue? Fire up CSSEdit, point it to CNN.com and you’re there baby! I seriously think this app should’ve gotten a LOT more attention.
Anyone designing bare-bones up (WordPress frameworks, Joomla, etc) simply can’t beat this application for styling. It’s like Photoshop for your Browser! Seriously people, try it out. It’s well worth the $. I’ve got nothing but praise for this company!
My $0.02
Craig March 27th
MacVim
( )Mark Sanborn March 27th
The fact that people are willing to pay for Texmate/Coda instead of using Vim amazes me.
Nice list of apps though!
( )Tom March 27th
great list, I just check out Espresso, good software.
( )Jash Sayani March 28th
Espresso is the best! But 80 bucks is a bomb!! Smultron could replace it…
( )Daniel Balfour July 20th
Espresso’s a toy. It’s a first-gen, candy-ass program with nothing more then a few bells and whistles.
If you’re serious about coding then Textmate’s the way to go.
David Sparks March 27th
Spanning Sync isnt free.
( )$25 a year. $65 unlimited.
David Sparks March 27th
the Snaps Pro image and link also link to Silverskine
( )Jash Sayani March 28th
Google Sync does it for free now!
( )Kevin Quillen March 27th
Where is Aptana for PHP/CVS/JS development? Sequel Pro for SQL database editing? Both totally free and killer. Our office uses all Dreamweaver + Subversion for CVS and I had no issue connecting and using Aptana on my Macbook.
( )lawrence77 March 29th
Maybe Aptana is also for Windows!
( )So it may not be listed here!
I’m not sure its my own thinking!
nico March 27th
Perfect!
make my switch 3 days ago, but i bought yummy ftp instead of transmit.
( )Jash Sayani March 28th
Why pay for an FTP client?? Cyberduck (OpenSource) is amazing !
( )Ryan March 27th
I use Skype a lot with a guy I work with. The screen share feature is very useful. I just wish Skype didn’t take up so much memory.
( )Yoyo March 27th
Great stuff! I’m going to give Snippley a try.
( )elkaz March 27th
Mac roundup overload.. most readers of this site would still be windows users and there is never a ‘windows roundup’..
( )Isaac Gonzalez March 27th
I’ve been using Google Quick Search Box for my application/folder launcher. One of the co-developers is Alcor – the creator of quicksilver.
http://code.google.com/p/qsb-mac/
I love interface and use it as a spotlight replacement.
( )Ramin March 27th
Great list. I run, like 80% of the items in the post. Here are a few more (note: most are for-pay, but the developers are totally worth supporting):
- Graphics and icon creation: Opacity, Acorn, Pictureseque. Also ColorSchemer Studio for matching color themes.
- Finder replacement, file management, terminal: Path Finder.
- Idea storage & note taking: Curio.
- Storing snippets, websites, etc: Yojimbo.
- Keeping track of web-sites and emails: Tags.
- Managing media library (for bigger projects): Leap.
- Font browsing/management: Linotype FontExplorer.
- Measuring and screen placement: XScope.
- SQLite editing: SQLiteManager or Base.
- MySQL/Postgres management: Navicat.
- Making quick screen prototypes: Balsamiq Mockups.
- Server file transfer: ExpanDrive, SpeedDownload, and FileChute.
- Time tracking: OfficeTime.
- SVN: Versions, Cornerstone, and Changes.
- Source code search: ScriptLight.
- Network monitoring: HTTP Client, Charles, and Wireshark.
- Screen capture: Layers, Skitch, and ScreenFlow. Also ScreenSteps for making step-by-step tutorials.
- CSS Editing. Sold on CSSEdit (and Espresso) but Style Master is also pretty decent.
- Organizing apps so they’re easy to launch: Launcher + DragThing.
- Making diagrams: OmniGraffle and believe it or not, Keynote.
- Also, under Eclipse you can install a lot of add-ons. Aptana, MyEclipse, and PyEclipse are a few that come to mind.
OK, I’ll stop now
( )lawrence77 March 29th
Genius!
( )Daniel Balfour July 20th
Stop??? Why??? Omg some of your suggestions were out of this world! You’re seriously starting to give the post some competition……
( )timuism March 27th
This is a GREAT list. Coda, textmate, on the job, quicksilver. All excellent apps I can’t go without them anymore.
( )wrerm March 27th
Nice article Drew…one small thing. The info for Skype is repeated for SpanningSync. If I’m not mistaken it’s not free
( )M R K Development March 28th
I dont know why everyone uses transmit. Yummy FTP is way better if you ask me.
Navicat lite is a great mysql tool and is free.
( )Paul the Knight March 28th
Great list, I have to say Dropbox and Growl are pretty outstanding.
( )Mike March 28th
At the moment I keep switching between Coda, TextMate & Espresso.
I love how textmate formats your code, and allows you to add bookmarks to your code. But I feel more comfortable in Espresso. I wish I could fuse the 2 together!
( )tb March 28th
… VirtualBox from Sun Microsystems – FREE!!!
( )Wezzy March 28th
Netbeans for development (PHP, ruby, java, javascript and CSS support and soon python)
and XScope for measuring!
( )Shane March 28th
After about 15 years of sole PC use, I bought a Mac about two years ago, and I now use a PC and a Mac.
For any non-Microsoft web development (Wordpress, PHP, RoR etc.), I use a Mac, and most specifically, Coda and MAMP.
The Mac took a bit of getting used to, but I love it now
( )Amanda March 28th
I love Jumpcut. It keeps my last 15 or so clipboard items at the ready.
( )sam March 28th
Snipply
Snippley
Snippely
please decide
( )Dusan March 28th
I’m getting a mac soon, so this list is very useful. I just hope that transition will be painless
( )Chris March 28th
I was looking forward to Espresso since I love CSSedit, but I am truly underwhelmed by it. Maybe it’s because 1.0 shipped with no documentation and I’m just using it wrong. But I think it just needs more baking. I’m sticking with Coda.
( )Jason Kempshall March 28th
I honestly couldn’t live without Coda, beautiful App!
( )hey March 28th
What about TimeLog?
( )A great timelogger and manager. It’s free for about 50 entries!
http://www.apple.com/downloads/macosx/business_finance/timelog.html
Jash Sayani March 28th
Growl is not for developers! But anyway its a great utility…
You could have included Timepost. Its a nice tracking app.
BTW, Versions.app is Amazing, but damn expensive for a SVN client.
( )Hernan March 28th
Nobody here uses a pic editor? I’m looking for something like Paint o Paint.NET.
( )Have to be free, OSX native and *not* bloated.
Kevin Quillen March 30th
Gimp?
( )boobie April 2nd
http://www.pixelmator.com/
Dan S. March 28th
I bought a mac a few months ago after being a pc user for a very long time. I’m lovin’ my mac! Its just an awesome OS for development work. Lots of great tools and the UNIXish command line rules. I’ve also completely fallen in love with Coda. Its such a slick app. Thanks for this list, I downloaded Growl, Billings 3 and Paparazzi because of it.
( )MorayWeb March 29th
This list and the comments that follow it are more fuel to my ’should I go back to a Mac’ problem!! I see Coda in loads of screencasts and am totally gutted there is nothing that simple. lightweight and effective for the PC!
I will add myself to the few above who would be very keen to see a Windows version of the list as there are bound to be plenty of apps out there that I haven”t come across yet that may help improve efficiency and ease…
Gordon
( )JP March 29th
I’ll take YummyFTP over Transmit any day! For recent switchers who are used to WinSCP…go for Yummy. Despite the stupid – horrendously stupid – nay, mega-ultra-failingly stupid name, it’s a brilliant app.
( )Wade Jackman March 29th
Nice collection of apps there. Definitely some must haves on the list. I’d also like to ad Linotype FontExplorer and Klok, an adobe air app for time management.
( )Kevin Martin March 29th
Awesome round up, I actually use several of these apps, but the others are definitely worth trying. +1
( )Jarryd March 29th
I didn’t know Dropbox was a Mac App? I have it for Windows XP
( )itreptil March 30th
cool apps
( )Jacob March 30th
SpanningSync is a great tool, but unfortunatly is not free as the article says… ;-(
( )PizzaPete March 30th
I use svnX instead of versions.
( )Wicky March 30th
Snipply sounds great, but I’ve never used Adobe Air apps because of potential security vulnerabilities. Is this a legitimate concern… or just paranoia?
Great list tho, BTW.
( )Miles Tinsley March 30th
I think I use nearly all of these apps at some point during development – or at least I will now! What a great collection. It baffles me how Microtards get anything productive done on Windows!?!??!
( )Bass P March 30th
well, this is really a great post.. I’ve downloaded Paparazzi already and it does a great job.. didn’t know this existed !! I’ve got TextMate since recent which I’m pretty satisfied with.
( )I also use GrandTotal for invoicing and I gotta say that it is somewhat sloppy and heavy on resources (me still being on the first powerbook) but overall a great app, not to mention the support. Them guys are fast in replying. I love that.
Keep it up guys !! great job !!
Andris March 30th
I know you guys all hate Dreamweaver. But let me ask you why? It’s got a nice color scheme for code and a pretty good ftp-program in it. Is it beacuase it’s too expensive?
( )Kevin Quillen March 30th
You’re joking right? It’s a text editor, it shouldn’t cost a whole lot of money. Aptana is free and worlds better.
( )Martyn March 30th
Brilliant list!
Im trying to think if you missed anything but I can’t think of anything other than Cyberduck but that’s pretty similar to Transmit.
( )Owen March 30th
DropBox is great for sharing artwork with clients without using FTP (or my own server space!)
I’m in the process of downloading KomodoEdit!
P.S. Dreamweaver is so much more than a text editor!
( )Devin March 30th
I recommend Adium to manage all of your chat clients!
( )http://www.adiumx.com/
Kartik Mistry March 30th
I am using Cyberduck, Eclipse, Quicksilver, Growl, Skype! Planning to use Dropbox and Magnifique right now!!
( )Tom Kenny March 30th
Very timely article as it seems like more and more people are thinking about switching to Mac, at least amongst people I know.
Coda is my favourite text editor out there but I haven’t used the latest version of Espresso yet. I hope it gets unlocked in the MacHeist bundle (http://www.macheist.com/), which I’ve already bought, so I’ll be able to give it a go.
( )Kris Allen March 30th
Coda is the bomb, I’ve been using if for about a year. I like TextMate for RoR and MAMP is great. I’ve check out espresso and CSEdit, but keep going back to Coda.
( )Demian Turner March 31st
For managing your tasks and todo’s, give Doris a go – the app’s simplicity really helps you get things done: http://beta.dorisapp.com
( )boobie April 2nd
looks good but I’d rather pay for an ap that works offline. like things fe.
( )Joel Drapper March 31st
What about those of us that can’t afford a mac?
( )ak March 31st
Subethaedit?
It’s kinda like coda’s engine… oh.. didn’t make it on the list. hmmmm
( )Gaird Schlesinger April 2nd
I use 1Password to manage the many (many) logins we have internally, on behalf of clients, and personally. It has great features, including an iPhone app, so I am never at a loss for a login again.
http://agilewebsolutions.com/products/1Password
( )ormac April 3rd
thanks, very helpfull/usefull list!
( )Taylor Satula April 4th
Where was Flow FTP. So much better than the other FTP’s here http://extendmac.com/flow/ even thogh filezilla is still the king for big file transfers.
( )Joel_ April 8th
Most code apps (i.e. dreamweaver, coda, espresso, bbedit) are all, to a degree, rather interchangeable. CSSedit, however, is an irreplaceable app so brilliant in its implementation that there are no competitors.
Rarely can I say an application increases my coding productivity by 75%. It’s THAT good.
( )Bjørn Friese April 10th
All great software, my favorites are Transmit and Quicksilver, simply because they rock.
( )dan April 10th
am already using most of them but there is one or two il have to try out ! got to love the mac !
( )ganarce April 15th
Great List,
Transmit is indispensable for me, Coda is quite good but on the expensive. I think that TextMate and Transmit combined are a perfect match. I have to check Espresso and Komodo.
You did not mention skitch , which is very helpfull
( )Jeffrey Way July 10th
Dreamweaver isn’t “crap”, as you suggest. You don’t have to build your sites in design view.
( )