30+ Amazing Mac Apps for Developers

30+ Amazing Mac Apps for Developers

on Mar 27th 2009 with 141 comments

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

Screenshot 1

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.

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TextMate

Screenshot 2

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.

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Eclipse

Screenshot 3

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!

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QuickSilver

Screenshot 4

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!

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Komodo Edit

Screenshot 5

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!

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Billings 3

Screenshot 6

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.

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BB Edit

Screenshot 7

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.

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MAMP

Screenshot 8

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.

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Panic Transmit

Screenshot 9

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.

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Paparazzi

Screenshot 10

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!

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Magnifique

Screenshot 11

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!

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Flow

Screenshot 12

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.

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Man Hour

Screenshot 13

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, $19.99 per license.

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CyberDuck

Screenshot 14

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!

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FileZilla

Screenshot 15

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!

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TextExpander

Screenshot 16

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.

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DropBox

Screenshot 17

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, $19.99/month for more space.

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Growl

Screenshot 18

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.

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LaunchBar

Screenshot 19

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.

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Money3

Screenshot 20

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.

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On The Job

Screenshot 21

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.

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Versions

Screenshot 22

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.

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Snipply

Screenshot 23

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!

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Espresso

Screenshot 24

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.

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CSSEdit

Screenshot 25

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

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Capture Me

Screenshot 26

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!

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BackDrop

Screenshot 27

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!

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ServerSkine

Screenshot 28

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!

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Snapz Pro X

Screenshot 29

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.

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Skype

Screenshot 30

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.

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SpanningSync

Screenshot 31

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.

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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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Drew Douglass is CreatingDrew on Codecanyon
 
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Hi, I'm Drew and I am a freelance developer and designer. I love all things having to do with PHP, MySQL, CSS, or jQuery. You can find my weekly articles on the ThemeForest blog and at Dev-Tips.com. Feel free to follow me if you're a fellow twitter addict.  

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  • Yoyo

    Great stuff! I’m going to give Snippley a try.

  • elkaz

    Mac roundup overload.. most readers of this site would still be windows users and there is never a ‘windows roundup’..

  • http://www.isaaccreative.com Isaac Gonzalez

    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.

  • http://ramin.firoozye.com Ramin

    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 :-)

    • http://laranzjoe.blogspot.com lawrence77

      Genius! ;)

    • Daniel Balfour

      Stop??? Why??? Omg some of your suggestions were out of this world! You’re seriously starting to give the post some competition…… :-)

  • timuism

    This is a GREAT list. Coda, textmate, on the job, quicksilver. All excellent apps I can’t go without them anymore.

  • http://pxjunkie.blogspot.com wrerm

    Nice article Drew…one small thing. The info for Skype is repeated for SpanningSync. If I’m not mistaken it’s not free

  • http://mrkdevelopment.com.au M R K Development

    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.

  • http://www.podcastforfreelancers.com Paul the Knight

    Great list, I have to say Dropbox and Growl are pretty outstanding.

  • Mike

    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

    … VirtualBox from Sun Microsystems – FREE!!!

  • http://www.artbits.it Wezzy

    Netbeans for development (PHP, ruby, java, javascript and CSS support and soon python)

    and XScope for measuring!

  • http://www.freshclickmedia.com Shane

    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

    I love Jumpcut. It keeps my last 15 or so clipboard items at the ready.

  • sam

    Snipply
    Snippley
    Snippely

    please decide :)

  • http://idsandclasses.com Dusan

    I’m getting a mac soon, so this list is very useful. I just hope that transition will be painless

  • http://www.crispeegrafix.com/ Chris

    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.

  • http://sneakybadger.com Jason Kempshall

    I honestly couldn’t live without Coda, beautiful App!

  • hey

    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

  • http://www.jashsayani.com Jash Sayani

    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

    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.

  • Dan S.

    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.

  • http://www.moraywebsolutions.com MorayWeb

    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

  • http://www.johnpash.com JP

    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.

  • http://www.newstandardcreative.com Wade Jackman

    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.

  • http://synarchydesign.com Kevin Martin

    Awesome round up, I actually use several of these apps, but the others are definitely worth trying. +1

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  • http://jarrydcrawford.com/ Jarryd

    I didn’t know Dropbox was a Mac App? I have it for Windows XP :)

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  • itreptil

    cool apps

  • Jacob

    SpanningSync is a great tool, but unfortunatly is not free as the article says… ;-(

  • PizzaPete

    I use svnX instead of versions.

  • Wicky

    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.

  • http://www.milestinsley.com Miles Tinsley

    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

    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 !!

  • http://www.andrislinz.ch Andris

    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?

    • http://www.kevinquillen.com Kevin Quillen

      You’re joking right? It’s a text editor, it shouldn’t cost a whole lot of money. Aptana is free and worlds better.

  • http://www.crearedesign.co.uk Martyn

    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.

  • http://www.weon.co.uk Owen

    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!

  • http://www.devinleggett.com Devin

    I recommend Adium to manage all of your chat clients!
    http://www.adiumx.com/

  • http://kartikm.wordpress.com Kartik Mistry

    I am using Cyberduck, Eclipse, Quicksilver, Growl, Skype! Planning to use Dropbox and Magnifique right now!!

  • http://www.twitter.com/tkenny Tom Kenny

    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

    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.

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  • http://dorisapp.com Demian Turner

    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

      looks good but I’d rather pay for an ap that works offline. like things fe.

      • Khuyagbaatar

        wonderful

  • http://joeldrapper.com Joel Drapper

    What about those of us that can’t afford a mac? :(

  • ak

    Subethaedit?

    It’s kinda like coda’s engine… oh.. didn’t make it on the list. hmmmm

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  • http://www.hitchcreative.com Gaird Schlesinger

    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

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