Best Automation Apps for Mac

The short answer. Hammerspoon is the programmer’s answer: Lua, a window API, a hotkey system and the ability to read and write almost anything, in a config file you own. Keyboard Maestro is the visual answer: triggers, macros, conditions and a palette, with a licence. Hazel is the file-system answer: rules that fire when something lands in a folder. Actions and AI Actions extend Shortcuts with the verbs Apple did not ship. ScriptManager puts shell scripts in the menu bar, skhd binds them to keys, and Desktop Control exposes the whole GUI to an agent through screen, mouse and keyboard. Fazm is the voice-controlled version of that idea. The dividing question is who is going to maintain the automation, because a macro you cannot read in six months is a macro you will delete.

This guide covers 9 automation apps for macOS. Every fact below is drawn from the same verified records that back each app’s own page. The recommendations are our editorial judgment, not payment. Last verified 2026-10-05.

Quick comparison

What actually decides this

• What the trigger is. A hotkey, a file arriving, a schedule, a menu bar click and a voice command are five different entry points. Most automation tools support several and are good at one, which is the one their documentation leads with.
• Whether the logic is visual or written. A macro editor shows you the steps and hides the state. A script file shows you everything and requires you to read it. The visual version is faster to start and harder to review; the written version is the opposite.
• What it can reach outside itself. Launching apps is easy. Moving windows, reading the clipboard, clicking a button in another app and running a shell command are progressively harder and progressively more valuable. The permission list is the real feature list.
• Whether it survives the app being closed. A macro runner that lives in the menu bar stops when it quits. A launch agent keeps going. For anything that has to happen when you are not at the machine, this decides the architecture.
• What the failure looks like. An automation that silently does nothing is worse than one that errors, because you keep trusting it. Logging is unglamorous and it is the difference between a tool you can debug and a tool you abandon.
• Whether an agent can drive it. The newest entrants expose the GUI to a model that decides what to click. That is powerful and it is also the least predictable option here, because the failure mode is a confident wrong action rather than a skipped step.

Our picks

• Hammerspoon — Its record describes powerful automation with the Lua scripting engine, which is the scripted case. Choose it when you want automation you can read, version and extend.
• Keyboard Maestro — Its record describes automating repetitive tasks with triggers and macros, which is the visual case. Choose it when you want macros built visually with triggers and conditions.
• Hazel — Its record describes automated file organisation, which is the file-system case. Choose it when the trigger is a file arriving in a folder.
• Actions — Its record describes providing useful actions for the Shortcuts app, which is the extend-Shortcuts case. Choose it when you want more verbs inside Shortcuts.
• skhd — Its record describes a simple hotkey daemon for macOS, which is the key-to-command case. Choose it when the automation is a command and the trigger is a key.
• Desktop Control — Its record describes a GPU-accelerated CLI for AI agents to control any macOS app via screen, mouse and keyboard, which is the agent case. Choose it when an agent needs to drive the GUI itself.

The apps

Actions

Actions is an automation tool for macOS. Provides many useful actions for the Shortcuts app. It is free.

What it does. Additional actions for the Shortcuts app. The app provides 180+ powerful extra actions for the Shortcuts app on macOS, iOS, and visionOS. These actions make….

Actions is listed with current version 4.2.0.

Full profile and verified facts for Actions →

AI Actions

AI Actions is an automation tool for macOS. AI actions for the Shortcuts app. It is free.

What it does. AI actions for the Shortcuts app. The app provides additional AI-related actions (GPT, Claude Sonnet/Opus, etc.) for the Shortcuts app.

AI Actions is listed with current version 1.5.1.

Full profile and verified facts for AI Actions →

Desktop Control

Desktop Control is an automation tool for macOS. GPU-accelerated CLI for AI agents to control any macOS app via screen, mouse, and keyboard. It is released under MIT. Its pricing is not published.

What it does. OSX launcher and GPU-accelerated CLI tool for AI agents. Open-source computer use tool.

Desktop Control is listed with current version 0.3.0.

Full profile and verified facts for Desktop Control →

Fazm

Fazm is a productivity app for macOS. Open-source voice-controlled AI agent for apps, files, and workflows. It is open source.

What it does. Run the real Claude Code and Codex agent in a native Mac app: persistent sessions that survive a restart, one-click chat forking, and no auto-compacting. Open source.

Full profile and verified facts for Fazm →

Hammerspoon

Hammerspoon is a Mac utility for macOS. Tool for powerful OSX automation with the Lua scripting engine. It is released under MIT.

What it does. Staggeringly powerful macOS desktop automation with Lua. Making the runtime, funtime.

Hammerspoon is listed with current version 1.1.1.

Full profile and verified facts for Hammerspoon →

Hazel

Hazel is a file automation tool for macOS. Automated file organization for your Mac. Responsibly and beautifully designed. It is released under Proprietary; a licence unlocks the major version purchased and includes free upgrades within that version.. It is one-time purchase.

Strengths. A one-time purchase rather than a subscription: a licence gives free upgrades for the major version bought. Supports all Apple Silicon Macs, per the developer’s FAQ. According to the developer, app Sweep detects when an application is thrown away and offers to delete the support files it left behind.

Trade-offs. The current 6.1.2 build requires macOS 13 Ventura or later, so users on macOS 12 must stay on the older Hazel 6.0 line. Moving to a new major version is a paid upgrade of US$20, and the licence is tied to the version purchased. Trash features require Full Disk Access.

Not for. Windows or Linux users — Hazel is macOS only. Macs running macOS 12 or earlier — the current 6.1.2 build requires macOS 13 Ventura. Anyone who wants to manage files by hand — Hazel’s value comes from rules that run automatically.

What it does. Watches folders and files files automatically according to rules. Rules match on name, date, type, source site, tags and file contents. Actions include move, rename, tag, archive, open and upload. App Sweep finds and offers to remove an application’s leftover support files.

Hazel is listed with current version 6.1.2.

Full profile and verified facts for Hazel →

Keyboard Maestro

Keyboard Maestro is an automation tool for macOS. Automate repetitive tasks with triggers and macros. It is released under Proprietary; licensed per user, usable on up to five Macs, and covering the current major version (11.x).. It is one-time purchase.

Strengths. A one-time purchase of US$36 per user rather than a subscription, and one user can install it on up to five Macs. Ships as a native build for both Intel 64-bit and Apple Silicon, with Hardened Runtime, and is notarized. Runs on macOS 10.13 High Sierra or later, so it still works on Macs that cannot run a current macOS release.

Trade-offs. According to the developer, a licence covers the current major version only; the developer describes an informal policy of a paid major upgrade roughly once every 12 to 36 months. It is not available from the Mac App Store, and the developer states it probably never will be. Controlling other applications requires Accessibility permission.

Not for. Windows or Linux users — Keyboard Maestro is macOS only. Anyone who wants to install from the Mac App Store — it is not sold there, and the developer says it probably never will be. People who only need a keyboard launcher — Keyboard Maestro is built around trigger-and-action macros.

What it does. Macros triggered by hot keys, typed strings, device keys, application launches and schedules. Hundreds of built-in actions combined with flow control, conditions and loops. Controls applications, windows and menus, and can fill in web forms. Manipulates text and images, including OCR and Apple Text Recognition.

Keyboard Maestro is listed with current version 11.1.1.

Full profile and verified facts for Keyboard Maestro →

ScriptManager

ScriptManager is a developer tool for macOS. Easy to use menu bar-tool for your mac, to run shell-scripts. It is released under MIT.

What it does. New animations and brand new design. Highlighted text editor for easier creation of scripts. Now possible to interrupt running scripts. More possibilities with new input function for scripts.

ScriptManager is listed with current version 1.0.5.

Full profile and verified facts for ScriptManager →

skhd

skhd is a Mac utility for macOS. Simple hotkey daemon for macOS. It is released under MIT.

What it does. Simple hotkey daemon for macOS.

Full profile and verified facts for skhd →

How to choose

• Free of charge. Actions and AI Actions — no payment is required.
• No licence fee, source available. Fazm, Hammerspoon, ScriptManager and skhd — the source can be read and, under the terms of each licence, reused.
• One-time purchase. Hazel and Keyboard Maestro — you pay once.
• Pricing not published in our data. Desktop Control — check the developer’s own site before assuming anything about cost.

Open source: Fazm, Hammerspoon, ScriptManager and skhd (4 of 9).

Common mistakes

• Building a macro with no logging and discovering it stopped working months ago.
• Putting automation in a menu bar app when it needs to run while you are away.
• Granting accessibility and screen recording to an automation tool before deciding what it should do.
• Letting an agent click through a destructive dialog because the prompt said “clean up”.

How this guide was put together

Each app’s facts come from its own record: the developer’s own pages and repository, the App Store listing where one exists, and the documentation, each with a source grade and an access date. Where a fact rests on the developer’s own statement rather than on something we verified independently, the sentence says so. Where our data has no value for something, the guide says “not published” instead of guessing.

A price appears here only where the record carries one from a stated source; the guide never estimates one, and it records the pricing model alongside so the two can be read together. Prices change and vary by region, so each app links to its own page for the current detail.

The facts and the recommendations are kept apart on purpose. Everything in the app entries, the comparison table and the answers above is composed from the records. The short answer, the criteria and the picks are our editorial judgment: they reflect what we would choose and why, and they are not paid for. Where we make a recommendation we name the condition it applies under, because we do not call anything “the best” without explaining the criteria.

Verified 2026-10-05.