Mohsen Karimi@mohsen_devolgAbout MacNative
Anyone can vibe-code a Mac app this year. Type a prompt, ship a landing page, call it done — the App Store and Product Hunt are drowning in the result. MacNative exists to cut through that: every listing here is genuinely good — native by default, and non-native only on the rare occasion nothing native does the job as well.
Common questions
Why does MacNative exist?
Because AI just blew the Mac app market wide open — for better and worse. It's never been cheaper to build something genuinely great, and it's never been easier to fake one with a slick landing page and zero craft behind it. MacNative is the line between the two.
What counts as a "real" app here?
Native, or compiled straight to a binary — Swift, SwiftUI, AppKit, Rust, Go, whatever gets you there. Not a website in a trench coat. It has to feel like it belongs on your Mac, not like it got ported from somewhere else over a long weekend.
Do non-native apps ever make it in?
Only when there's no native app solving the same problem well — then a genuinely great non-native app, with real design and craft behind it, can earn a spot. It's the exception that proves the rule: the bar for a non-native app is higher, not lower.
How do you separate the good ones from the slop?
By hand, every single time. I read the submission, try the app myself, and check it against the same bar posted on the guidelines page — no shortcuts, no paid fast lane.
What happens after an app gets listed?
It gets promoted, not just filed away. Every listing goes out to the audience across social media, X, and the Telegram newsletter, plus the site itself.
What's the Open Source board?
A live leaderboard of free, open-source Mac apps, ranked by GitHub stars and refreshed daily. Projects with no release in the last 60 days get dropped automatically, so it only shows software people are still actively building.
What is Launch of the Week?
A weekly leaderboard where brand-new Mac apps compete on community upvotes. The top 3 each week earn a Launch of the Week badge for their site, plus a free shoutout on X and in the newsletter.
How does MacNative make money?
Getting listed costs nothing — that part's non-negotiable. There's a Pro plan for makers who want extra visibility, but money never buys a pass on the review itself.
Who's doing the reviewing?
Just me. One developer who's cared about Mac software since long before "vibe coding" was a phrase, reading every submission with my own eyes.
Want the ground rules for what gets listed? Read the submission guidelines.