Linux Apps for Mac Switchers

Not long ago, switching from Windows to the Mac was quite en vogue. The Mac seemed friendlier, Mac developers seemingly put more thought into the apps they created and Mac users felt more productive on the Mac than on Windows.

While all of that may still hold true in 2019, the Mac seems to be headed down a path of which many long-time Mac users are growing increasingly sceptical. macOS seems to be getting more and more like iOS and true gains in productivity and usability from one major release to the next have become few and far between. Productivity and usability often even take a hit in new releases of macOS due to newly introduced "features", changes or restrictions. Add to that an overall decline in Apple's software quality, which has led an increasing number of Mac users to grow frustrated with the platform they once loved and start looking for an alternative.

If you are one of these Mac users and you don't want to go back to Windows, you might want to consider switching to Linux. To help with that switch, here you'll find a curated list of apps that can replace the apps you've been using on the Mac.

Notes

The goal of this list is to offer users switching from the Mac to Linux the most comprehensive list of Linux application software that can replace equivalent Mac apps. I only include apps that are currently maintained. I don't recommend any particular Linux distribution or differentiate between them or their "native" apps in any way.

I'm including commercial, closed-source and web-based software and not limiting it to just free or libre software. While I personally favor native libre software, not everyone will share my priorities. I may eventually include licensing/pricing/platform info or separate the libre from the non-libre and the native from the web-based software somehow.

The list is organized into broad categories that are subdivided into (hopefully) sensible subcategories, under which you'll find a list of the most common Mac apps and then the Linux apps that can replace them. Apps may appear in more than one section if they don't clearly fall under a particular category.

Feel free to contribute via a pull request.

Office & Productivity

Office suites (word processor, spreadsheet, presentations)

Mac apps: Microsoft Office, Apple iWork

Linux apps:

Standalone word processors

AbiWord

Standalone spreadsheets

PDF Editor

Mac apps: Apple Preview, Adobe Acrobat, Foxit PhantomPDF, PDF Pen Pro, PDFExpert, ...

Linux apps:

Email

Mac apps: Apple Mail, MailMate, AirMail, Microsoft Outlook, Postbox, Thunderbird, Newton, ...

Linux apps:

Calendar

Mac apps: Apple Calendar, Fantastical, BusyCal, Microsoft Outlook, ...

Linux apps:

Contacts

Mac apps: Apple Contacts, BusyContacts, Cardhop, Microsoft Outlook, ...

Linux apps:

Time tracking

Mac apps: Tyme, OfficeTime, Timing, Klok, Billings

Linux apps:

Invoicing

Mac apps: GrandTotal, Billings

Linux apps:

Writing

Mac apps: Scrivener, Ulysses

Linux apps:

Mind Mapping

Mac apps: MindNode, SimpleMind, XMind, Freemind, MindManager

Linux apps:

Graphics & Design

Pixel- and vector-based image editing and UI design tools

Pixel-based image editing

Mac apps: Adobe Photoshop, Acorn, Pixelmator

Linux apps:

GIMP
Krita
Pinta
Pixlr (web)
Photopea (web)

Vector-based image editing and UI design tools

Mac apps: Adobe Illustrator, Sketch

Linux apps:

Desktop Publishing

Mac apps: QuarkXPress, Apple Pages, Adobe InDesign, iCalamus, Affinity Publisher

Linux apps:

Scribus

Notes & "Anything Buckets"

Mac apps: Evernote, Yojimbo, DEVONthink, SimpleNote

Linux apps:

Audio

Audio editing / DAW

Mac apps: Adobe Audition, Amadeus Pro, Fission, ...

Linux apps:

Media Management

Cataloging, organizing, and managing photos, music, etc.

Music library management

Mac apps: iTunes

Linux apps:

Photo management

Mac apps: Adobe Lightroom, Apple Photos

Linux apps:

Utilities

File Manager

macOS and all Linux distributions come with their own file managers, which we'll not list here.

Mac apps: PathFinder, ForkLift

Linux apps:

Console-based

Midnight Commander
Ranger
vifm
cfiles
nnn
[Last File Manager](https://inigo.katxi.org/devel/lfm/
LF

Password manager

Mac apps: 1Password, LastPass, Dashlane, Enpass, ...

Linux apps:

Launcher

Mac apps: LaunchBar, Alfred

Linux apps:

Single-source / site-specific browser

Create a native app from any website

Mac apps: Fluid, Epichrome, Flotato

Linux apps:

nativefier

Backup

Mac apps: Time Machine, SuperDuper!, ChronoSync, Carbon Copy Cloner

Linux apps:

Color Picker

Mac apps: ColorSchemer Studio, Spectrum

Linux apps:

Gpick

Screenshot Tool

Development

Code Editor

Mac apps: Atom, VS Code, TextMate, BBEdit, Sublime Text, ...

Linux apps:

Database management

Mac apps: Querious, Sequel Pro

Linux apps:

Diff tools

Mac apps: Apple FileMerge, Kaleidoscope, Beyond Compare, Araxis Merge, DeltaWalker, DiffMerge

Linux apps:

Git client

Mac apps: Tower, Fork, Sourcetree, GitKraken, Sublime Merge, SmartGit

Linux apps:

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Awesome apps for users switching from the Mac to Linux