Updated Nov 8, 2026, from what MacPip lists today.
MacPip lists 12 free AI apps for Mac, and a person has checked 3 of them.All of them have a free version.4 of them sell a one-time license.5 of them are paid by subscription.There is no single best free AI app for everyone, so MacPip does not rank them.If you want it free, start with UsageBeacon.
Apps a person checked come first, newest check first. Never ordered by payment.
| App | What it does | Price | Free or paid | Apple silicon | Open source | Made by | Checked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| UsageBeacon | See your remaining Cursor, Claude, and Codex usage budgets right in the Mac menu bar. | Free and open source | Free version | Not stated | Yes | David Cohen | Nov 3 |
| Kepo | Kepo turns any website, RSS feed | Free | Free version | Not stated | No | Kepo | Nov 3 |
| Espresso | Espresso is the Everything-style file search app for Mac | Free for personal use, Pro €19 once | Free versionOne-time | Yes, and Intel, its maker says | No | Moka Solutions | Nov 3 |
| ScreenVerb | The screenshot app built around AI. Capture, mark up, and paste AI answers in three keys. | Free, Pro available | Free versionOne-time | Yes, Apple silicon only, its maker says | No | David Tran | Pending |
| ActionClip | Turn selected text into actions and create your own Mac workflows | Free, Pro from $12 once | Free versionOne-time | Yes, Apple silicon only, its maker says | No | Advait Vaidya | Pending |
| Phosphene AI | Free, open-source AI video with sound, images and songs on Apple Silicon Macs. | Free and open source | Free versionOne-timeSubscription | Yes, Apple silicon only, its maker says | Yes | Mr Bizarro | Pending |
| yovoice | Open-source, local-first AI voice cloning, speech, and music creation studio for Mac | Free and open source | Free version | Yes, Apple silicon only, its maker says | Yes | leemysw | Pending |
| Orkas | Turn goals and project files into reports, slides, videos and code with a desktop AI team. | Free core; model/service costs extra | Free versionSubscription | Yes, and Intel, its maker says | Yes | Orkas | Pending |
| AutoRouter | Coding agent app for Mac | Free; Pro $50/month | Free versionSubscription | Not stated | No | Not stated | Pending |
| Lectern AI | Turns slide decks into instructor talk tracks, labs, quizzes and handouts | Free, Pro $29.99/yr | Free versionSubscription | Not stated | No | Ian Trimble | Pending |
| Raydo Agent OS | The AI agent operating system for real work | Free, Cloud from $20/mo | Free versionSubscription | Yes, Apple silicon only, its maker says | No | Rolitt Inc. | Pending |
| Pulse | Floating usage rings Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, and Grok. | Free | Free version | Yes, Apple silicon only, its maker says | Yes | Not stated | Pending |
See your remaining Cursor, Claude, and Codex usage budgets right in the Mac menu bar.
UsageBeacon turns your Cursor, Claude and Codex usage into remaining percentages, budgets and reset windows in the menu bar, so you know before you hit a limit. It is free and open source, and needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later.
Kepo turns any website, RSS feed
From its maker: Kepo turns any website, RSS feed, social account, market data or internal page into custom Mac widgets built with AI, in one shortcut-ready panel.
Espresso is the Everything-style file search app for Mac
Made by Moka SolutionsWebsiteOn XFrom its maker: Espresso is the Everything-style file search app for Mac: every file on every disk as you type, even disks that aren’t connected. Native, private, free for personal use.
The screenshot app built around AI. Capture, mark up, and paste AI answers in three keys.
Made by David TranWebsiteOn XFrom its maker: ScreenVerb is a screenshot app for Mac built around AI. Snap a window, drag a pixel-exact region or grab a full scrolling page with one shortcut, then press a number key to run an AI action.
Turn selected text into actions and create your own Mac workflows
Made by Advait VaidyaWebsiteOn XActionClip puts a small action menu beside text you select: copy, rewrite, translate, search or run a saved workflow. You can describe a new action and it builds one using AI prompts, JavaScript, AppleScript or shell commands. Free for 30 actions a day, with lifetime licenses from $12. It is a native Swift app for Apple silicon with macOS 15 or later.
Free, open-source AI video with sound, images and songs on Apple Silicon Macs.
Made by Mr BizarroGitHub repoOn XFrom its maker: Free, open-source AI video generator for Mac. Run LTX-2.5 and MiniMax H3 (Hailuo) locally on Apple Silicon: text-to-video and image-to-video with sound, lip-sync, character LoRA training, songs fro...
Open-source, local-first AI voice cloning, speech, and music creation studio for Mac
From its maker: yovoice is an open-source, local-first audio and music creation studio for macOS, Windows and Linux. Turn text into expressive speech, natural cloned voices, complete vocal songs, and multi-track scores right on your machine.
Turn goals and project files into reports, slides, videos and code with a desktop AI team.
From its maker: Give Orkas a goal and your project files to receive research reports, presentations, videos or code in one desktop workspace. Commander coordinates specialist agents so solo founders and small teams can carry findings into usable deliverables with fewer handoffs.
Coding agent app for Mac
From its maker: AutoRouter is a Mac app for Codex and Claude Code that automatically picks the right AI model for each task, using the plans you already pay for first. Save up to 50% on AI usage.
Turns slide decks into instructor talk tracks, labs, quizzes and handouts
From its maker: Turn any presentation, PowerPoint, PDF, Word, and more, into professional instructor talk tracks in minutes, powered by AI. Lectern AI reads your presentation slides and generates natural, engaging speaking notes that sound like they were written by an experienced teacher.
The AI agent operating system for real work
Made by Rolitt Inc.WebsiteOn XOn GitHubFrom its maker: Raydo Agent OS is an agent operating system for real work. It connects agents, browsers, files and tools so developers and knowledge workers can control execution, review key actions and deliver reusable results.
Floating usage rings Claude Code, Codex, Antigravity, and Grok.
Pulse floats usage rings for Claude, Codex, Grok and Antigravity on your screen, adds a Codex pet you can talk to, and reminds you to take breaks on time. It is free and open source, for Apple silicon with macOS 26 Tahoe or later.
Look for whether it runs a model on your Mac or sends your data to a server, which models it supports, and how it is priced per use.
There is no single best one for everyone. MacPip lists 12: UsageBeacon, Kepo, Espresso, ScreenVerb, ActionClip, Phosphene AI, yovoice, Orkas, AutoRouter, Lectern AI, Raydo Agent OS, Pulse. If you want it free, look at UsageBeacon. If you would rather pay once than subscribe, look at Espresso. If you want it to run natively on Apple silicon, look at Espresso. If you need it to work offline, as its maker says it does, look at Espresso. If you want open source code, look at UsageBeacon.
With a one-time option, so you can avoid a subscription: Espresso, ScreenVerb, ActionClip, Phosphene AI.
By their makers' word or by our check: Espresso, ScreenVerb, ActionClip, Phosphene AI, yovoice, Orkas, Raydo Agent OS, Pulse.
Each has a dated report on its page: UsageBeacon, Kepo, Espresso.
Apps a person has checked come first, newest check first, then the rest by when they were added. Payment never changes the order, and sponsored rows are labeled and kept apart.
