# The most popular AI apps for Mac

> Chat apps, coding tools, local models and dictation: the AI apps Mac people installed most in the last 30 days. Updated November 8, 2026. Page: https://macpip.com/rankings/most-popular-ai-apps-for-mac

Everyone has an opinion about which AI app is best. This page skips the opinions and counts installs. It covers every Mac app in Homebrew whose own description says it is about AI, from the big chat apps to small dictation tools that run on your Mac.

Command line agents like Codex and Claude Code are hugely popular too, but they are tools, not apps, so they live on the Homebrew casks list instead.

## How this ranking works

- Source: Homebrew's public install analytics (formulae.brew.sh), which count installs by people who leave Homebrew's anonymous analytics on.
- Read on: November 8, 2026. Updated every week.
- Included: Mac apps (an .app bundle) whose Homebrew description mentions AI, a language model, ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Copilot or agents.

## The list

| # | App | Installs, 30 days | Installs, 365 days | Maker | On MacPip | Link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Claude: Anthropic's official Claude AI desktop app | 19,281 | 225,732 | Anthropic | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/claude |
| 2 | ChatGPT: OpenAI's official ChatGPT desktop app | 12,814 | 94,001 | OpenAI | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/chatgpt |
| 3 | OpenCode: AI coding agent desktop client | 12,009 | 95,183 | Anomaly | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/opencode-desktop |
| 4 | Cursor: Write, edit, and chat about your code with AI | 7,146 | 114,813 | Anysphere | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/cursor |
| 5 | LM Studio: Discover, download, and run local LLMs | 6,162 | 58,513 | Element Labs | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/lm-studio |
| 6 | T3 Code: Minimal GUI for AI code agents | 5,959 | 18,061 | Ping.gg | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/t3-code |
| 7 | CC Switch: Configuration manager for AI coding agents | 5,356 | 117,282 | Jason Young | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/cc-switch |
| 8 | cmux: Ghostty-based terminal with vertical tabs and notifications for AI coding agents | 4,784 | 61,940 | manaflow-ai | No | https://github.com/manaflow-ai/cmux |
| 9 | CodexBar: Menu bar app for tracking agentic coding limits and usage | 3,443 | 31,133 | Peter Steinberger | No | https://github.com/steipete/CodexBar |
| 10 | DeepSeek Harness: Plugin-based AI agent desktop application | 2,843 | 3,555 | DeepSeek | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/deepseek-harness |
| 11 | Grok Bot: AI teammates that work across your apps and tools | 2,823 | 5,239 | xAI | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/grok-bot |
| 12 | Gemini: Native desktop AI assistant from Google | 2,693 | 18,278 | Google | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/google-gemini |
| 13 | Upscayl: AI image upscaler | 2,316 | 12,994 | Upscayl | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/upscayl |
| 14 | Herdr: Desktop app for terminals and coding agents | 2,172 | 2,171 |  | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/herdr-app |
| 15 | Hermes Agent Desktop: Open-source desktop AI agent | 1,901 | 6,212 | Nous Research | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/hermes-desktop |
| 16 | FluidVoice: Offline voice-to-text dictation app with AI enhancement | 1,715 | 12,810 | ALTIC | No | https://github.com/altic-dev/FluidVoice |
| 17 | Wispr Flow: Voice-to-text dictation with AI-powered auto-editing | 1,609 | 11,607 | Wispr | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/wispr-flow |
| 18 | Paseo: Self-hosted daemon for AI coding agents | 1,455 | 5,828 | getpaseo | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/paseo |
| 19 | Google Antigravity IDE: AI Coding Agent IDE | 1,337 | 9,695 | Google | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/antigravity-ide |
| 20 | GitHub Copilot: Native client for GitHub Copilot | 1,175 | 5,683 | GitHub | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/github-copilot-app |
| 21 | T3 Code Nightly: Minimal GUI for AI code agents | 1,085 | 2,740 | Ping.gg | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/t3-code%40nightly |
| 22 | OpenWhispr: Privacy-first voice-to-text dictation with AI agents | 1,039 | 1,862 | OpenWhispr | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/openwhispr |
| 23 | Maestro: AI agent command center | 1,012 | 13,982 | Pedram Amini | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/maestro |
| 24 | Goose: Open source, extensible AI agent that goes beyond code suggestions | 995 | 11,072 | Block Open Source | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/block-goose |
| 25 | Granola: AI-powered notepad for meetings | 913 | 6,162 | Granola | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/granola |
| 26 | OpenClaw: Personal AI assistant | 887 | 44,914 | openclaw | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/openclaw |
| 27 | OpenUsage: AI usage tracker for Cursor, Claude Code, Codex, Copilot and more | 759 | 5,150 | Robin Ebers | No | https://github.com/robinebers/openusage |
| 28 | AnythingLLM: Private desktop AI chat application | 702 | 8,064 | Mintplex Labs | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/anythingllm |
| 29 | WorkBuddy: AI agent for everyday office work | 687 | 0 | Tencent Cloud | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/workbuddy-cn |
| 30 | Superwhisper: Dictation tool including LLM reformatting | 681 | 8,870 | Superwhisper | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/superwhisper |
| 31 | OpenChamber: Desktop and web interface for OpenCode AI agent | 678 | 2,436 | OpenChamber | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/openchamber |
| 32 | Aside: Web browser with built-in AI assistant | 667 | 1,753 | Aside | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/aside |
| 33 | magpie: Model gateway for AI coding agents | 635 | 0 | yetone | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/magpie |
| 34 | LM Studio Bionic: AI agent for working with open models | 628 | 1,980 | Element Labs | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/lm-studio-bionic |
| 35 | Open Design: Local-first, agent-native design tool | 607 | 2,898 | OpenDesign | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/open-design |
| 36 | Llama: Menu bar app for running local LLMs | 587 | 1,765 | ggml | No | https://github.com/ggml-org/Llama-macOS |
| 37 | ZCode: AI-assisted development environment | 550 | 1,961 | Z.ai | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/zcode |
| 38 | Skills Manager: Manage, sync, and organise AI agent skills across coding tools | 548 | 1,121 | Jay.TL | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/skills-manager |
| 39 | Devin Desktop: Agentic IDE with AI agent command center | 547 | 2,797 | Cognition | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/devin-desktop |
| 40 | Token Monitor: Monitor token usage, costs, and limits across AI coding tools | 527 | 0 | Javis | No | https://formulae.brew.sh/cask/token-monitor |

## Questions

### What is the most popular AI app for Mac?
By Homebrew installs in the 30 days to November 8, 2026, it is Claude with 19,281 installs, then ChatGPT and OpenCode.

### Which AI apps run on my Mac without the cloud?
Look for apps that say they run models locally, such as LM Studio or Ollama on this list. They download a model once and then work offline on Apple silicon.

### Is this a list of the best AI apps?
No, it is a count of installs. For hand-picked AI apps with notes, see MacPip's best AI apps for Mac page.