# Essential for Mac Users: 8 Top Productivity Apps Recommended
To enhance your work efficiency and make the most of your time, it's crucial to equip yourself with the right tools. From managing to-do lists to optimizing workflows — below we will share the 8 best productivity apps on the Mac platform that can help you save valuable time while ensuring you stay organized and in control!
# 1. Rectangle
Rectangle is a powerful window management app that simplifies the tedious tasks of resizing and organizing open windows in macOS.
Compared to macOS's built-in split-screen feature, Rectangle offers more flexible options. You can simply click and drag the top of a window to the edge (or corner) of the screen to resize and arrange it, without needing to hold down specific keys or create a new workspace.
This feature is particularly useful for multitasking, as it allows you to quickly set up well-structured workspaces. Additionally, unlike the Mac's split-screen functionality, this app is not limited to just two windows, which is great news if you have a smaller screen.
Furthermore, there are plenty of customizable keyboard shortcuts that provide extra control to boost your productivity. So, if you’re juggling multiple apps on your Mac, Rectangle is a free and efficient solution to streamline your workflow and keep you organized.
Download: Rectangle (opens new window) (Free, with a one-time paid version priced at $9.99)
# 2. CleanClip
CleanClip (opens new window) is a powerful and sleek Mac clipboard manager. It provides robust features while maintaining a minimalist design, making it ideal for efficiency-driven Mac users.
Many people may think clipboard management is unimportant—I used to think so too—until I started using them, and now I can’t live without it. Why is that? Just consider our daily tasks:
- Have you ever copied an important piece of text only to accidentally copy something else, resulting in a loss of the previous content?
- While organizing research material, do you find yourself toggling between multiple web pages, repeatedly copying and pasting?
- When coding, do you frequently need to reuse previously written snippets, but can’t remember which file they were in?
- In handling client information, do you find yourself often copying and pasting names, emails, phone numbers, and other details?
These seemingly trivial actions may only waste you a few seconds each day. But when these seconds add up, it becomes a significant loss of time and energy. More importantly, this constant switching and searching disrupt your flow, affecting your work efficiency and quality.
CleanClip was born to solve these problems. It is not just a simple clipboard history tool; it’s a powerful workflow enhancer.
Key features of CleanClip include:
- Support for unlimited history
- Smart categorization features
- A robust paste queue closely integrated with your workflow
- Batch operation support
- Compatibility with various formats like text, images, and files
- Powerful search functionality
- Customizable shortcuts
- A rich free version
- Beautiful design
The interface of CleanClip is clear and intuitive, allowing you to view clipboard history at a glance. Its powerful search feature can even filter entries based on your current application — a dream come true for productivity enthusiasts!
A standout feature of CleanClip is its "Favorites List" functionality, where you can create multiple lists to categorize and save important clipboard content, ensuring you never lose key information!
Additionally, CleanClip excels in privacy protection. You can exclude specific applications and set up automatic clearing timers to secure sensitive data.
Download: CleanClip (opens new window) (Free with premium content available for one-time purchase of $12.99)
# 3. Notion
Notion is a cloud-based all-in-one workspace application that excels in project management, note-taking, and collaborative work.
You can create different sections for various things — such as work, personal matters, or ongoing projects. Within these sections, you can add various contents, from to-do lists to notes, files, and even tables.
Notion excels in collaboration with others. I have been using it for years to share pages with team members and collaborate in real-time. It also allows you to mention team members or friends, leave comments, and get notifications about important tasks. Using free Notion templates, you can customize the overall appearance of Notion to fit your style.
Moreover, Notion offers a web extension, making it convenient when you want to save some links to check back later.
Download: Notion (opens new window) (Free, with premium version starting at $8/month billed annually)
# 4. Grammarly
Grammarly is a fundamental writing assistant that goes beyond basic features — especially for writers. In addition to seriously checking grammar and spelling errors, it offers practical suggestions to enhance the clarity and style of your writing. However, I’ve noticed that Grammarly sometimes makes suggestions that can render writing bland. Of course, whether to accept these suggestions is up to you.
On top of that, you have a tool that helps you become a better writer and communicator. Whether drafting emails, documents, messages, or social media posts, it ensures your content is error-free, concise, and engaging. This not only saves you time on revisions but also improves the quality of your written work.
Download: Grammarly (opens new window) (Free, with premium version starting at $12/month)
# 5. 1Password
1Password is a Mac application that simplifies password management and enhances digital security. If you have difficulty remembering or managing a large number of passwords, it’s a perfect choice. It securely stores and auto-fills your login credentials, making online activities convenient and secure.
1Password not only stores passwords but also keeps secure notes and credit card information. This reduces the time and effort required to access and enter sensitive data. Most importantly, it saves you time on repetitive login tasks while ensuring your online interactions are protected from potential threats.
Download: 1Password (opens new window) (starting at $2.99/month, with a 14-day free trial)
# 6. Alfred
Alfred is an award-winning multifunctional productivity app for macOS that serves as an application launcher, calculator, and file finder. It boosts your efficiency through hotkeys, keywords, and text expansion.
This app replaces the native Spotlight search on Mac and provides a similar-looking input bar. But with its intuitive and user-friendly design, you can access and manage files and applications faster than with Mac's native Spotlight search.
Alfred can also be extended with custom actions to perform more complex and repetitive tasks such as file operations, data handling, and web searches. For example, I use it for real-time currency conversions while fetching the latest exchange rates from the web.
Additionally, each time you copy text, images, or files to the clipboard, Alfred remembers them. This allows you to easily find any files you need by searching within Alfred.
Download: Alfred (opens new window) (Free, with a one-time price for a single license at £34)
# 7. Todoist
Todoist is another personal task management app for Mac that helps you manage projects, achieve goals, and plan your day. It provides a convenient platform to organize to-do lists, set deadlines, receive reminders, and collaborate with team members or colleagues.
With Todoist boards, you can prioritize the most urgent tasks and better organize projects. This can help reduce the overwhelming feeling of tasks and share the workload. You can also use it to track daily progress.
Moreover, with its cross-platform compatibility, you can access your tasks on various devices. All these features combined allow you to take control of your responsibilities and make you more efficient each day. The only downside is that the free version of Todoist does not support most features, and the premium version is priced higher compared to its competitors.
Download: Todoist (opens new window) (Free, with premium version starting at $4/month billed annually)
# 8. Fantastical
Fantastical is one of the best calendar apps on the Mac platform, designed to keep you organized, reduce scheduling hassles, and boost productivity. It offers a user-friendly interface that clearly presents your daily, weekly, and monthly schedules.
What sets Fantastical apart is its natural language input feature, simplifying event creation and management. This means you can enter what you need to schedule in plain language, and the app will automatically translate it, create events, and add them to your calendar.
More importantly, you can enjoy various customization options. This allows you to personalize your calendar display with different themes and layouts.
However, my only regret is its cost. The "free" version is very limited, and even basic features require purchasing a premium subscription.
Download: Fantastical (opens new window) (Free, with premium version starting at $4.75/month billed annually)
These productivity apps provide a wide range of tools to help you save time, stay organized, and work efficiently. So, fire up your Mac, download these apps, and begin your journey to mastering your productivity today!