Kanata
Focus: ergonomics. Shares keyboard remapping and shortcuts with Karabiner-Elements. A desktop app, not a Mac app. Adds Windows, Linux and Offline. Rated 4.5 (Karabiner-Elements: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.5Visit
Mac App
Karabiner-Elements
Remap any key on your Mac and build your own shortcuts.
Rating
4.7 / 5
Pricing
Free
Difficulty
Intermediate
Works on
macOS
Built with love by Shushant Lakhyani. Building bestproductivityresources.com
What is Karabiner-Elements?
Karabiner-Elements is a free, open-source keyboard customiser for macOS. Remap single keys, turn Caps Lock into Escape or a hyper key, set different rules for each app or keyboard, and import hundreds of ready-made complex modifications shared by the community.
Third-party open-source projects. We are not affiliated with their authors; repositories are provided as-is by their maintainers. Review each project's license, code and security before installing. See our Disclaimer.
Pros: what Karabiner-Elements does well
- Make any key do exactly what you want
- Huge library of shared rules
- Free and open source
Cons: where it falls short
- macOS only
- Advanced rules are written in JSON
Who Karabiner-Elements is for
Mac users who rely on keyboard shortcuts and want a layout that fits how they work.
Who can skip it
People happy with the default Mac keyboard.
Karabiner-Elements alternatives
Not sold on Karabiner-Elements? These do a similar job, and each card says what it has in common.
Kando
Focus: pie menu and launcher. Shares shortcuts and open source with Karabiner-Elements. A desktop app, not a Mac app. Adds Windows, Linux and Offline. Rated 4.6 (Karabiner-Elements: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreeWindows, macOS
4.6Visit
keyd
Focus: keyboard, key remapping and linux. Shares shortcuts and open source with Karabiner-Elements. Adds Linux. Rated 4.5 (Karabiner-Elements: 4.7).
OtherFreeLinux
4.5Visit
iTerm2
Focus: terminal, mac and command line. Shares open source and github with Karabiner-Elements. Same 4.7 rating.
Mac AppFreemacOS
4.7Visit
Hammerspoon
Focus: mac automation, window management and lua scripting. Shares open source and github with Karabiner-Elements. Adds Offline. Rated 4.6 (Karabiner-Elements: 4.7).
Mac AppFreemacOS, Offline
4.6Visit
Quicksilver
Focus: launcher and keyboard. Shares macos and open source with Karabiner-Elements. Rated 4.5 (Karabiner-Elements: 4.7).
Mac AppFreemacOS
4.5Visit
Free alternatives to Karabiner-Elements
Want to spend nothing? These free picks cover similar ground.
Coolify
Focus: self-hosting, deployment and hosting. Shares open source and github with Karabiner-Elements. A web app, not a Mac app. Adds Web. Same 4.7 rating.
Web AppFreeWeb
4.7Visit
fish shell
Focus: terminal, shell and command line. Shares open source and github with Karabiner-Elements. A desktop app, not a Mac app. Adds Linux. Rated 4.6 (Karabiner-Elements: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.6Visit
Nushell
Focus: shell, command line and data pipelines. Shares open source and github with Karabiner-Elements. A desktop app, not a Mac app. Adds Windows, Linux and Offline. Rated 4.6 (Karabiner-Elements: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
Oh My Zsh
Focus: terminal, zsh and shell. Shares open source and github with Karabiner-Elements. A desktop app, not a Mac app. Adds Linux. Rated 4.6 (Karabiner-Elements: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Linux
4.6Visit
Task
Focus: task runner, automation and build tool. Shares open source and github with Karabiner-Elements. A desktop app, not a Mac app. Adds Windows and Linux. Rated 4.6 (Karabiner-Elements: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
topgrade
Focus: updates, package manager and automation. Shares open source and github with Karabiner-Elements. A desktop app, not a Mac app. Adds Windows and Linux. Rated 4.6 (Karabiner-Elements: 4.7).
Desktop AppFreemacOS, Windows
4.6Visit
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