A free AltTab alternative for macOS
AltTab brought Windows-style window switching to the Mac, and it is still a good app. BetterCmdTab covers the same ground and includes the features AltTab sells as Pro, at no cost.
What you get without paying
AltTab is free and open source, but search, the icon and title layouts, auto-sizing and more than one shortcut need AltTab Pro: $9.99 one-time for the current major version, or $24.99 for Pro Lifetime. In BetterCmdTab every feature is free, with no trial, license key or account.
| Feature | BetterCmdTab | AltTab free | AltTab Pro |
|---|---|---|---|
| Switch windows with live previews | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Type to search | Yes | No | Yes |
| App icon grid and title list layouts | Yes | No | Yes |
| More than one shortcut | Yes | No | Yes, up to 9 |
| Cycle the front app's windows | Yes, ⌘` | No | Yes |
| Launch any installed app | Yes | No | No |
| Pick a single browser tab | Yes | No | No |
| Window tiling, move to another display | Yes | No | No |
| Force quit, reopen recently closed apps | Yes | No | No |
| Price | Free | Free | $9.99 or $24.99 |
Checked October 2026 against alt-tab.app/pricing. The full comparison covers 31 features, with the built-in ⌘Tab too.
Switching from AltTab
- Install BetterCmdTab with
brew install --cask bettercmdtab, or download the .dmg and drag it into Applications. - Open it and enable it under System Settings, Privacy & Security, Accessibility. Live previews also ask for Screen Recording, the same permission AltTab uses for thumbnails.
- Press ⌘Tab. AltTab listens on ⌥Tab by default, so both can run side by side while you compare them.
- When you are done, quit AltTab and remove it from System Settings, General, Login Items.
Every setting lives in a JSON file as well as in the app, so a setup can be versioned and moved between Macs. The docs list every option.
When AltTab is the better pick
- You want the app in your language. AltTab is translated into far more languages; BetterCmdTab ships in English, German, Spanish, French, Polish, Russian and Simplified Chinese.
- You value a long track record. AltTab has around 16,000 GitHub stars and millions of downloads; BetterCmdTab is younger.