Utilities · alternatives
Alternatives to Hazel
20 utilities tools sit alongside Hazel in this directory. Below is what separates each from Hazel on the figures we hold, price, model, tier count and rating, and a direct comparison for every one.
- Alternatives listed
- 20
- With a free tier
- 13
- Cheaper to start
- 7
- Hazel starts at
- $42/one-time
Why people look past Hazel
Only what the record supports. Each point below is a figure on the Hazel entry measured against the tools listed beside it.
It costs more than the category median
Hazel starts at $42/one-time. Across the 7 utilities tools listed beside it that publish a price, the median entry point is $12/month.
There is no free tier
The record for Hazel carries no free tier, so evaluating it means paying first. 13 of the 20 alternatives below can be used without paying.
What each alternative does differently
Ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry. Differences are drawn from price, pricing model, tier count and rating, the fields the category listing carries. For a feature-level difference, follow the head-to-head link on each card: those pages read both full records.
Free open source keyboard remapper for macOS, working at driver level before the OS sees a keystroke
- Can be used without paying; Hazel cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than One-time purchase.
- 1 tier to Hazel's 2.
Mac gesture, shortcut and automation customisation tool sold as a one-time licence with a lifetime tier
- Starts $30 a one-time cheaper, at $12/one-time.
Mac launcher and automation tool sold as a one-time Powerpack licence rather than a subscription
- Can be used without paying; Hazel cannot.
- Starts $8 a one-time cheaper, at £34/one-time.
- 3 tiers to Hazel's 2.
Free open source BitTorrent client with true thin-client architecture for remote daemon control
- Can be used without paying; Hazel cannot.
- Sold on a Open source, no licence fee model rather than One-time purchase.
- 1 tier to Hazel's 2.
McDonald's mobile ordering and MyMcDonald's Rewards app used to drive app-exclusive deals and first party data
- Can be used without paying; Hazel cannot.
- Sold on a Free app, revenue from purchases model rather than One-time purchase.
- 1 tier to Hazel's 2.
Domino's Pizza ordering app with Piece of the Pie Rewards, built to route orders away from delivery marketplace commissions
- Can be used without paying; Hazel cannot.
- Sold on a Free app, revenue from purchases model rather than One-time purchase.
- 1 tier to Hazel's 2.
Every Hazel alternative at a glance
A dash means the catalogue entry carries no figure, not that the answer is nothing.
| Tool | Entry price | Model | Tiers | Head to head |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hazel (this page) | $42/one-time | One-time purchase | 2 | |
| Karabiner-ElementsIf your automation need is input device behaviour rather than file organisation | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Hazel |
| BetterTouchToolIf you want broader system automation covering gestures and shortcuts alongside some file actions | $12/one-time | One-time purchase | 2 | vs Hazel |
| AlfredIf you want file actions triggered manually from a launcher rather than automatically on a watched folder | Free, then £34/one-time | One-time purchase | 3 | vs Hazel |
| Deluge | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Hazel |
| McDonalds | Free | Free app, revenue from purchases | 1 | vs Hazel |
| Dominos | Free | Free app, revenue from purchases | 1 | vs Hazel |
| Find My | Free | Free, built into Apple hardware and iCloud | 1 | vs Hazel |
| Maccy | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Hazel |
| Google Lens | Free | Free, bundled into other Google apps | 1 | vs Hazel |
| qBittorrent | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Hazel |
| Rectangle | Free, then $9.99/one-time | Open source, no licence fee | 2 | vs Hazel |
| Starbucks | Free | Free app, revenue from prepaid stored value and purchases | 1 | vs Hazel |
| Shottr | Free, then $8/one-time | One-time purchase | 3 | vs Hazel |
| Kap | Free | Open source, no licence fee | 1 | vs Hazel |
| Calsense | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Hazel |
| EcoStruxure Geo SCADA Expert | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Hazel |
| Sedaru | On request | Quote | 1 | vs Hazel |
| Paste | $29.99/year | Per user per month | 1 | vs Hazel |
| Magnet | $4.99/one-time | One-time purchase | 1 | vs Hazel |
| CleanShot X | $29/one-time | One-time purchase | 2 | vs Hazel |
Ratings are aggregated from third-party sources and imported with each catalogue entry; Softwr hosts no reviews of these products. How each figure is used is set out on the Hazel badges page.
Cheaper ways to solve the same problem
Free to start (13)
These publish a tier that costs nothing, so they can be evaluated before any money changes hands.
- Karabiner-Elements , Free
- Alfred , Free, then £34/one-time
- Deluge , Free
- McDonalds , Free
- Dominos , Free
- Find My , Free
- Maccy , Free
- Google Lens , Free
Cheaper than Hazel (7)
Entry price under Hazel's $42/one-time. The record does not say what unit that price is charged in, so confirm per-seat versus flat rate before comparing budgets.
- BetterTouchTool , $12/one-time
- Alfred , Free, then £34/one-time
- Rectangle , Free, then $9.99/one-time
- Shottr , Free, then $8/one-time
- Paste , $29.99/year
- Magnet , $4.99/one-time
- CleanShot X , $29/one-time
What you would be giving up
Hazel is most often brought in for a freelancer who wants invoices and receipts auto-filed into client folders based on the text inside them, anyone whose downloads folder becomes unmanageable and wants files auto-sorted by type or age, a photographer who wants imported files renamed by date pattern and moved to a project folder automatically, a user who wants old files in a scratch folder auto-deleted after a set number of days without remembering to clear it manually. Anything replacing it has to cover the ones you actually depend on, and a cheaper tool that misses one of them is not cheaper.
Two things this page cannot settle. It compares on price, model, tier count and rating, because those are the fields the category listing carries, feature-level differences need both full records, which is what the head-to-head pages load. And the ratings are third-party aggregates imported with each entry rather than reviews written here, so a 0.2 difference between two tools is noise rather than a finding.
If Hazel is broadly right and the question is cost, the Hazel pricing breakdown covers every tier and what each one adds. If you want the whole field rather than a shortlist, the Utilities category lists everything the directory holds, and best utilities tools ranks them.
Hazel runs on mac. Platform coverage is not carried on the category listing for the alternatives, so it is one more thing to check on each head-to-head page rather than here.
Questions about Hazel alternatives
- What are the main alternatives to Hazel?
- 20 other utilities tools are listed in this directory, led by Karabiner-Elements, BetterTouchTool, Alfred, Deluge. They are ordered by the aggregated rating on each catalogue entry, not by any Softwr ranking.
- What is the best free alternative to Hazel?
- 13 of the alternatives listed here can be used without paying: Karabiner-Elements, Alfred, Deluge, McDonalds, Dominos.
- Is there a cheaper alternative to Hazel?
- Yes. 7 of the alternatives below start under Hazel's $42/one-time: BetterTouchTool at $12/one-time, Alfred at Free, then £34/one-time, Rectangle at Free, then $9.99/one-time, Shottr at Free, then $8/one-time.
- Why do people look for an alternative to Hazel?
- On the figures on record, 2 things stand out: it costs more than the category median; there is no free tier. Each is set out with the numbers behind it above.
- What would I give up by switching from Hazel?
- Hazel is most often brought in for a freelancer who wants invoices and receipts auto-filed into client folders based on the text inside them, anyone whose downloads folder becomes unmanageable and wants files auto-sorted by type or age, a photographer who wants imported files renamed by date pattern and moved to a project folder automatically, a user who wants old files in a scratch folder auto-deleted after a set number of days without remembering to clear it manually. Anything you replace it with has to cover the ones you actually rely on, the side-by-side comparisons linked from each alternative below put the two feature records against each other.
- Is there an open-source alternative to Hazel?
- None of the utilities tools listed here are recorded as open source. That is what the licence field on each entry says, and the field is not always filled in, so it is worth checking directly for any tool you are serious about.
- How were these Hazel alternatives chosen?
- They are the tools filed in the same category, Utilities, ordered by the aggregated rating on each entry. There is no editorial shortlist, and nothing on this page is paid: no sponsored placement runs on alternatives pages and the order cannot be bought. Softwr has not used these products.
- Where can I compare Hazel against one of these directly?
- Every alternative below has a side-by-side page against Hazel covering price, platforms, features and what each one is used for. Those pages read the full record for both products rather than the summary shown here.
- Does this list cover every utilities tool?
- No. It covers what this directory holds in the Utilities category, 20 tools beside Hazel. The category page lists the rest of the catalogue as it grows.