TablePlus

Nova

Developer Tools

Nova is Panic's Mac-native editor and IDE for developers who want source editing, project tools, Git, debugging, and file transfer work in one desktop workspace. Its product page describes native Mac frameworks and an all-in-one design rather than a browser-hosted coding environment. The current Nova 14.1 download requires macOS 15.6 or later and starts as a free, full-featured 30-day trial. A license costs $99 plus tax at the time of review, includes one year of updates, and can continue with a paid annual update option; after that first year, you can keep the version you own. Nova is particularly suitable for a developer who maintains a project alongside a remote server: the editor can work with Git, run build or custom tasks, debug code, and browse or publish remote files. Language servers and JavaScript-based extensions broaden the supported workflows, but their quality and maintenance vary. Its current operating-system requirement is a material constraint, and hosted Git integrations can involve signing in to external services. Confirm your project stack, preferred extensions, and current renewal terms before buying.

Transmit

Developer Tools

Transmit is Panic's macOS file-transfer client for people who regularly move files between a Mac and hosted servers or cloud storage. The current product page lists FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, Backblaze B2, and Amazon S3 among the services it can connect to, and its two-pane interface is geared toward browsing source and destination files together. That makes it a practical candidate for web developers, operations staff, and freelancers who need a dedicated transfer workspace instead of treating every remote service as a separate browser task. Panic offers a full seven-day trial from its own download page, followed by a $45 unlock code for the current version; it also provides a Mac App Store listing. The app requires macOS 13.0 or later, and local inspection of Panic's current official ZIP found both Intel and Apple-silicon executable slices. Transmit's convenience does not remove the security implications of remote access: each saved connection can carry credentials and write access to a real destination. Test the exact protocol, authentication method, and sync behavior against a non-critical folder first, then confirm who owns the remote account and which paths are safe to overwrite. If direct purchase is important to your workflow, compare the current Panic terms with the App Store path before committing.

OrbStack

Developer Tools

OrbStack is a macOS tool for running Docker containers and Linux machines from a native desktop app and command line. It is designed as a Docker Desktop alternative, but it also exposes machine, networking, file-sharing, and SSH workflows that make local Linux work feel closer to the Mac. Under the hood, OrbStack documents a lightweight Linux virtual machine with a shared kernel; Docker runs alongside Linux machines in that environment. The vendor also documents Rosetta-based x86 emulation on Apple Silicon, VirtioFS-based sharing, and custom services written in Swift, Go, Rust, and C. Current downloads are separate for Apple Silicon and Intel Macs and require macOS 14 or later. OrbStack is free for personal, non-commercial use, while business and commercial use belongs on its paid Pro plan, currently listed as $8 per user per month when billed annually. It fits developers who need containers, local services, or a few reproducible Linux machines without leaving macOS. It can change Docker contexts, install command-line links, and optionally migrate Docker Desktop data, so treat setup as infrastructure work rather than a casual utility install. Isolated machines have different integration behavior, and the vendor explicitly cautions that shared-kernel machines are not a full-VM boundary for actively malicious code.