Radial menus for Mac, compared

Facts checked 2026-09-09 · No affiliate links · No ranking

Every app below gets a fair look, including where it beats Flick. Prices and specs were checked on the date above and drift out of date — tell us if one has. There are no affiliate links here and nothing is ranked.

What a radial menu is

A radial menu, also called a pie menu, appears around your cursor when you hold a key. Every item sits one short mouse move away, in a fixed direction you learn by hand within a day. You pick by moving toward the item instead of reading a list.

It beats a launcher like Raycast or Alfred when your hand is already on the mouse or trackpad, you want one of a handful of actions, and typing is the slow part. It loses when you want to search thousands of things by name. Most people who use one keep a launcher too.

Side by side

Radial menu apps for macOS compared, facts checked 2026-09-09
	Radial	Kando	Pieoneer	Pie Menu	Flick
Price	€19.99 one-time, 5 Macs	Free	$9.99 one-time (App Store)	$39.99 one-time, or 9.99/yr, or Setapp	9.99 one-time (Pro)
Free tier	No — trial only	Yes — everything, always	No — paid up front	No — trial only	Yes — one wheel of 8, forever
Trial	7 days, full	n/a (free)	none found	7 days	30 days, full
Native app	Yes — native Mac app	No — Electron	Yes — native, VoiceOver support	Yes — native Mac app	Yes — Swift / SwiftUI
Minimum macOS	macOS 15	macOS 12 (cask)	macOS 15.6	macOS 13	macOS 14
How you pick	hover, click (or release, a setting)	click, drag-and-release, or hold-and-release	hold, release over it (or tap, click)	hold, hover, release (or release, click)	flick toward it, let go — no click
Per-app menus	Yes — menus follow the front app	No — none found in the docs	No — one wheel	Yes — its headline feature	No — same wheels everywhere
Sub-menus	Yes — nested menus	Yes — nests arbitrarily deep	No — four flat modules	No — on the roadmap	Partly — 7 sibling wheels, paged by click
Actions	apps, files, URLs, snippets, shortcuts, scripts, Apple Shortcuts, chained macros	commands, files, URIs, hotkeys, macros, paste text, sub-menus, redirects	switch apps, launch apps and folders, shortcuts, music remote	keyboard shortcuts only	apps, windows, files, web, capture, shortcuts, text, media, system, scripts, Shortcuts, chains
Open source	No — closed source	Yes — MIT	No — closed source	No — closed source	No — closed source
Last release	v5.2, Sep 2026	v2.3.1, Jun 2026	v1.19, Apr 2026	v1.2.3x (Setapp); App Store v1.1, Nov 2024	v1.0.0, Aug 2026

The apps

Radial AppVerge

The most complete pie menu on the Mac: a hotkey opens a menu at the cursor, with per-app menus, sub-menus, a visual macro editor and a library of community presets.

Where it beats Flick

Per-app menus: the menu changes with the app in front. Flick shows the same wheels everywhere.
Sub-menus, a visual macro editor with variables, and an AI script assistant. Flick chains actions but has no editor of that depth.
A community preset library, so a new menu can be installed rather than built.
Five years of releases and sixteen action types. Flick shipped 1.0 in August 2026.

Where Flick beats it

Picking is one motion: flick toward the item and let go. Radial's default is hover then click.
A free tier that stays free: one wheel of eight, no clock. Radial has a 7-day trial and then a paywall.
Seven wheels side by side, paged with the mouse buttons, instead of one menu with nesting.
Runs on macOS 14. Radial needs macOS 15.

Choose it when

You want different menus in different apps.
You build multi-step automations and want an editor for them.
You would rather install someone's preset than design your own menu.

Radial website

Kando Simon Schneegans, open source

A free, MIT-licensed pie menu for Windows, Linux and macOS, with deep sub-menus, gesture selection and themes. Built with Electron.

Where it beats Flick

Free and open source, with no paid tier at all.
Runs on Windows and Linux too, with one config.
Sub-menus that nest as deep as you like, and a marking-menu gesture that selects deep items in one stroke.
Themes and menu themes you can write yourself.

Where Flick beats it

Native: a small Swift app instead of an Electron process, and only the Accessibility permission. Kando also asks for Screen Recording to read window titles.
Selection is one motion by default. Kando's no-click modes exist but are opt-in and, by its own docs, prone to accidental picks in hover mode.
Mac-only actions: window snapping, Apple Shortcuts, Stage Manager, screenshots to clipboard.

Choose it when

You need the same menu on Windows or Linux.
You want it free and open source, full stop.
You like deep nested menus and gesture strokes.

Kando website

Pieoneer App ahead GmbH

A polished native pie menu for switching between running apps, launching apps and folders, triggering shortcuts, and controlling music.

Where it beats Flick

The best app switcher of the group: running apps appear in the wheel by themselves.
A music remote for Apple Music and Spotify built into the wheel.
Full accessibility support called out by the developer: VoiceOver, increased contrast, reduced transparency.
Half the price of Flick Pro, on the Mac App Store.

Where Flick beats it

Breadth: window snapping, files, web, capture, text, scripts, Apple Shortcuts and chains, not only apps and shortcuts.
A free tier and a 30-day trial. Pieoneer is paid before you try it.
Runs on macOS 14. Pieoneer needs 15.6.

Choose it when

Switching between running apps is the whole job.
You want an App Store purchase and nothing to configure.

Pieoneer website

Pie Menu Knauken AS

A radial menu for keyboard shortcuts: one trigger key shows a different set of shortcuts in each app, with 160+ ready-made shortcut sets.

Where it beats Flick

Per-app menus: the wheel shows Figma's shortcuts in Figma and Xcode's in Xcode.
A library of more than 160 ready-made shortcut sets for popular apps, so setup is picking, not typing.
Runs on macOS 13. Flick needs 14.

Where Flick beats it

Actions beyond shortcuts: launch, snap windows, open files and URLs, capture, paste text, run scripts and Shortcuts.
One-time
9.99 with a free tier, against $39.99 one-time or a subscription.
One build that updates itself. Pie Menu's App Store and Setapp builds are on different versions.

Choose it when

You want to stop memorising shortcuts in a few heavy apps.
You already pay for Setapp.

Pie Menu website

Also seen: Launchy — a free, open-source radial app launcher and switcher on the App Store (macOS 13, $6.99 Pro unlock); launching only, no actions; Charmstone — a spatial app switcher: hold a modifier, move toward an app's slot (free for 4 slots, $9.99 for 16, macOS 10.15); apps only.

Which one for you

You need it on Windows or Linux too Pick: Kando. Kando is open source and cross-platform; the others here are Mac-only.
You want per-app menus with real automation behind them Pick: Radial. Radial's menus can branch per application and chain multi-step actions — the deepest editor of the group.
You mostly switch between running apps Pick: Pieoneer. Pieoneer is built around a single app-switcher wheel, not general-purpose actions.
You want it free, forever, no catch Pick: Flick. One full wheel of 8 slots and the core action categories never expire and never need a license.
You want shortcuts organised one set per app Pick: Pie Menu. Pie Menu's whole model is a menu bound to the frontmost app, swapping automatically as you switch.
You never want to click — just move and let go Pick: Flick. Flick fires on release with no click step; you flick toward an item and let go.

Flick vs Radial

Radial and Flick solve the same problem from opposite ends. Radial is the more complete tool: per-app menus, deeper automation, more to configure before it fits your hands.

Flick is the faster gesture: hold, flick toward an item, let go — no click, no menu tree to navigate, one wheel you learn by feel.

The real question isn't which is better. It's whether you want breadth (more surface, more setup) or speed (less surface, faster to fire) for the handful of actions you reach for constantly.

Choose Radial when

You want menus that change automatically per frontmost app.
You're chaining multi-step automations, not single actions.
You're fine spending real time in an editor to get there.

Choose Flick when

You want one wheel that's fast within a day, not a project.
You'd rather flick-and-release than click through a menu.
You want a free tier that never expires before you decide to pay.

Questions

Is there a free radial menu for Mac?

Yes — several. Flick's free tier is one wheel of 8 slots forever, and Kando is free and open source on every platform it supports. The others here charge after a trial.

Is there a Radial alternative with a free tier?

Radial itself has a 7-day trial and then a paywall. If a permanent free tier matters, Flick keeps one wheel free forever, Kando is free and open source, and Launchy and Charmstone have free base versions for launching apps.

Do these work on Windows?

Kando does, since it's built cross-platform from the start. The rest — Flick, Radial, Pieoneer, Pie Menu, Launchy, Charmstone — are Mac-only.

Can I run two radial menu apps at once?

Technically often yes, since each binds its own hotkey, but two apps fighting for the same key or overlapping gestures gets confusing fast. Pick one and give it your muscle memory.

Why do they need Accessibility permission?

To watch for the hold-key gesture system-wide and to act on your behalf — clicking, typing, or switching apps — which macOS only allows once you grant Accessibility in System Settings. It's a one-time grant, not an account.

Radial menu vs. launcher — which do I actually want?

A launcher like Raycast or Alfred is for searching a large list by typing a few letters. A radial menu is for firing one of a handful of actions with a single mouse gesture. Most people who use one radial menu app still keep a launcher too.

If my trial ends, do I lose my menus?

For Flick, no. Nothing is deleted when a trial ends; the Pro wheels and actions lock until you activate a license, and unlock with everything intact. For the other apps, check the vendor's own page before you build a setup you would hate to lose.

Spotted something out of date? Tell us at [email protected] and we'll fix it.

Try Flick

One wheel is free forever. Flick Pro is

9.99 one-time, 30-day trial. Download for macOS