Best Dock Apps for Mac: What's Actually Worth Installing in 2026

The dock apps worth knowing in 2026 are Dockish for a whole new dock on every monitor ($6.99 once), DockDoor if free window previews on the Mac's own Dock are all you want, DockDoor Pro and ActiveDock as other full replacements, and uBar if you'd rather have a taskbar. Which one fits depends on what the macOS Dock fails to do for you, so start there.

Dockish is ours. Every fact about another app here comes from its maker's own site.

What the macOS Dock can't do

The Dock in System Settings › Desktop & Dock has a size slider, magnification, a position, auto-hide and a few switches. That leaves out:

• A dock on every monitor. macOS shows its Dock on one display at a time. With Displays have separate Spaces on, it follows the pointer to the bottom edge of any screen; with it off, it stays on the main display. No setting puts it on every screen at once.
• App folders. Drag one app onto another and nothing happens. A Finder folder dragged to the right of the divider becomes a Stack, which opens like a folder of files, not a group of apps.
• Window previews. Hovering an icon shows the app's name, not its windows.
• A look of its own. The Dock follows your Light or Dark appearance, with no colour, theme or spacing control.

If one of those is what's bothering you, a dock app can help. If not, the Dock settings and Terminal tweaks may be all you need, spacers included.

The dock apps, side by side

Checked on 13 October 2026, on each maker's own site: DockDoor, DockDoor Pro, uBar, ActiveDock and HiDock, with the launchers' sites linked below.

Dockish: a whole new dock

Dockish replaces the macOS Dock with its own, and keeps it a dock: pinned apps, then the running ones, with a mark under each running app.

• A dock on every monitor. All Monitors shows the same dock on each display; Independent gives each display its own apps, folders and icon size. Unplug a display and its dock goes; plug it back in and it returns with its own layout.
• App folders, like your iPhone. Drag one pinned app onto another and hold it there until the icon under it grows. The folder takes the apps' shared category as its name, and Open All and Quit All work on the whole folder.
• Clicks that do what you meant. A click opens an app, brings it forward, or gets back one of its minimised windows. Scroll over an icon to go through that app's windows.
• Window previews, when you turn them on: hover a running app to see its windows as pictures, minimised ones included, and close one from its picture.
• Finder folders as stacks, opening as a strip, a fan, a grid or a list, and the Trash in the dock if you want it.
• Profiles that follow your displays, so a desk dock and a laptop dock switch by themselves.
• Looks. Icon sizes from 24 to 96, spacing, magnification, five themes (Glass, Dark, Light, Tinted and Custom, with your own colour, gradient or image), and the dock at the bottom, left or right.
• Right-click menus with an app's own actions, such as a browser's profiles or a music app's playback controls, and Force Quit with Option held.

It's $6.99 once after a 7-day free trial, and needs macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later. That price goes up to $9.99 on 1 November 2026. Its trial has every feature and asks for no card: start it here.

DockDoor: free window previews

DockDoor is free and open source, and it adds to the macOS Dock rather than replacing it. Point at an app in the Dock to see all its open windows, with buttons to close, minimise or quit. Hold Option and press Tab to see every open window. Its previews include windows on other desktops and displays, minimised and hidden ones too. It needs macOS 13 or later.

If previews are all you want from a dock app, DockDoor is the honest answer, and it costs nothing. Its maker also sells DockDoor Pro, a separate app that replaces the Dock: $20 once for 3 Macs, with a dock on every display, folders, widgets, profiles and a taskbar mode. The two are compared with Dockish in Dockish vs DockDoor.

uBar: a taskbar

uBar can be set up as a dock or as a taskbar. Turn its grouping off and every open window gets its own button in the bar. Each screen gets its own bar with only that screen's apps and windows, or the same bar everywhere. It has window previews, a clock and a menu of your applications. It's $30 once, with a 14-day trial, and runs on macOS 10.13 or later. See Dockish vs uBar for the two side by side.

ActiveDock: another replacement

ActiveDock 2 replaces both the Dock and Launchpad. Its site lists window previews, folder stacks, custom themes, grouping of apps and documents, and multiple-monitor support. It needs macOS 14.6 or later, has a 14-day trial, and is a one-time purchase.

HiDock: settings for each display setup

HiDock is free. It changes the macOS Dock's settings to suit each set of displays you use. Its own site says it isn't a way to have the Dock on several monitors at once.

Launchers: if you'd rather type than click

Some people replace the Dock's job of opening apps with a launcher, and hide the Dock:

• Spotlight is built in: press Command-Space and type an app's name.
• Raycast is free for personal use. Its Pro plan is $10 a month, or $96 a year.
• Alfred's core is free. Its Powerpack, which adds workflows and clipboard history, is £34 for a single licence.
• LaunchBar has a 30-day trial. After that it can be used for free, with a short break now and then until you register.

Checked on 13 October 2026: Raycast, Alfred and LaunchBar.

Older names you'll see recommended

• HyperDock's download page offers version 1.8, for macOS Mojave, High Sierra and Sierra, and names no newer macOS.
• DragThing is no longer sold, and doesn't run on macOS Catalina or later.
• cDock's newest version on its page is from November 2020, and it needs System Integrity Protection turned off.

How to choose

• A dock on every monitor: Dockish or DockDoor Pro.
• App folders like your iPhone, and themes: Dockish.
• Window previews only, free: DockDoor.
• A button for every open window: uBar.
• Opening apps from the keyboard: Spotlight, or a launcher such as Raycast or Alfred.
• Different Dock settings for each set of displays, free: HiDock.

Want more than one of our apps? The Appish Suite has all four for $26.99.

If your problem is where your windows sit, not the dock, that's a window manager's job: Layoutish saves where every window goes, on every display, and puts it all back.

Setting up Dockish: the first five minutes

1. Download Dockish, drag it to Applications and open it. A dock appears at the bottom of each display, with the apps pinned in your macOS Dock.
2. Allow Device Control and Data Access when macOS asks (Accessibility before macOS 27). That's how Dockish switches to the right window.
3. Click the Dockish icon in the menu bar. The Dock tab sets the size and the theme; the Displays tab chooses where docks show.
4. Under Settings, click Hide macOS Dock. Mission Control, Spaces and the app switcher keep working, because the macOS Dock is hidden, not quit. Restore macOS Dock brings it back.
5. Drag one pinned app onto another, and hold it there, to make your first folder.

If you'd rather not keep Dockish, quit it and the macOS Dock comes back as you had it.

Common questions

Is there a free dock replacement for Mac?

Not among the apps here. DockDoor is free and adds window previews and a window switcher to the macOS Dock, but keeps the macOS Dock, so there's still one dock, on one display at a time. HiDock is free too, and changes the Dock's settings for each set of displays. For a dock on every monitor, the options are paid: Dockish at $6.99, DockDoor Pro at $20, uBar at $30.

Which dock app is best for more than one monitor?

One that draws a dock of its own on each display: Dockish or DockDoor Pro, or uBar if you'd like a taskbar on each screen. The macOS Dock, and an app that adds to it, stays on one display at a time.

Can I go back to the macOS Dock?

Yes. Quit Dockish and the macOS Dock comes back as you had it, or click Restore macOS Dock in Dockish's settings. If Dockish ever stops without quitting, press Option-Command-D to show the macOS Dock.

Will a dock app still work after a macOS update?

It depends on the app being kept up to date, so check when it was last updated. Dockish had a release for macOS 27 (1.2.4, 15 September 2026), and it looks for a new version about once a day and offers it when there is one.

Does Dockish work on macOS Sonoma?

Yes. It needs macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later, so it runs on Sonoma, Sequoia, Tahoe and macOS 27, on Apple silicon and Intel.