Compare · Deskflow
A Deskflow alternative for Mac
Deskflow is free, GPL-2.0, and genuinely healthy: 29.3k stars and pushed almost daily. If you want no vendor at all it is the honest answer. What you pay instead is the macOS experience, because the project does not notarize its builds and its Input Monitoring issue has been open since March 2025.
- Runs on
- macOS, Windows, Linux
- Price
- Free, GPL-2.0
What Deskflow does better
Free, GPL-2.0, and the most actively developed option here - Windows, Linux and macOS. If you want no vendor at all, this is the one.
- It is free and GPL-2.0. You can read it, build it, fork it, and owe nobody anything.
- Windows and Linux on the same desk, which Continuo does not do at all.
- Cross-platform reach and an active community that a one-person Mac vendor cannot match.
The catch
Its README states it does not use an Apple certificate for notarization, so macOS calls it damaged until you clear the quarantine flag by hand; even its Homebrew cask runs `xattr -c` for you. Handling of the macOS Input Monitoring permission has been an open issue since March 2025, and the last tagged release was February 2026.
- The README states the project does not use an Apple certificate for notarization, so macOS reports the app as damaged the first time it opens.
- Its own Homebrew cask runs
xattr -con the installed app to work around that. That is the install step you inherit. - Issue 8400, on macOS Input Monitoring, has been open and assigned since March 2025.
- The last tagged release is v1.26.0 from February 2026, so a fix landing on master today is not yet a build anyone can download.
Pick Continuo instead when
You want a signed and notarized build that installs without a Terminal step, and you want files to cross the seam as well as the cursor.
You want installing to be a drag to Applications.
Continuo is signed with a Developer ID certificate and notarized by Apple, so Gatekeeper opens it directly. There is no quarantine flag to clear and no Terminal step to look up.
Files have to cross, not only the cursor.
Deskflow shares the clipboard. Continuo keeps hold of a dragged file across the screen edge and drops it into the exact window on the other Mac, and Pro mounts a whole folder there over the local network.
The desk is only Macs.
Reaching Windows and Linux costs any project depth on each one. Continuo is a single macOS app: real trackpad gestures on Pro, pinned TLS 1.3 with no way to switch it off, and Mac-only extras such as waking a sleeping Mac and logging in at its login window.
Capability by capability
The same rows as the full table, narrowed to these two.
| Capability | Continuo | Deskflow |
|---|---|---|
| Different Apple IDs | Yes | Yes |
| Windows / Linux support | Macs only | Windows · Linux |
| Installs with no Terminal step | Signed & notarized | Not notarized |
| Encrypted, with no way to switch it off | Pinned TLS 1.3 | TLS, on by default |
| Native input, not a forwarded stream | Yes | Unstated |
| Reconnects after sleep | Yes | Open issue |
| Drag & drop files across Macs | Free · one at a time | Clipboard only |
| Jump-to-Mac hotkey | Free | Hotkey only |
| No telemetry, no cloud relay for input | Yes | Yes |
| Native trackpad gestures | Pro | Unstated |
| Folders and multiple files at once | Pro | No |
| Shared folder in Finder | Pro | No |
| Clipboard over 1 MB | Pro · up to 32 MB | 3 MB, configurable |
| Copy on Select | Pro | No |
| Pair more than two Macs | Pro | Yes |
| Wake a sleeping Mac | Pro | No |
| Mesh Sleep Sync | Pro | No |
| Lock pointer to one screen | Free | Yes |
| Lock all Macs together | Pro | Removed |
| Keyboard on a locked Mac | Pro | Unstated |
| Log in at the login window | Pro · FileVault via Restart for Remote Login | Unstated |
| Price | $39 once | Free · GPL-2.0 |
| Upgrades | 1 year of new builds | Free |
What was checked: The project README on notarization, its Homebrew cask, issue 8400 on Input Monitoring (open since March 2025, assigned), and the releases page (last tag v1.26.0, February 2026, while master is pushed daily). Read in October 2026. Where Deskflowdoes not state a behaviour, the row says so rather than guessing. If something here is out of date, report it and it gets fixed.
Common questions
Is Deskflow abandoned?
No, and it would be wrong to say so. Master is pushed almost daily and the project carries 29.3k stars. What is stale is the release rather than the project: the last tagged build, v1.26.0, is from February 2026.
Why does macOS say Deskflow is damaged?
Its own README explains it. macOS reports unsigned apps as damaged, and the project states it does not use an Apple certificate for notarization. The Homebrew cask works around this by running `xattr -c` on the installed app for you.
Does Deskflow move files between machines?
It shares the clipboard. It does not drag a file from one machine into a specific app on another, and it does not mount a folder from one machine on the other.