Flick and AltTab, side by side

The short answer

AltTab brings a Windows-style Alt-Tab to the Mac. Hold ⌥ and tap Tab, and every window appears as a live thumbnail, minimized, hidden and other-Space windows included. The core app is free and open source under GPL-3.0; since version 11, a paid AltTab Pro adds search, two more styles, auto-sizing and extra shortcuts. Thumbnails need Screen Recording.

Flick is a list rather than a grid of pictures: each window is a row with its app's icon, name and title, and typing narrows the list, best match first. With a license, it finds browser tabs too. It needs Accessibility, plus Automation for each browser whose tabs you turn on, and never Screen Recording. Both apps start on ⌥Tab, so if you keep both, give one of them other keys.

At a glance

When AltTab fits better

• You recognize windows by what's in them. Live thumbnails tell two windows with similar titles apart at a glance, and the selected window is shown full size before you switch. Flick shows titles only.
• You want every window free, and the code open. AltTab's free version keeps every window, with thumbnails, for good, and its source is on GitHub. Flick's free version covers your 5 most recent windows, and Flick isn't open source.
• You want your own shortcuts. AltTab takes almost any key combination, filtered by app, Space or screen (up to 9 shortcuts with Pro), switches with a three-finger swipe, and has a command line. Flick opens with ⌥Tab or ⌘Tab, plus a search shortcut you choose.
• Your Mac runs macOS 12 or 13, which AltTab supports and Flick doesn't.
• You want another language, or a light look. AltTab comes in 21 languages and follows your Mac's appearance. Flick is in English, and its panel is always dark.
• You want the simplest first open. AltTab's FAQ says the copies it distributes are signed and notarized. Flick isn't notarized yet, so its first open needs a one-time approval. The steps

When Flick fits better

• You'd rather type than look. Search comes with every copy of Flick (the free version searches your 5 most recent windows). It puts the best match first, understands initials such as “vsc” for Visual Studio Code, matches the file and folder names of the document a window shows, and offers apps that aren't open. AltTab's search comes with Pro and matches a window's title or app name. How window search works
• You'd rather not grant Screen Recording. Flick reads window titles and positions through Accessibility. To see where the selected window is, set Show where the selected window is to Outline in Settings › Appearance; it uses only the window's position.
• You want browser tabs in the same search. With a license, Flick finds tabs by title or address in Safari, Chrome, Chrome Beta, Brave and Edge. Safari's tabs are listed only while Include private windows is on, because Safari doesn't say which of its windows are private, and that setting also lists private windows in the other browsers. AltTab's own comparison with Witch names tab switching as something it doesn't focus on. Browser tabs in Flick

Price and licensing

As of October 2026, AltTab's core app is free for good. AltTab Pro, introduced in version 11.0.0 on May 21, 2026, adds search, the App Icons and Titles styles, auto-sizing thumbnails and up to 9 shortcuts. Pro is $9.99 once, with updates for the current major version; Pro Lifetime is $24.99 once, with every future update. A license covers 3 Macs, every Pro feature is free for 14 days after you install, and refunds are offered for 30 days (AltTab pricing).

Unlike AltTab, Flick puts search in its free version, for your 5 most recent windows; like AltTab Pro, its one-time license covers the current major version (every 1.x update), but it's priced per Mac rather than for 3. Pricing

Permissions and privacy

AltTab's FAQ says it needs Accessibility to read window titles and move focus, and Screen Recording for thumbnails; without Screen Recording, it works but shows no thumbnails. Its site says it has no telemetry and no tracking. Its privacy policy adds that update checks send the version and the kind of Mac and macOS, crash reports go only if you agree each time, and AltTab Pro checks its license now and then, under an account tied to your email.

Flick needs Accessibility, plus Automation for each browser whose tabs you turn on, never Screen Recording; it has no account even with a license, and its update check sends no profile of your Mac (Flick's privacy policy, the permissions Flick uses).

Moving from AltTab

1. Give ⌥Tab to one of them

   While AltTab runs and Flick is on ⌥Tab, Flick shows “AltTab also uses ⌥Tab” in Settings › Shortcuts and its menu bar menu, with Use ⌘Tab Instead, Quit AltTab and Don't Warn About AltTab. Flick goes by AltTab's default keys and never reads its settings, so after you move AltTab to other keys, click Don't Warn About AltTab. Running two switchers

2. If you had AltTab on ⌘Tab

   Select Command ⌘ + Tab in Flick's Settings › Shortcuts. Flick then replaces the macOS app switcher while it runs, and macOS gets ⌘Tab back when Flick quits.

3. Match the filters you used

   For only the current Space, turn on Show only the active Space in Settings › General. For only the front app, use Flick's front app's windows: ⌘` in ⌘Tab mode, or ⌥` once you turn it on in ⌥Tab mode (how it works). Minimized windows are listed unless you turn off Show minimized windows. Flick has no per-screen filter: it lists every display's windows.

4. Bring over your exceptions

   Apps you kept out of AltTab go in Settings › Exceptions: click Add App under Ignored Apps.

5. Tidy up permissions

   If you remove AltTab, also remove it from System Settings › Privacy & Security › Screen & System Audio Recording (Apple's guide) and from Accessibility.

Questions