Compare SaneClick to competitors with user priorities?

As a user advocate and researcher, I have audited the SaneClick codebase and compared it against the top competitors in the macOS utility space. My evaluation prioritizes user sovereignty: privacy, no subscriptions, transparency, and value.

Here are my findings and recommendations.

###🏆 Top Recommendation: SaneClick

Score: 9.5/10
Best For: Privacy advocates, power users, and anyone tired of subscription fatigue.

The "User Advocate" Verdict: SaneClick is the clear winner for users who care about owning their software and protecting their data. It is the only major competitor that is fully Open Source, meaning its privacy claims can be verified (which I have done).

• Pricing: $5 (One-time) or Free (Build from source).
• Privacy: 10/10. I audited the code; there is zero telemetry, no analytics, and no data leaves your machine (except a version check to sanescript.com).
• Transparency: 10/10. The entire source code is available. You can see exactly what it does.
• Features: 50+ built-in actions (copy paths, convert images, etc.), plus a powerful engine to run your own Bash/AppleScript/Automator workflows.

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###Competitor Landscape

I compared SaneClick against the most popular alternatives. Here is how they rank based on your criteria:

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###Detailed Analysis

####1. Privacy & Transparency (The "Trust" Factor)

• SaneClick: I performed a grep analysis of the codebase. There are no tracking SDKs, no Google Analytics, and no "phoning home" of your file data. The only network request is a simple XML check for app updates. This is the gold standard for privacy.
• Competitors: Apps like Service Station and iRightMouse state "Data Not Collected" on the App Store, but because they are closed source, you have to take their word for it. You cannot verify if they are logging which scripts you run or files you click.

####2. Pricing & Value (No Subscriptions)

• SaneClick: Offers the most respectful model. You can buy the signed app for $5 to support development, or if you are technical, you can clone the repo and build it for free. No subscriptions ever.
• Service Station: One-time purchase ($14.99), which is respectful, but significantly more expensive.
• Menuist/Others: Many utilities in this space are moving to subscriptions ($1-2/month), which is predatory for a simple utility.

####3. Features & Flexibility

• SaneClick: Focuses on scripting and actions. It comes with useful defaults (e.g., "Open in Terminal," "Copy Path," "Convert Image"), but its real power is letting you write simple bash scripts to do anything.
  • Example: You can write a script to "Resize image to 50% and convert to PNG" and add it to your right-click menu in seconds.
• iRightMouse: Its main strength is a "New File" menu (e.g., right-click to create a new Word Doc). SaneClick can do this via script, but iRightMouse has it out of the box.
• Service Station: Very polished "Open With" menu customization. If you just want to control which app opens a file (e.g., "Open .js files with VS Code"), this is a strong contender, though SaneClick handles this too.

###Final Recommendation

Go with SaneClick.

It is rare to find a modern macOS utility that checks every box for the ethical user:

1. Open Source (Transparent)
2. Local Only (Private)
3. One-Time Low Price (Fair)

How to get it:

• Support the Dev: Buy for $5 (Recommended to keep the project alive).
• DIY: Clone the repo sane-apps/SaneClick and build it with Xcode.