Switchman

Every link, the right track.

Work links to the work browser. Personal ones somewhere else. Switchman sits between the click and the browser, and sends each link where you actually wanted it.

Download for macOS 1.1.0 · macOS 13 or later · 5.9 MB

Switchman — Settings
The General settings page: the routing status card, the day's count, and the permissions section, each with why.

What you actually see

No dashboard, no config file. Two views, each in turn — all honest.

Switchman's picker: five browsers listed under a github.com link, each reachable by number key.
The picker: every browser you have, each one a number key away — and a box that turns this choice into a rule.
The Permissions section, listing what Switchman has been allowed to do and why it asks.
The Permissions section: every permission, what it is for, and why — before you are asked to grant anything.

What it does not do

  • No account. Nothing to sign up for, nothing to sign in to.
  • No telemetry. No analytics, no crash reporting, no usage counts. Not off by default — absent.
  • Three times it touches the network, and no others. Site icons and short links are switches you turn on yourself, both off to begin with. The third is Pro activation: once, sending only the email you bought with and the code we send back. Nothing after that.
  • Your links stay on your Mac. There is no server to send them to, because there is no server.
  • No link redirector, ever. Routing your clicks through servers of ours would make us the one party able to see every link you open — which is exactly what this app exists to avoid.
The Permissions section, listing what Switchman has been allowed to do and why it asks.
Every permission, what it is for, and why — before you are asked to grant anything.

Routing is free. Depth is a one-time purchase.

The core switching work — the picker, rules, safety warnings — is free forever. Pro goes one layer deeper: unfolding where short links really lead, and carrying the safety checks further.

A signal box beside a night railway, one track dividing into two at a lit signal.

Free

Freethe whole app, today

No limits, free forever

  • Routing core — the picker, number-key shortcuts, menu-bar fallback
  • All rules — domains, exact addresses, source apps
  • Safety warnings — lookalike characters, misplaced brands, one-keystroke traps
  • URL cleaning — utm and fbclid stripped before the link departs
  • English and Simplified Chinese, switchable in-app
Download for macOS

Features already shipped will never move behind a paywall.

Pro

$9.9one-time

No subscription · No account · Major upgrades priced separately

  • Short-link resolution — t.co and bit.ly unfold before they board; you see where they go
  • Destination safety check — the true endpoint, once unfolded, goes through the complete safety ruleset
  • Cloud syncShips when ready, free for Pro — your rules follow your Macs
Checkout under construction

Activation takes only the email you bought with: one code arrives, and after that the app stays offline for good. This is the third — and last — time Switchman touches the network.

Why not a subscription? A tool with no account and no server has no business charging monthly. $9.9 buys this generation of Pro outright; if a 2.0 ever earns charging again, we'll say so out loud — not deduct quietly every month.

Questions

Does it slow down opening a link?

No. Matching a rule is local and instant. The one thing that can add a moment is short-link resolution, which is off unless you switch it on.

Why does it want Accessibility permission?

Only for one thing: opening a Safari private window. Safari cannot be asked for one directly, so Switchman drives its menu, and macOS classes that as sending keystrokes. Chrome, Edge and Firefox take a command-line flag and need none of it. If you never use Safari private windows, you never need to grant it.

What happens to links I have not written a rule for?

You choose: the picker asks every time, or everything unmatched goes to one browser you nominate. Both are one click apart in the menu bar.

Does it work with browser profiles?

Not yet. Today Switchman routes to applications, including a browser's private window as a separate destination. Per-profile targets are on the list.

What does it cost?

The routing core is free forever — the picker, the rules, the safety warnings, the URL cleaning. Pro is $9.9 once, and unlocks short-link resolution and the destination safety check. See the full comparison.

Which languages?

English and Simplified Chinese, switchable inside the app rather than only by changing your system language.

The Switchman application icon.

Every link, the right track.

Native Swift and AppKit. No bundled browser engine, no scripting runtime.

Download for macOS 1.1.0 · macOS 13 or later · 5.9 MB