Disclosure up front: I'm building one of the editors on this list (ModernTex). I've tried to write the comparison honestly. TeXShop is the right call for most academics today, and Texifier is the right call for most people who want a polished modern editor. ModernTex is in development, and I'll be clear about what's shipped vs what's planned.
What you actually need to run LaTeX on a Mac
A LaTeX editor is only half of the setup, and this trips up most people coming to LaTeX on a Mac for the first time. You need two things:
- A TeX distribution. This is the engine that turns your
.texsource into a PDF. On macOS that is almost always MacTeX, which bundles the TeX Live distribution with a few Mac-specific applications. It is a large download, around 5 GB, because it ships every package you might ever cite. - An editor. This is where you write. It sends your file to the distribution, shows you the resulting PDF, and tells you what went wrong when the compile fails. This is the part you get to choose, and it is what the rest of this page compares.
The distinction matters because a lot of "LaTeX won't work on my Mac"
problems are really "no TeX distribution is installed". If you open a
.tex file and nothing compiles, install MacTeX first and then
pick an editor. The one exception is Overleaf, which runs the distribution on
its own servers, so nothing is installed locally at all.
macOS does not include a TeX distribution, and neither Pages nor TextEdit will compile LaTeX. There is no built-in option the way there is for Markdown previewing.
The shortlist
- TeXShop: free, ships with MacTeX, the default for most academics.
- Texifier (formerly Texpad): paid, polished, modern Mac native.
- Octree: free, AI-assisted, web-based with Mac wrapper.
- VS Code + LaTeX Workshop: free, general-purpose code editor with a strong LaTeX extension.
- Overleaf: web-based, collaborative, runs in any browser.
- ModernTex: in development, native macOS, focused on the academic manuscript workflow.
TeXShop
Cost: Free. Platform: macOS-only. Installed by: almost every academic with a Mac and MacTeX.
TeXShop is the editor that ships with the MacTeX distribution. It's been around for over 20 years, it's actively maintained by Richard Koch at the University of Oregon, and it does one thing well: edit a .tex file and compile it with whatever engine MacTeX provides. Side-by-side editor and PDF preview, SyncTeX click-to-source, basic syntax highlighting, multi-file support via root document declaration.
What it's good at: reliability. Compatible with every TeX distribution macro you'll encounter. No telemetry, no cloud, no subscription. If a tutorial says "open TeXShop and...", that's a feature.
What it lacks: modern UX (the interface looks like 2010), no inline BibTeX autocomplete, no plain-language error messages, no built-in tracked-changes view. Searching across a multi-file project is functional but not great.
Pick TeXShop if you want the closest thing to a default and you don't mind the dated interface. Most senior researchers do, in fact, pick TeXShop.
Texifier (formerly Texpad)
Cost: $29.99 (occasional discount). Platform: macOS + iOS.
Texifier is the polished Mac-native option that most people who actually shop for a LaTeX editor end up with. It bundles its own TeX distribution (no MacTeX install required), has incremental typesetting (PDF updates as you type with no manual compile), a structure sidebar that maps your manuscript by sections, and the best autocomplete-for-LaTeX experience available.
What it's good at: the "it just works" experience. Outline sidebar makes navigating a long manuscript feel natural. iPad app is genuinely usable. Active development.
What it lacks: deep bibliography tooling. The BibTeX autocomplete is good but not specifically built for academic writing workflows. Tracked-changes via latexdiff requires external tools.
Pick Texifier if you want a polished, modern Mac-native experience and you're willing to pay $30 for it. This is the right answer for most working researchers writing journal-length manuscripts on a Mac today.
Octree
Cost: Free tier with limits, paid plan ~$10/mo. Platform: Web + Mac wrapper.
The newer entrant. AI-assisted writing (suggestions, grammar, rewrites) on top of a competent LaTeX editor. The cloud-first design is a real distinguishing feature, because your project lives on Octree's servers, accessible from any device.
What it's good at: AI-assisted drafting. If you want copilot-style suggestions while you write, Octree is the only mainstream option that integrates them well.
What it lacks: on-device privacy. Your manuscript is on Octree's servers by default. For sensitive research (medical, military, IP), that's disqualifying.
Pick Octree if AI-assisted writing is core to your workflow and your research isn't sensitive. Avoid if "no cloud" is a requirement.
VS Code + LaTeX Workshop
Cost: Free. Platform: cross-platform.
If you're a developer who also writes academic papers, VS Code with the LaTeX Workshop extension is the path of least resistance. Build chains are configurable, snippets are mature, Git integration is the same as your code projects. SyncTeX preview works well.
What it's good at: consistency with the rest of your toolchain if you spend most of your day in VS Code. Free, extensible, version-controllable settings.
What it lacks: a manuscript-first feel. VS Code is a code editor, so the document feels like a code file, not like a paper. Outline navigation works but isn't built for chapters and bibliographies.
Pick VS Code if you already live in VS Code and want one less context switch.
Overleaf
Cost: Free tier (limited compile time, no Git sync), paid plans $15–$25/mo.
Browser-based, collaborative. Overleaf is the de facto choice for multi-author papers where co-authors aren't all comfortable installing LaTeX. The collaboration model (Google Docs-style) works.
What it's good at: multi-author collaboration. Templates for major journals. No local install required.
What it lacks: offline access on the free tier, Git sync on free, native-Mac feel. The editor itself runs in a browser.
Pick Overleaf if you need real-time collaboration. Many academic teams use Overleaf for collaboration and a native editor for solo writing.
ModernTex
Cost: TBA. Platform: macOS 14+. Status: in development, 2026 expected launch.
I'm building ModernTex specifically because the existing options miss a few things that matter for academic manuscript work: plain-language compile error explanations (BibTeX-style cryptic errors are the #1 frustration for new users), BibTeX autocomplete that searches by author or title across your entire .bib, revision snapshots tied to ideas not files, and submission-readiness checks that catch journal-specific issues before you upload.
Why a new editor when Texifier exists: Texifier is excellent but optimizes for general LaTeX users (programmers, technical writers, students). ModernTex narrows the focus to academic manuscript writers, the workflow of writing a journal article or dissertation chapter, from outline to camera-ready. That's a deliberate constraint.
If that workflow describes you, join the waitlist, one email at launch, no marketing.
Decision matrix
- Want the default? TeXShop.
- Want polished and modern, willing to pay? Texifier.
- Want AI-assisted drafting? Octree.
- Already in VS Code? VS Code + LaTeX Workshop.
- Need real-time collaboration? Overleaf.
- Academic manuscripts on macOS as your dominant use case? ModernTex (when it ships in 2026).
Installing LaTeX on a Mac
Whichever editor you land on, the install order is the same: distribution first, editor second.
MacTeX is the standard choice. Download the package from the TeX Users Group, run the installer, and you have TeX Live plus TeXShop, BibDesk and LaTeXiT. It is about 5 GB installed. Nearly every tutorial you will read assumes this is what you have, which is a real advantage when something breaks at 11pm before a deadline.
BasicTeX is the same distribution trimmed to roughly
100 MB. It omits most packages, so you install them individually with
tlmgr as documents demand them. Worth it if disk space is tight,
painful if you are new, because a missing package surfaces as a compile error
rather than a prompt.
Homebrew works too, via brew install --cask
mactex or mactex-no-gui. Same distribution, managed
alongside your other packages.
Installing nothing is also an option. Overleaf runs entirely in the browser. For a single co-authored paper on a borrowed machine that is often the right answer, and you can move to a local setup later without changing your source files. Our LaTeX to PDF compiler will also build a document without any local install if you just need one PDF.
Apple Silicon no longer needs any special handling. MacTeX has shipped native arm64 binaries for years, and every editor on this page runs natively on M series hardware.
Frequently asked
Is there a free LaTeX editor for Mac?
Yes, several. TeXShop is free and arrives with MacTeX, so most people already have it. VS Code with the LaTeX Workshop extension is free. Overleaf has a free tier with limits on compile time and no Git sync. Of the paid options, Texifier is a one-time $29.99 rather than a subscription.
Does macOS come with LaTeX?
No. macOS ships no TeX distribution and no LaTeX editor. You need to install MacTeX, or use a browser-based option like Overleaf.
What is the difference between a LaTeX editor and a TeX distribution?
The distribution compiles your document. The editor is where you write it and read the errors. MacTeX is a distribution, TeXShop and Texifier are editors. You need one of each, except with Overleaf, which provides both.
Which LaTeX editor is best for academic writing on a Mac?
For most researchers today, Texifier if you will pay for polish, TeXShop if you want the default that every tutorial assumes. Choose Overleaf instead when co-authors need to edit the same file at the same time.
Tools that work alongside any of these
Whichever editor you pick, these free in-browser utilities pair well:
- LaTeX to PDF: compile when you're on a machine without a TeX install.
- LaTeX to Word: convert your manuscript for journals that require
.docx. - LaTeX Diff: generate a tracked-changes PDF between two versions.
- BibTeX Validator: catch citation errors before compile.
For more on the academic LaTeX workflow generally, see the LaTeX hub and the BibTeX and citations hub.