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The best Pear Desktop alternatives

8 tools that do a similar job to Pear Desktop, 8 of them open source. Each entry says what it does and who it suits, so you can pick the one that fits instead of the most famous.

You're replacing

Pear Desktop

Unofficial desktop app for YouTube Music, with a plugin system, for Windows, macOS and Linux.

  1. 1

    Listen 1

    Open source · MIT · ★ 11.4k

    A desktop player that searches and plays songs from several Chinese music sites in one place.

    Best for: People who listen to music on Chinese streaming platforms and want one app for them; Users who want a desktop player instead of a browser tab

    Full review Pear Desktop vs Listen 1
  2. 2

    YesPlayMusic

    Open source · MIT · ★ 33.5k

    A third-party desktop and web player for NetEase Cloud Music with a clean interface.

    Best for: Existing NetEase Cloud Music users who want a different player interface; Chinese-speaking users who use NetEase Cloud Music daily

    Full review Pear Desktop vs YesPlayMusic
  3. 3

    Alger Music Player

    Open source · MIT · ★ 17.2k

    A third-party desktop music player with desktop lyrics, music download, and remote control.

    Best for: Chinese-speaking users who want a desktop music player with a separate desktop lyrics window; People who want to try an open-source player with EQ, speed control, and timed playback

    Full review Pear Desktop vs Alger Music Player
  4. 4

    xbar

    Open source · MIT · ★ 18.1k

    A macOS menu bar app that shows the output of your scripts and programs.

    Best for: Mac users who want a script's output always visible in the menu bar; People moving from BitBar who want a maintained successor

    Full review Pear Desktop vs xbar
  5. 5

    Koel

    Open source · MIT · ★ 17.3k

    Self-hosted web music streaming server for your own music library, built on Laravel and Vue.

    Best for: People who want to listen to their own music library from a browser; Users who want playlists, scrobbling, and radio in one self-hosted place

    Full review Pear Desktop vs Koel
  6. 6

    Rubick

    Open source · MIT · ★ 10.1k

    Open-source Electron desktop toolbox that launches apps and runs installable plugins.

    Best for: People who want a keyboard-driven launcher for apps and files on Windows or macOS; Users who want to add small tools through a plugin market

    Full review Pear Desktop vs Rubick
  7. 7

    Kap

    Open source · MIT · ★ 19.4k

    A free, open-source screen recorder for macOS, built with web technology.

    Best for: Mac users who want to record part of their screen quickly from the menu bar; People who want an open-source recorder they can inspect or modify

    Full review Pear Desktop vs Kap
  8. 8

    Medis

    Open source · MIT · ★ 11.7k

    A Mac desktop app for browsing and editing data in Redis databases.

    Best for: Developers who want a visual way to inspect Redis keys on a Mac; People connecting to remote Redis servers through SSH

    Full review Pear Desktop vs Medis

How we pick: tools in the same category that solve the same problem, projects that name each other as alternatives, and open-source projects that describe themselves as an alternative to Pear Desktop. We don't take payment for placement.