Questions

The best controller, gamepad and joystick mapper for Mac

InputConfig is completely free on the Mac App Store. You don't have to make an account, there are no subscriptions, and nothing is locked. Optimized for Apple silicon.

The best controller mapper for a Mac is the one that fits your job, and the quick picks below give that answer in one line each. Sixteen apps follow in one table, with price, version and minimum macOS, and a line on what each does well. I make one of them, InputConfig, so the bias is stated up front. Every fact comes from each app's own App Store listing, repository or website. For free options only, see the free controller mapper list.

On this page

1. Quick picks
2. Every Mac controller mapper
3. What each one does well
4. Check what macOS and Steam already do
5. Understand what a mapper does
6. Match the tool to the job
7. Windows tools have no Mac version
8. How I checked
9. The short version
10. Questions

Quick picks

• Free, open source, nothing locked. InputConfig.
• One Steam game. Steam Input, which is already installed.
• Joy-Cons only. JoyKeyMapper, small and free.
• Scripting and an on-screen keyboard. ControllerKeys, paid, with a trial.
• An older Mac. JoyMapper from macOS 10.14.4, or Gamepad Mapper on macOS 12 and 13, since InputConfig needs macOS 14.
• MIDI gear, switches, a tap on the MacBook, or screen regions as inputs. InputConfig. None of the others list these. Tapping the MacBook is the one with a hardware limit: it was tested on M4 MacBooks and did not work on an M1 Pro in our testing; the calibrator's status chip tells you whether yours listens.

Pick by the job first, then by price and the macOS version you run.

Every Mac controller mapper

Checked on 22 September 2026 against each app's App Store listing, GitHub or Codeberg page, and the maker's own site.

What each one does well

Every app here is good at something. One line each, from its own listing:

• ControllerKeys. JavaScript scripting, an on-screen swipe keyboard, and OBS integration.
• Gamepad Mapper. The longest-running App Store option with profiles, and it installs on macOS 12. The free alternative is on the page about a gamepad mapper for Mac.
• JoyMapper. Stick or motion mouse, the DualSense touchpad, per-app switching, and the widest macOS range, back to 10.14.4.
• ConMapper. Layers, radial menus, Shortcuts and app launching.
• Recontrol. A free, focused gamepad-to-keyboard-and-mouse remapper.
• Controllers. Per-game layouts that switch by app, with a long track record.
• JoyKeyMapper. Tiny, free and open source, for Nintendo controllers.
• Karabiner-Elements. The best keyboard customizer on the Mac, for pads that can act as a keyboard.
• USB Overdrive. A long-running driver for mice, keyboards, trackballs, joysticks and gamepads from almost any vendor, set globally or per app. It does not take over Apple's own mice, trackpads or keyboards.
• Joystick Mapper. Keys, mouse axes, mouse buttons and the wheel on any button, axis or hat of a Mac-compatible joystick or gamepad.
• GameController Mapper. A controller as a remote control for the Mac, with mouse simulation, text input and a menu bar mode.
• GamePad Companion. Any USB HID device as a keyboard or mouse, up to five devices at once. Its Mac App Store page could not be found on October 7, 2026: what happened to GamePad Companion.
• Enjoyable. Free and open source, with ready mappings for a handful of games, and still the name many people remember.
• Steam Input. Already installed if you have Steam, and the right tool for one Steam game.
• InputConfig. Every controller plus MIDI, keyboards, mice, the trackpad, screen regions and a tap on the MacBook as inputs (the tap has a hardware limit, given in the quick picks above); MIDI out; accessibility features such as one-stick driving and spoken feedback; 450+ ready layouts; nothing locked.

Check what macOS and Steam already do

Before installing anything, know where the built-in tools stop:

• System Settings, Game Controllers. Remaps a controller's buttons to other controller buttons, inside games that already support controllers. It cannot send keys or move the mouse.
• Steam Input. Maps a controller to keys, but only for Steam games.

Everything outside those two, from a keyboard-only game to the Finder, needs a mapper. More on what macOS can do on its own.

Understand what a mapper does

A controller mapper, also called a gamepad mapper, joystick mapper or input mapper, sits between a device and the Mac. It reads a button, a stick or a trigger and sends something every app already understands: a key press, a mouse click, pointer movement, scrolling, sometimes a macro. That is how a controller plays a game that only reads the keyboard, or runs a browser, the Finder or Anki. If you are leaving a paid one, the pages on a joystick mapper for Mac and a gamepad mapper for Mac show how to move the setup across.

A mapper that sends keys and clicks needs the Accessibility permission, because that is the permission that lets one app send input to another.

Match the tool to the job

Searches use a lot of names for a few jobs. This is which tool fits which one:

• Controller, gamepad or joystick mapper. The same job under three names: a controller in, keys and mouse out. Every app in the table does it. Choose by price, the controllers it lists and the macOS version you run.
• Key remapper or keyboard mapper. Changes what a keyboard key does, such as Caps Lock to Escape. That is macOS's own Modifier Keys setting or Karabiner-Elements, not a controller mapper. The key remapper for Mac page sorts out which one you need.
• Mouse button remapper. Gives side buttons a job. See mouse side buttons on a Mac.
• Macro software for a controller. One press runs a timed sequence of keys. InputConfig builds these per button. See macros, turbo and toggle.
• MIDI mapper. Pads and knobs to keystrokes. See MIDI to keystroke apps for Mac.

Windows tools have no Mac version

JoyToKey, Xpadder, reWASD, DS4Windows, InputMapper, x360ce and AntiMicroX have no macOS versions. Each has its own page with what the Mac does instead. Coming from DSX, the DualSense app on Windows? DSX for Mac shows where each of its jobs lives in InputConfig.

• Keys and mouse from a pad. JoyToKey, Xpadder, AntiMicroX.
• Layers, macros and profiles. reWASD.
• Making a pad look like an Xbox controller. DS4Windows, InputMapper, x360ce.
• Steam Input. It runs on the Mac but mostly inside Steam games. Steam Input outside Steam covers the rest.

How I checked

Every row in the table comes from the app's own Mac App Store listing, its GitHub or Codeberg page, or the maker's website, read on the date in the table caption. Prices, versions and minimum macOS change, so the caption carries the date of the last check, and I change it whenever I recheck.

I do not give other apps star ratings, because I have not used each one on every macOS version, and a score from a competitor would not be worth much anyway. If you make one of these apps and a line here is out of date, tell me through the InputConfig issue tracker and I will fix it.

The short version

• Free and open source. InputConfig, Enjoyable and JoyKeyMapper. Recontrol is free too.
• One Steam game. Steam Input is enough.
• Older macOS. Look at JoyMapper or Gamepad Mapper.
• Beyond controllers. For MIDI, switches, the trackpad and screen regions as inputs, I would use InputConfig.

The right mapper is the smallest one that does your job on the macOS you run.

Questions

Related

• The best app for connecting a controller to a Mac
• ControllerMate alternative for a current Mac
• Free controller, gamepad and joystick mappers for Mac
• Gamepad Mapper for Mac: the free alternative
• ControllerKeys alternative for Mac
• JoyToKey for Mac
• How to map controller buttons to keyboard keys on a Mac
• Which key remapper for Mac do you need?
• Controller macros, turbo, and toggle on a Mac
• JoyMapper, Recontrol, Controlly and ConMapper, compared
• Is there AntiMicroX for Mac?
• Is there Controller Companion for Mac?

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Updated October 31, 2026