Questions

The best controller, gamepad and joystick mapper for Mac

I make one of these, InputConfig, so the bias is stated up front. Every fact below comes from each app's own App Store listing, repository or website, and each app gets a line on what it does well. For free options only, see the free controller mapper list.

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 on macOS 10.14 to 13: JoyMapper or Gamepad Mapper, 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.

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.

InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.

What each one does well

• 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.
• 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.
• 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; MIDI out; accessibility features such as one-stick driving and spoken feedback; 450+ ready layouts; nothing locked.

Looking for a Windows tool on a Mac?

JoyToKey, Xpadder, reWASD, DS4Windows, InputMapper, x360ce and AntiMicroX have no macOS versions. Each has its own page with what the Mac does instead: JoyToKey, Xpadder, reWASD, DS4Windows, InputMapper, x360ce, AntiMicroX. Steam Input runs on the Mac but mostly inside Steam games; Steam Input outside Steam covers the rest.

What macOS and Steam do on their own

System Settings > Game Controllers can remap a controller's buttons to other controller buttons, inside games that already support controllers; it cannot send keys or move the mouse. Steam Input can map a controller to keys, but only for Steam games. Everything else needs a mapper. More on what macOS can do on its own.

What a controller 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.

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

Gamepad mapper, key remapper, macro app: which one you need

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 and keys and mouse out. Every app in the table above 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.

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.

Questions

Related

• Free controller, gamepad and joystick mappers for Mac
• Gamepad Mapper alternative for Mac
• ControllerKeys alternative for Mac
• Can Karabiner-Elements map a game controller?
• 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

Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.