Questions
ControllerMate alternative for a current Mac
ControllerMate's own site lists macOS 10.13 High Sierra and 10.14 Mojave as the systems its current version is compatible with, and nothing newer. If you have moved to a newer Mac, the setups you built in it need a new home. I make InputConfig, a free, open-source Mac app for macOS 14 and later that covers the common ControllerMate jobs: a button or a MIDI message that types keys, clicks, runs a macro or opens something. It does not cover everything ControllerMate did, and this page says where.
Steps
- Install InputConfig from the Mac App Store and allow Accessibility access.
- Connect the controller, joystick or MIDI device, and tick it under InputConfig, Devices if it is not in the sidebar.
- For each thing a ControllerMate page did, add a row: press Scan, press the button, and pick what it sends.
- Press Activate.
Match what you built in ControllerMate
| In ControllerMate | In InputConfig |
|---|---|
| A button that sends a keystroke or text | A Keyboard Key row, a shortcut, or a macro with a Type Text step |
| Building blocks wired into logic | Options on a row: hold, double tap, turbo, toggle, and chords that need a second button held |
| MIDI notes and controller values as triggers | MIDI as an input: notes, control changes and program changes bind like buttons |
| A joystick axis moving the pointer | A Mouse Motion row with a deadzone and a response curve |
| Virtual mouse, tablet and joystick devices | Pointer movement, clicks and scrolling as system events; no virtual joystick or tablet |
If your setup was buttons and MIDI in, keys and clicks out, it carries over; if it fed a virtual joystick to another app, it does not.
InputConfig is free on the Mac App Store. macOS 14 or later, no account, no tracking, open source.
Rebuild a setup with Scan
InputConfig cannot open ControllerMate's files, so a setup is rebuilt row by row. That goes faster than it sounds:
- You: Press Scan on a row and press the button, move the axis, or play the MIDI note.
- InputConfig: Binds the row to that input, whatever its number.
- Check: The Live Visualizer lights the control when you use it. Then pick what the row sends.
- Logic that waited for a held button. Use chords.
- Repeating keys. Use turbo, or a macro for a sequence.
- MIDI gear. See MIDI as input.
One row per job replaces most building-block pages.
What InputConfig does not replace
- Virtual joysticks and tablets. ControllerMate could create devices that other apps saw as real hardware. InputConfig sends keyboard and mouse events and creates no virtual device.
- Free-form logic. There is no canvas of blocks to wire together. A row has one input and one output, shaped by its options.
- X-keys hardware. ControllerMate had a version made for X-keys. I have not tested X-keys devices with InputConfig.
For a flight simulator that expects a virtual joystick, InputConfig is not the answer.
The short version
- ControllerMate. Its site lists macOS 10.13 and 10.14 and nothing newer.
- On a current Mac. InputConfig covers buttons and MIDI in, keys, clicks, pointer and macros out.
- Not covered. Virtual devices and block logic.
I checked ControllerMate's site on October 6, 2026. Rebuild the rows you use every day first; most setups are smaller than they looked.
Questions
Does ControllerMate work on current macOS or Apple silicon?
Its own site lists macOS 10.13 High Sierra and 10.14 Mojave as compatible with the current version, and older versions for older systems. It lists nothing newer. I have not tried to run it on a current Mac.
Is there a free alternative to ControllerMate?
For buttons, joystick axes and MIDI messages that send keys, clicks, pointer movement and macros, InputConfig is free and open source on the Mac App Store, for macOS 14 and later.
Can InputConfig create a virtual joystick like ControllerMate?
No. InputConfig sends keyboard and mouse events and creates no virtual device, so an app that needs a joystick must see a real one.
Can InputConfig open my ControllerMate files?
No. A setup is rebuilt row by row with Scan: press the button or play the MIDI note, then pick what it sends.
Related
Free. macOS 14 or later. No account, nothing leaves your Mac. Open source on GitHub.