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JoyMapper, Recontrol, Controlly and ConMapper, compared

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.

All four turn a game controller into a keyboard and mouse on a Mac, and the differences are price and trial limits: Recontrol is free, JoyMapper turns its mapping off after a 5-day trial, Controlly keeps only the pointer and click after 7 days, and ConMapper sells an optional Pro upgrade. I make a fifth, InputConfig, free with nothing locked, so weigh what I say about it. Everything below about the other four comes from their own App Store listings and websites, and each gets a line on what it does well.

On this page

1. Compare them at a glance
2. JoyMapper, for older Macs and Nintendo motion
3. Tell JoyMapper, JoyKeyMapper and JoyMapperSilicon apart
4. Recontrol, a small free mouse mapper
5. Controlly, a sofa remote
6. ConMapper, with radial menus
7. Where InputConfig fits
8. Switch from one of these
9. The short version
10. Questions

Compare them at a glance

The other four were checked on 22 September 2026 against each app's Mac App Store listing and the maker's own site. InputConfig is described as of version 1.8.

For every Mac mapper at once, see the best controller mapper for Mac comparison.

JoyMapper, for older Macs and Nintendo motion

JoyMapper, by Diao Hongsheng, maps controller buttons to keys and shortcuts, moves and scrolls the pointer with a stick or the motion sensor, uses the DualSense touchpad as a mouse, and switches profiles by app. Its listing names Joy-Cons, the Switch Pro Controller, Xbox Wireless, Elite Series 2 and Adaptive controllers, the DualSense and DualSense Edge, the DualShock 4 and, since 1.22.0, the Stadia controller.

Good at: the widest macOS range of any current mapper, back to 10.14.4, and pointing with a Joy-Con or Switch Pro Controller's motion sensor. InputConfig's gyro aim works on the DualSense, DualSense Edge, DualShock 4 and Switch Pro Controller, on a Joy-Con when macOS reports its motion, and, as experimental features, on both Steam Controllers and the Switch 2 Pro Controller.

Tell JoyMapper, JoyKeyMapper and JoyMapperSilicon apart

The names get mixed up in search.

• JoyMapper. The paid-after-trial App Store app above.
• JoyKeyMapper. By DarkHorse, free and MIT licensed, supports Nintendo controllers only, and was last updated in August 2020.
• JoyMapperSilicon. An MIT-licensed GitHub project for Joy-Cons and the Pro Controller on Apple silicon, last changed in December 2020.

For Joy-Cons in InputConfig, see Joy-Cons on a Mac.

Recontrol, a small free mouse mapper

Recontrol, by Dan Neumann, is free and focused: a gamepad to mouse and keyboard. Its listing offers a smooth or 8-direction stick mode, linear or exponential response curves, an adjustable deadzone, drift calibration, JSON import and export of mappings, switching configurations from the menu bar, and running at the display's refresh rate. It needs macOS 15.6 or later, and its site and listing do not link any source code.

Good at: a small, free app for driving the pointer and a few keys, if your Mac is on macOS 15.6 or later.

Controlly, a sofa remote

Controlly, by Hugo Lispector, turns a wireless controller into a remote for the Mac. Its listing lists clicks, Look Up and Smart Zoom; play, pause and skip; mute, volume and brightness; Mission Control, Launchpad, Show Desktop, switching desktops and mirroring displays; pointer and scrolling on the sticks; and any key or shortcut on a button. The trial runs for 7 days with everything on. After that, the listing says, only pointer movement and click keep working until the one-time purchase.

Good at: a sofa remote with the Mac's own functions ready on the buttons. InputConfig's system functions cover volume, media keys, brightness, Mission Control, Launchpad and Spotlight, and the Media Controller preset is a ready starting point.

ConMapper, with radial menus

ConMapper, by Jianan Tian, maps buttons to keys, clicks and pointer actions, runs Shortcuts, launches apps, keeps separate profiles per app and switches them automatically, moves the pointer with motion controls, and has layers. Version 1.7.0 added radial menus, picked with a stick or the D-pad. It is free to download with an optional ConMapper Pro purchase, and needs macOS 14.

Good at: radial menus, which InputConfig does not have. For a second layer in InputConfig, a chord fires a row only while another button is held.

Where InputConfig fits

InputConfig is free with nothing locked, MIT licensed, and needs macOS 14, the same as ConMapper. What none of the four list:

• More inputs. MIDI devices, the Mac's own keyboard, mouse and trackpad, screen regions, and a tap on a MacBook. Tap the Mac was tested on M4 MacBooks; it did not work on an M1 Pro in our testing; the calibrator's status chip tells you whether yours listens.
• More outputs. MIDI notes and controls, macros and typed text.
• Accessibility tools. Spoken feedback and one-stick driving.

It also has per-app auto-switch, Deadzone and Full push at with a live plot, JSON import and export of presets, more than 40 built-in presets, and the Smart Preset Maker with ready layouts for 450+ games and apps.

Switch from one of these

1. Quit the other mapper, so two apps are not sending keys for the same button.
2. Install InputConfig from the Mac App Store and allow Accessibility access.
3. Start from the Mouse + Scroll or Desktop Navigation preset, or search the Smart Preset Maker for your game or app.
4. Press Scan on any row and touch the control you want to change. Mappings do not import between apps, but most setups are a handful of rows.
5. If you used per-app profiles, turn on automatic switching in Settings, Advanced, and add the apps to each preset.

Quit the old mapper first, or every press arrives twice.

The short version

• Free. Recontrol is free on macOS 15.6 or later, and so is InputConfig, with nothing locked.
• Paid after a trial. JoyMapper and Controlly both are.
• Optional Pro. That is ConMapper, the one with radial menus.

Check what stops working after the trial before you build a setup on it.

Questions

Related

• The best controller, gamepad and joystick mapper for Mac
• Free controller, gamepad and joystick mappers for Mac
• Gamepad Mapper for Mac: the free alternative
• Joystick Mapper for Mac: the free alternative
• Joy-Cons on a Mac
• Per-app profiles that switch by themselves

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Open source on GitHub.

Updated October 28, 2026