Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Caldis MOS VS Karabiner

Compare Caldis MOS VS Karabiner and see what are their differences

Caldis MOS logo Caldis MOS

A little job for your mouse.

Karabiner logo Karabiner

Karabiner, previously called KeyRemap4MacBook, is a very powerful keyboard remapper for Mac OS X.
  • Caldis MOS Landing page
    Landing page //
    2019-09-12
  • Karabiner Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-06

Caldis MOS features and specs

  • Customizable
    Caldis MOS offers flexibility in configuration, allowing users to customize mouse behaviors to suit their specific needs.
  • Cross-Platform
    Caldis MOS supports multiple operating systems, making it a versatile solution for users with different setups.
  • Open Source
    Being open source, Caldis MOS allows developers to inspect, modify, and contribute to the code, fostering a community-driven development.
  • Enhanced Productivity
    By enabling complex mouse gestures and macros, Caldis MOS can significantly boost user productivity.
  • Frequent Updates
    The software receives regular updates, ensuring that it remains secure and packed with the latest features.

Possible disadvantages of Caldis MOS

  • Learning Curve
    New users might find the customization options and settings overwhelming, requiring a period of adjustment and learning.
  • Potential Instability
    As an advanced tool that interacts deeply with the mouse hardware and software, there might be occasional stability issues or bugs.
  • Resource Intensive
    Caldis MOS can be resource-intensive, potentially impacting system performance, especially on older or less powerful machines.
  • Limited Support
    Being a community-driven project, users might find support options limited compared to commercial software.
  • Compatibility Issues
    There may be compatibility issues with certain devices or software, necessitating troubleshooting and potential workaround solutions.

Karabiner features and specs

  • Customizability
    Karabiner-Elements allows users to remap keys and create complex keyboard configurations that can greatly enhance productivity and convenience.
  • Open Source
    Being an open-source tool, Karabiner-Elements is free to use and comes with the potential for community contributions and transparency in development.
  • Flexibility
    The tool supports a wide range of devices and configurations, making it adaptable to various user needs and setups.
  • Ease of Use
    The user interface is designed to be intuitive, allowing both novice and experienced users to easily configure and remap their keyboards.
  • Regular Updates
    The tool is actively maintained with regular updates, ensuring compatibility with the latest macOS versions and adding new features.

Possible disadvantages of Karabiner

  • Compatibility Issues
    Some users may experience compatibility issues with certain applications or hardware, potentially causing unexpected behavior.
  • Learning Curve
    Although the interface is intuitive, mastering its full range of features, especially for complex configurations, can require a steep learning curve.
  • System Performance
    On occasion, Karabiner-Elements may consume significant system resources, which could impact overall system performance.
  • Limited Platform Support
    As of now, Karabiner-Elements only supports macOS, limiting its utility for users on other operating systems such as Windows or Linux.
  • Potential for Errors
    Incorrect configuration or updates may lead to errors in key mappings, which can disrupt the user experience until resolved.

Analysis of Caldis MOS

Overall verdict

  • Yes, Caldis MOS is considered a good tool for users who need enhanced control over their mouse functionality without the overhead of more complex software.

Why this product is good

  • Caldis MOS (mos.caldis.me) is appreciated for its lightweight design and effective functionality for managing mouse interactions. It is easy to configure and doesn't consume significant system resources, making it optimal for users looking for a minimalist yet powerful mouse control solution.

Recommended for

    People who frequently switch between multiple input devices or require precise mouse control for tasks like gaming, design work, or productivity applications might find Caldis MOS particularly beneficial.

Analysis of Karabiner

Overall verdict

  • Karabiner-Elements is considered a good tool for macOS users seeking to customize their keyboard. Its reliability, versatility, and active community support make it a valuable addition to any power user's toolkit.

Why this product is good

  • Karabiner-Elements is highly regarded for its ability to customize and remap keyboard keys on macOS. It offers a powerful and flexible suite of features that allow users to tailor their keyboard setup to their specific needs, enhancing productivity and ergonomics. With an intuitive interface and extensive documentation, both novice and advanced users can benefit from its functionality.

Recommended for

  • Developers who need custom keyboard shortcuts.
  • Mac users experiencing discomfort with standard keyboard layouts.
  • Professionals requiring specific keybindings for software applications.
  • Users transitioning from Windows or Linux who want to emulate key behaviors from those systems.

Caldis MOS videos

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Karabiner videos

REVIEW: Should you play the Vetterli 71 Karabiner? [Hunt Gun Review #1]

More videos:

  • Review - Vim screencast #59: Karabiner Elements
  • Review - Evolution of the Karabiner 98k, From Prewar to Kriegsmodell

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Caldis MOS and Karabiner)
Note Taking
60 60%
40% 40
Automation
39 39%
61% 61
Game Reviews
100 100%
0% 0
Window Manager
0 0%
100% 100

User comments

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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Karabiner should be more popular than Caldis MOS. It has been mentiond 273 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Caldis MOS mentions (89)

  • Silicon Valley Tea Party a.k.a. the great 1998 Linux revolt take II
    Only with hardware acceleration turned off. Which in my experience causes a stuttery and laggy experience which can hardly be described as "smooth". If you really want to use MacOS's smooth scrolling, use MOS (https://mos.caldis.me) and get a beefy Mac because the base models will stutter like I mentioned. - Source: Hacker News / 6 months ago
  • macOS Sequoia Preview
    There is also Mos, it is a bit smoother in my experience: https://mos.caldis.me/. - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Mac Mouse Fix: Do the things you do on a trackpad. Without a trackpad
    It looks like this competes with Mos.app[0]. Honestly, I'm not sure how folks use non-magic mice without this. [0]: https://mos.caldis.me. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • An Open Source Mouse and Trackpad Utility for Mac
    Not to take away from this app, but I’ve been using Mos (https://mos.caldis.me) for a couple of years now and it’s been just enough to mitigate the faults I had with default mouse settings in macOS. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Can I adjust my mouse wheel?
    I recommend MOS to fix the scrolling issue. It also adds a sexy-as-$uck smooth scrolling animation. Source: about 2 years ago
View more

Karabiner mentions (273)

  • Ergonomic Mac Keyboard Setup
    I use Karabiner as the driver for keyboard customizations. Karabiner intercepts hardware keystrokes and sends keystrokes to the computer allowing me to configure Karabiner to have a flexible setup and map key(s) presses to other keys(s) or commands. - Source: dev.to / about 1 month ago
  • Recommended Software for Mac that You cannot Miss
    This software is free and can be downloaded from the official website; it’s also open-source, so you can find it on GitHub Releases. - Source: dev.to / 8 months ago
  • Ask HN: What macOS apps/programs do you use daily and recommend?
    Besides the usual Firefox/Chrome, Spotify, etc I use the following: - Karabiner-Elements for key remapping, specifically, for making caps lock into ctrl/esc. I don't know of anything else that does this job. Everyone who remaps keys seems to use this. - Kitty as my terminal of choice. I spend most of my time logged in remotely to a server via ssh where I attach to a tmux session. Kitty was easy enough to... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: What macOS apps/programs do you use daily and recommend?
    If I had to recommend 1 app/script that I use daily: https://github.com/banga/git-split-diffs) to disable things like "Apple + Q" -> nothing worse than going to close a single tab and then your whole app quits. Also able to re-map caps-lock into escape, ect `iterm2` for terminal (colored tabs are great; albeit I disable the hell out of many of the options like "clickable urls" ect) for cli, I try to gnu... - Source: Hacker News / about 1 year ago
  • Ask HN: What if we wrote HTML with [brackets][/brackets]?
    I have been using Karabiner elements (https://karabiner-elements.pqrs.org), they allow keyboard customization, I have switched the colon and semicolon key, by default without pressing shift, the key will output colon (:) , I find this useful as I type lot of colon daily. Maybe you can use this software to set "<" and ">" to be the default text output without using Shift. - Source: Hacker News / over 1 year ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Caldis MOS and Karabiner, you can also consider the following products

Mac Mouse Fix - A simple way to make your 3rd party mouse better.

BTT Remote - A remote control for you Mac, using your iPhone or iPad

Smooze - Smooze animates your scroll and adds functionality to your non-Apple mouse (scroll-wheel mouse).

Rectangle - Window management app based on Spectacle, written in Swift.

SteerMouse - Advanced driver for USB and Bluetooth mouses.

LinearMouse - LinearMouse is a free and open-source utility for macOS which aims to improve the experience and functionality of third-party mice.

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