Uncategorised decision
DockFlow
A competent macOS developer can build the core preset/capture/restore and hotkeys, but the full paid product (license management, commercial distribution, polish and support) and packaging for non-developers make buying reasonable.
Visit website↗Built by Asaf Mazuz, who ships 6 products in this index
$1.25/mo
$15/yr
Read off the official pricing page.
$100one-off160 h to build
$0/mo3 h/mo upkeep
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 7 seats.
Open-source builds that already do this
Every project below is open source and already does this job today. Fork one, self-host it, or take the parts you need - the build prompt further down assumes an empty file, and this is the shortcut past that. Licences differ; check the one on each card before you ship. All DockFlow alternatives, with the arithmetic →
What a replacement has to do
- A native macOS app that captures the current Dock layout as a named preset and restores a preset (rearrange/close/open apps, folders, links), with hotkeys and optional Shortcuts/Focus automation.
What it still won’t have
- Polished UX and onboarding (marketing-grade UI/animations and videos)
- License management dashboard, team licensing and commercial support
- Homebrew cask publishing, store packaging, and payment/refund workflows
- Legal, tax handling and liability covered by the vendor
What remains hard
- Product polish and ongoing maintenance
First-year cost
Keep paying
Paying is—cheaper in year one.
On cash alone, building overtakes the subscription at 7 seats.
Money you would actually spend
Time you would spend
—
What you would spend
What we assumed
The verdict above measures whether you could build it. This one is only about money.
Runnable build prompt
Build a macOS SwiftUI app (Swift 5, macOS 13.5+ deployment target) that implements: 1) capture current Dock layout and save named presets to local storage (Core Data or JSON), 2) restore a preset by modifying the Dock configuration and restarting the Dock process safely, 3) programmatically close/open apps, folders and URLs and support simple 'app actions' (open project in IDE), 4) global hotkey support (single key, sequences, multi-press) and a preferences pane, 5) integrate with Apple Shortcuts / Focus via Shortcuts actions or x-callback-url, and implement a 'Lock Dock' option for multi-monitor setups. Out of scope: paid license server, team dashboard, Homebrew packaging, analytics, payment/refund processing, and cross-platform support. Include error handling for failed Dock writes, permission checks, and unit/UI tests for preset serialization and hotkey handling.
How we checked
How the score was reached
- Partly verdict base52
- An open-source build was found+5
- 3 cited sources+3
- Price verified on pricing page+3
- 3/3 assessment runs agreed+4
- Evidence score67
The base comes from the verdict. Everything under it is a check that either happened or did not, and each one is a fact frozen in this record rather than a judgement made at render time - so the same evidence always produces the same number.
How scoring works →Cited sources · 3
Every page the run actually retrieved.
- official productDockFlow – Switch Between Dock Presets on macOS Instantly
- official pricingPricing — DockFlow
- open sourcejosejuanqm/docky
Integrity checks
What held up, and what did not.
