What to use instead of Whisky on a Mac: free and paid options

Updated 8 October 2026 (import from Whisky in Uncork 1.2) · facts about other projects checked on 3 October 2026

Whisky is no longer developed: its last release came on 5 April 2025, and its GitHub repository was archived on 11 May 2025. A fresh install of the original app will no longer work: on first launch it downloads its compatibility layer, and the addresses it downloads it from return an error (we checked on 3 October 2026). What to use instead depends on what you need: a free open-source option, a game library in one window, or a focus on input. Uncork has a free core, and its input work, the mouse read from the device and “Even frames”, is in Uncork Pro at €19 once; below we say who it does not suit.

What happened to Whisky, and why a fresh install does not work

Whisky is a free, open-source app that installed the Windows version of Steam and games on a Mac through a compatibility layer. Its last release, 2.3.5, came on 5 April 2025. On 9 April the authors added a notice to the README: the app is no longer actively maintained and games in it may break at any time. On 11 May 2025 the repository was archived and became read-only. Homebrew has marked its cask as deprecated since 9 April 2025.

A copy you have already installed keeps working until a macOS update breaks it. A new one does not set up: by its source code, Whisky 2.3.5 downloads the compatibility layer from two addresses on the project's server on first launch, and on 3 October 2026 both returned error 404 (we checked with HEAD and GET requests; the project's website itself opens). Without that layer, by the same code, Windows programs cannot run in it. There will be no regular fixes, no new versions of the compatibility layer and no per-game tweaks.

What to look at instead

We read the projects' public pages on 3 October 2026. A comparison table with price, licence, stores and notarization is on the Compare page; here it is by situation.

You want the same thing, alive, and free. The fork frankea/Whisky carries Whisky on: open source (GPL-3.0), latest release 3.7.0 from 30 August 2026, with Steam, Epic, EA App, Rockstar and Battle.net launchers according to the project. It needs macOS 15 or later.
You want an open database of tested games. Highball is free and open source (GPL-3.0), with a public compatibility database whose data is under CC0. The project calls itself a beta, and as of 3 October 19 games in the database are verified by hand, 232 more rest on community consensus.
You want a large library of ready-made per-game setups. Porting Kit is free (pay what you want), its database holds almost fifteen hundred games, as the project describes it, and it supports GOG, Steam, Ubisoft Connect, EA/Origin and Battle.net.
You want to build a separate app for each game. Sikarugir is not a game library but a wrapper builder: it produces a separate .app per game. It is free and needs macOS 14.6 or later.
You are ready to pay. Bourbon 26 costs $29.99 or more, once; the app itself is closed, but it publishes its recipes and compatibility data (MIT). Uncork's core is free and needs no account, and only Uncork Pro is paid, our own work on top of the core: €19 once, no end date, every 1.x version, with a 7-day Pro trial; the app is closed. They differ in what is inside.

How Uncork differs

Uncork's foundation is the same as Whisky's: a compatibility layer plus Apple's D3DMetal, its own “bottle” with the Windows version of Steam inside, and stores and games in one library. What differs is what has been built on top:

The mouse is read straight from the device (in Uncork Pro), not in batches once per display frame, as macOS delivers it. In detail and with measurements: the article “Why aim feels floaty on a Mac”; what it looks like in one game: the page “How to play CS2 on a Mac”.
“Even frames” for single-player games (in Uncork Pro): frames reach the screen at equal intervals. We do not recommend this mode in competitive shooters.
Logitech G923 force feedback is built into Uncork Pro, with no separate app: tested in Assetto Corsa, details on the game's page.
macOS Game Mode turns on for Windows games too, for free.

The pages of other projects that we read say nothing about mouse input or frame evening (wheel force feedback on the Mac also comes from separate utilities, Torqer for one, per its site), but similar changes have already been proposed in shared Mac code, so this may change.

Who Uncork does not suit

Anyone who needs open source or everything free: Uncork's code is closed, and the mouse from the device and “Even frames” are in Uncork Pro at €19 once (the core is free). The driver, derived from a component under the LGPL, ships with the licence and an offer of its source.
Anyone who plays only games with kernel-level anti-cheat: they will not run in any app of this kind, see the anti-cheat page.
Owners of Intel Macs and macOS older than 14.
Anyone who needs a large list of tested games: we have 14, not hundreds, see the list.

Can I move my bottles from Whisky

Yes, since Uncork 1.2 (8 October 2026): in the new bottle window, “Import from Whisky…” finds your Whisky bottles and copies them with the games already installed, so nothing is downloaded again. On the same disk the copy is an APFS clone: instant, and it takes almost no extra space. Uncork never changes or deletes the Whisky bottle, then updates the copy to its own engine the usual way. Only Windows 10 and 11 are kept; an older Windows version in the bottle becomes Windows 10.

What we checked: the whole path with a real bottle made by our engine and described the way Whisky describes its bottles. A bottle created by Whisky itself we have not imported yet, so keep the original until your games start in Uncork.