Comparison

WheelClick vs every middle-click app

For a free three-finger middle click on the trackpad, WheelClick (macOS 12+), MiddleClick (10.13+) and MiddleDrag (15+) all do it. On a Magic Mouse: WheelClick’s direct build, MiddleClick, Middle, Multitouch or BetterTouchTool. On macOS older than 13: MiddleClick, Middle, MiddleTouch or Multitouch. For customizing everything, not only middle click: BetterTouchTool.

macOS understands a middle click everywhere, but Apple’s trackpads and the Magic Mouse have no way to make one, so a whole family of third-party apps fills the gap. The table below holds the same verified facts as the individual comparison pages, and each app also has its own page with the full story — pick a column and follow its link for the one-on-one comparison and an honest “which one fits you”.

Ranked, for one job

Sixteen attributes and nine apps do not reduce to a score. Any number would only be hiding which attribute someone decided mattered most, so here is the order argued instead — and the assumption it rests on, because changing it changes the order: you want a middle click, on a Mac running macOS 12 or later. Every entry says what it loses on, not only what it wins on.

1. 1

   WheelClick by this site's author

   The most complete of the dedicated apps, and the only one with a free tier: three-finger click and tap cost nothing, permanently, and $4.99 adds everything else. Autoscroll, per-app rules and swipes exist here and mostly nowhere else.

   Against it: macOS 12 and later only. On an older Mac it is not an option at all.

2. 2

   Middle

   The strongest paid alternative and the one to buy if this list did not exist. Both devices, drag synchronized to the physical touch, and a developer whose other app (Rectangle) earned a lot of trust.

   Against it: Roughly $8 with a 7-day trial, no swipes, and per-app rules have been an open request on its own tracker since 2024.

3. 3

   MiddleClick by this site's author

   Free, GPL, and reaches back to macOS 10.13 — further than anything else here. For the two gestures it was written for, on a Mac too old for the rest of this list, nothing beats it.

   Against it: Finished: no new features and no support. It is a known-good stopping point, not a live project.

4. 4

   MiddleTouch

   The same trackpad gestures as Middle at a third of the price, and it reaches back to macOS 10.15 — four releases further than WheelClick goes.

   Against it: Trackpad only, and there is no trial, so the first way to find out is to buy it. Being the App Store option is no longer an edge: WheelClick is there too, at the same $4.99, with the same sandbox cost to Magic Mouse support.

5. 5

   MiddleDrag

   Free, MIT, and good at exactly two things: a three-finger tap for middle click and a three-finger drag. Readable and forkable, which none of the paid ones are.

   Against it: macOS 15 and later, which rules out most Macs in use, and trackpads only.

6. 6

   Jitouch

   Free, GPL, and broad: middle click on the trackpad and the Magic Mouse switched on by default, drawn-character gestures, and a gesture set per app.

   Against it: No release since January 2023. Its users say it still runs on current macOS, but nobody is shipping fixes.

7. 7

   Multitouch

   A real gesture engine where middle click is one binding among many. If your list of wishes is longer than this page, start here rather than with anything above.

   Against it: $16 and a configuration session to get one gesture that the apps above ship switched on.

8. 8

   BetterTouchTool

   The most capable software on this page by a distance, and the answer half the internet gives to any Mac customization question. It sits this low only because of the question being asked.

   Against it: Buying the most configurable tool on the platform to get one mouse button is the long way round — and the setup is yours to do.

9. 9

   MagicPrefs

   The gesture app a generation of Magic Mouse owners grew up with, maintained again after years dormant: swipes, multi-finger taps and recorded custom gestures, from the developer who wrote it in 2009.

   Against it: macOS 15 and later, the highest price here (£26 for two years), and its rewritten pages do not say whether a gesture can still be a middle click.

Two of those nine are by the person who wrote this page, and one of them is first. That is worth distrusting on sight — so every claim behind the order is in the table below, cell by cell, with the competitors' own materials as the source. Read it and put them in a different order; the facts are the same either way.

Every attribute, side by side

Cells marked “Not documented” mean the app’s own materials don’t state it either way — we would rather leave a blank than publish a guess about someone else’s app. Every cell here — ours and theirs — was re-verified against each vendor's own current materials on 31 August 2026, MagicPrefs, added since, on 4 October, and Jitouch on 9 October. If something has gone stale since, tell us and it gets fixed.

One-on-one comparisons: vs MiddleDrag · vs Middle · vs MiddleTouch · vs Multitouch · vs BetterTouchTool · vs MagicPrefs · vs Jitouch · vs MiddleClick