Comparison
WheelClick vs MiddleClick
WheelClick is MiddleClick’s successor, by the same author. MiddleClick stays free and GPL-3.0 open source, and runs back to macOS 10.13. WheelClick needs macOS 12 or later. It keeps the same three-finger click and tap on the trackpad free forever, and adds fn+click, Force Click, Middle-Drag, autoscroll and, in the direct build, more Magic Mouse gestures, for $4.99 once.
macOS understands a middle click everywhere, but Apple’s trackpads and the Magic Mouse have no way to make one, and macOS has never had the autoscroll Windows and Linux users take for granted. Anyone who switches platforms with that muscle memory ends up looking for an app. WheelClick and MiddleClick are two independent answers to that same gap, built by different developers with different approaches; neither is a copy of the other. Below is an honest, attribute-by-attribute comparison so you can pick the one that fits how you work.
MiddleClick is by the same author — WheelClick is its successor — its site is here. MiddleClick is the free, GPL-3.0 app that carried three-finger middle click on the Mac since 2009 — and the app whose maintainer went on to write WheelClick as its ground-up successor. It stays free, stays open source, and stays on Homebrew; the two gestures it existed for are free in WheelClick permanently.
Side by side
| MiddleClick | WheelClick | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | $4.99 one-time Trackpad three-finger click & tap free forever |
| License | GPL-3.0 open source | Closed source |
| Free trial | Not needed — free | 14 days No account needed |
| Free tier | Whole app The whole app is free and GPL-3.0 | Free tier Three-finger click and tap, permanently — no account, no countdown |
| macOS support | macOS 10.13 (High Sierra) and later | macOS 12 (Monterey) and later |
| Input method | Private multitouch framework | Public Accessibility API (CGEventTap) One exception: Magic Mouse touches, which no public API exposes. Those come from a separate unsandboxed helper, in the direct build only |
| Trackpad | Yes | Yes |
| Magic Mouse | Yes Three-finger click/tap | Yes Paid — touch gestures in the direct build; fn+click everywhere |
| Middle-click-drag | No | Yes Opt-in Middle-Drag plugin for CAD, plus a configurable modifier-key + click (paid) |
| Autoscroll | No | Yes System-wide, opt-in (paid) |
| Swipe gestures | No | Yes Three-finger swipes (paid) |
| Per-app rules | Ignore list In the status menu | Yes Per-app allow and ignore lists (paid) |
| Where bugs go | Public issue tracker GitHub issues on its own repository | Public issue tracker WheelClick-Community on GitHub |
| Last release | 3.2.0, 5 April 2026 GitHub Releases | 1.1.10, 17 October 2026 GitHub Releases |
| Distribution | Homebrew, GitHub Releases | Mac App Store, direct download, Homebrew Magic Mouse gestures come with the direct download: the App Store sandbox hides the mouse’s touches from every app |
| Maintenance | Finished — no new features planned Its tracker stays open, and its author still answers there | Active Three releases in September 2026 |
Cells marked “Not documented” mean MiddleClick’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 was re-verified against MiddleClick’s own current materials on 31 August 2026; if something has gone stale since, tell us and it gets fixed. Comparing more than one alternative? See the full comparison — WheelClick and every middle-click app in one table.
This one is not really a competitor page: both apps are by the same developer, and there is a longer, dated commitment about exactly what stays free in MiddleClick and in WheelClick — see What stays free.
Which one fits you
Pick MiddleClick if your Mac runs anything older than macOS 12 — MiddleClick reaches back to 10.13, four releases further, and is then the only one of the two you can run — or three-finger click and tap are truly all you want and you prefer GPL open source.
Pick WheelClick if you want the same two gestures (still free, forever, on the trackpad) plus everything the rewrite added: the reliability work, Magic Mouse gestures, fn+click, Force Click, Middle-Drag, autoscroll, and per-app rules — with someone whose actual job is keeping it working on every new macOS.
Either way you end up with a middle click your Mac should arguably have shipped with — see why macOS never did.
Three-finger click and tap on the trackpad are free forever — no trial needed for those.
More comparisons: vs MiddleDrag · vs Middle · vs MiddleTouch · vs Multitouch · vs BetterTouchTool · vs MagicPrefs · vs Jitouch · all of them at once