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Karabiner-Elements vs Hammerspoon: catalog facts
Karabiner-Elements	Hammerspoon
Free Free and open source, released into the public domain under the Unlicense. Donations are…	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.
macOS	macOS
Per-device rules, so a laptop keyboard and an external one can be mapped differently Complex modifications handle tap-versus-hold, layers and per-application rules	Extensions reach a large part of macOS: windows, spaces, hotkeys, wifi, battery, USB, menu bar and more Lua is small enough to learn in an afternoon
macOS only Installs a driver extension and needs input monitoring permission, which some managed Macs block	Does nothing until you write a config file, so there is no point installing it casually macOS only
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Open source
License: Unlicense	License: MIT
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked September 21, 2026

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