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MacTeX vs Tectonic: catalog facts
MacTeX	Tectonic
Free Free download from the TeX Users Group.	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.
macOS	Command line
Complete, preconfigured TeX Live in one installer Includes Mac GUI editors such as TeXShop	No full TeX distribution needed Fetches missing LaTeX packages automatically
Full install is very large macOS only; requires macOS 11 or later	Needs network access to fetch support files it has not cached Built on XeTeX, so documents relying on other engines may need changes
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Closed source	Open source
License not stated	License: MIT
No account needed	No account needed
Works offline	Not stated if it works offline
Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 2, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Checked October 1, 2026

Catalog facts only. Anything “not stated” is unconfirmed. Check full listings for details.