I got tired of links opening in Safari when I wanted Chrome for work sites, or Firefox when I needed my development profile. For years I just dealt with it, copying URLs between browsers like some kind of digital mail carrier. Then I discovered Choosy, and the problem vanished completely.
The first time a link opened after installing Choosy, instead of launching a browser, a small window appeared with all my browsers listed. Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Brave, all right there with one click. That’s the basic function, and honestly, for quick browsing that’s all you need. Click the browser you want, the link opens there, done.
But here’s where it gets interesting. Choosy includes a rule system that makes these decisions automatically. I set up a rule so any link from my work email client always opens in Chrome where I’m logged into my work accounts. Links from Slack go to Firefox where I keep my development profiles. Personal emails open in Safari. After two weeks of using it on my iMac, I stopped thinking about browsers entirely. Links just open in the right place.
The rule editor takes some getting used to. You can route based on URL patterns, source application, time of day, even browser profile. Chrome, Edge, Brave, and Vivaldi all support multiple profiles through Choosy, so you can send work.example.com to your work Chrome profile and personal.example.com to your personal profile in the same browser. That level of control is remarkable.
What impressed me most is how well it integrates with macOS. Works with AirDrop, Handoff, and the Share menu without any friction. I can AirDrop a link from my iPhone and Choosy’s prompt appears on my Mac before the browser launches. The browser extensions let you move an already-open webpage to a different browser without copy-pasting the URL.
Performance is invisible, which is exactly what you want. The app lives in your menu bar, takes up minimal resources, and adds maybe half a second to link opening. That delay is worth it to avoid the five minutes I used to spend managing browser windows.
One limitation: the prompt window appears every time unless you’ve set up rules. If you don’t want to build rules and just want faster browser switching, you’ll be clicking that prompt constantly. The point of Choosy is the automation, so plan to spend twenty minutes setting up your rules initially.
George Brocklehurst has maintained Choosy since 2007, which speaks to its stability. The app feels mature and polished. Version 2.5.2 works perfectly on current macOS versions. Updates arrive regularly but don’t require constant attention.
Pricing is straightforward: $10 one-time purchase. No subscription, no upgrade treadmill. A free version is available to test the concept before buying. Direct download from choosy.app or grab it through your usual software sources.
For developers who use multiple browser profiles, anyone coordinating work and personal browsing, or power users with specific routing needs, Choosy solves a problem that’s hard to articulate until it’s gone. After a month of use, I genuinely forget which browser is set as my default because it doesn’t matter anymore. The right browser opens every time, automatically, without thinking about it. That’s the goal.
