Choosy alternative

A free Choosy alternative with Safari and Firefox profiles

Choosy is a powerful $10 browser chooser with deep rules. If you want profile first routing for free, including the Safari and Firefox profiles Choosy cannot reach, Burly is the alternative to try.

By Matt Senter, who builds Burly

Why people switch from Choosy

Choosy is the most powerful browser chooser on the Mac, and people leave it for exactly that reason: they were never using the power. If your routing needs are "put this link in the right profile" rather than "match on URL and source app and time of day," Choosy's rules are a setup cost you keep paying for a result Burly gives you with no configuration. The other reason is reach: Choosy routes to Chromium profiles only, so both Safari and Firefox profiles are out of range. Burly reaches all three, and it is free.

Is Burly a good Choosy alternative?

People looking for a Choosy alternative usually fall into two camps: those who find its rule engine more than they need, and those who want to route to Safari or Firefox profiles, which Choosy cannot do. Burly is built for the first camp and capable for the second. There are no rules to write; you click a profile, or press its hotkey, and the link opens there. If conditional, time-of-day routing is the reason you used Choosy, Burly will feel simpler by design, which may or may not be what you want.

How to switch from Choosy to Burly

1. Download Burly and drag it to Applications.
2. Set Burly as your default web browser in System Settings, under Desktop & Dock.
3. Let Burly discover your browsers and profiles. Your Choosy rules do not transfer, and for most people that is the point.
4. Assign per-profile keys and colors so the picker is faster than any rule would have been.

What you give up

The trade is real and it is all about automation. Choosy can decide without asking you, using rules that match on URL, source app, and even time of day, and it hooks into the Share menu, Handoff, and AirDrop. Burly does none of that. If you have built a rule set you trust, or you route from places other than a click, Choosy earns its $10 and you should stay.

Want the full feature-by-feature breakdown, including where Choosy wins? Read Burly vs. Choosy.