This post compares 8 NTFS for Mac software, including freeware and paid app.
They will help you read NTFS drive on Mac and write to NTFS files on Mac, solving your Mac external hard drive read only problem.
- Best free NTFS for Mac:
- 1. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac
- 2. iBoysoft DiskGeeker
- 3. Mounty for NTFS
- 4. NTFS-3G
- 5. FUSE for macOS
- 6. SL-NTFS
- 7. Paragon NTFS for Mac
- 8. Tuxera NTFS for Mac
1. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac
iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is the ultimate NTFS for Mac solution to mount NTFS drives in read-write mode on your Mac.
#NTFS for M1 Mac #NTFS for Mac Big Sur #NTFS for Mac Monterey- Pros:
- Support macOS from High Sierra to 12 Monterey
- Compatible with Apple M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max Mac
- Repair NTFS file system errors
- Erase NTFS volumes for data cleanup
- Format drive to NTFS
- Cons:
- No phone support
How to use iBoysoft NTFS for Mac for free
- 1. Free download iBoysoft NTFS for Mac, install, and launch it on your Mac.
- 2. Connect the read-only NTFS drive to your Mac.
- 3. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac will automatically mount NTFS drive in read-write mode. Then you can write, copy, delete, and modify files on the NTFS drive smoothly.
Overall experience
Compared with other NTFS for Mac free software, iBoysoft NTFS for Mac tops the list. After free downloading this app and installing, it plugs and plays once NTFS drives are connected to your Mac.
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This small menu bar utility uses an intuitive interface, showing a list of detected NTFS volumes, a disk management tool, and some customizable options. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac makes it simple, fast, and efficient to write to NTFS drives on Mac.
With a free trial period, uses can copy and modify files on NTFS drives for free.
Additional features: iBoysoft NTFS for Mac is highlighted with simple disk management, including one-click to open volumes, clean NTFS volumes, repair NTFS file system corruption, unmount NTFS volumes, erase other disks to NTFS file system, etc.
Sum-up: User-friendly, plug-and-play, free trial version, and technical support make iBoysoft NTFS for Mac the best NTFS driver. Read iBoysoft NTFS for Mac review.
2. iBoysoft DiskGeeker
iBoysoft DiskGeeker is a handy Mac disk management tool, which not only enables NTFS read-write support on Mac, but also helps read/write BitLocker encrypted drive, manage external drives and network drives on Mac.
#7-day free trial #NTFS for Mac Monterey #BitLocker for Mac #Manage network drives #Manage external drives- Pros:
- 7-day free trial
- Support macOS from High Sierra to Monterey
- Compatible with Apple Silicon M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max Mac
- Read/Write BitLocker encrypted drive on Mac
- Map network drives
- Free technical support
- Cons:
- No phone support
How to use iBoysoft DiskGeeker?
- 1. Download, install and launch iBoysoft DiskGeeker on your Mac.
- 2. All connected NTFS external drives will be automatically mounted in read-write mode.
- 3. Copy-paste, transfer, modify, and write to NTFS drives.
Overall experience
iBoysoft DiskGeeker is handy tool for people whose NTFS external drives are read-only on Mac. With this software, mounting NTFS drives with write access lifts a disk insertion, simple and intuitive. It works with a wide range of storage types like USB flash drives, SD cards, and memory sticks.
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This NTFS for Mac app will stay in the menu bar silently until detecting newly plugged hard disks. From its drop-down box, you can open, mount, unmount, and disconnect all NTFS volumes with a simple click. Then, you'll have full access to NTFS disks as you use APFS and HFS+ on Mac.
Other Highlights: Besides being an NTFS driver, iBoysoft DiskGeeker also can manage and map network drives. It means your network volumes will be mounted as local drives so that you can access it directly in the Finder.
Sum-up: You can enjoy this NTFS for Mac software for free within 7 days, and then you'll know iBoysoft DiskGeeker can definitely satisfy your needs of an NTFS driver on Mac.
3. Mounty for NTFS
Mounty is a NTFS for Mac free software to make NTFS drive write support on your Mac.
#Freeware #NTFS for Mac Big Sur- Pros:
- 100% Free
- Compatible with Apple Silicon M1 Mac
- Support macOS from Mavericks to Big Sur
- Fast and free download for full version
- Cons:
- Rather slow write speed
- Unstable and data-risky
- No technical support
- Not show volumes in Finder
Overall experience
Mounty NTFS for Mac is a NTFS for Mac free program which can be accessed from both .DMG installer and Homebrew. It's exclusively prepared for remounting NTFS formatted hard drives in read-write mode on Mac computers. This freeware makes it easy to share files between Windows and macOS platform.
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Mounty for NTFS almost comes without any decorations. Once installed and launched, this utility will be a menu bar utility with plain interface, only showing the list of remounted NTFS drives. This free NTFS for Mac software works in a flow of Mac mounting NTFS drives in read-only mode first, and a notification pops up when it's ready, then remounting the disk with write access in Finder.
Other Highlights: Mounty for NTFS won't install third-party driver but makes use of the mechanisms built in macOS.
Sum-up: Though Mounty for NTFS is free and simple, you need to bear the risk of data loss, disk failure, and slow transfer speed. Anyhow, it's good enough for a freeware.
4. NTFS-3G
NTFS-3G is a completely free NTFS for Mac software to read and write NTFS drives on Mac OS X, Linux, Android.
#Open source #Freeware #Command line operation- Pros:
- Freeware
- Support OS X from Snow Leopard to Yosemite
- Cons:
- Has not updated to macOS Monterey/Big Sur yet
- Not compatible with Apple Silicon M1 Mac
- Complicated installation
- Command line based
- Noticeably slow write speed
- No maintenance and update
- No technical support
Overall Experience
Set aside its advantage of being free, NTFS-3G is complained a lot because of its poor performance. One of the main drawbacks of this free NTFS for Mac is that you have to know command lines, how to use Terminal, FUSE for macOS, Homebrew or Xcode.
5. FUSE for macOS
FUSE for macOS (was OSXFUSE) is an open source NTFS for Mac free driver to read and write NTFS drives on your Mac.
#Open source #Freeware #NTFS for Mac Monterey- Pros:
- Truly free NTFS for Mac app
- Support macOS from Snow Leopard to Monterey
- Compatible with Apple Silicon M1 Mac
- Available in multiple languages
- Cons:
- No auto-mount option
- Not reliable
- No technical support
- No longer being maintained
Overall experience
FUSE for macOS is a free NTFS for Mac driver, while it's more cumbersome and less secure to mount NTFS partitions in read-write mode. But every time you need to manually mount the NTFS partitions to write to it on Mac. This free resource is also on the base of knowing Xcode and command lines to enable NTFS write support.
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Sum-up: This free NTFS for Mac software requires tech background in command lines. It's recommended for developers who are aware of the risks and benefits well.
6. SL-NTFS
SL-NTFS represents Snow Leopard NTFS. As a matter of fact, writing to NTFS drive on Apple is possible since Mac OS 10.6 without any third-party NTFS driver, but it's disabled by default. Therefore, SL-NTFS is used as a free interface for writing NTFS drive on Mac before Sierra.
#Free app #NTFS for Mac OS X- Pros:
- Completely costless
- Writable access to NTFS volumes
- Simple to install with 1.4 MB file size
- Cons:
- Has not updated to macOS Big Sur yet
- Not compatible with Apple Silicon M1 Mac
- Not support large files and volumes
- Can't write to certain NTFS external hdds
- Conflict with other NTFS utility
- No technical support
Overall experience
Generally speaking, the usage and installation of SL-NTFS are relatively simple. Once the archive unzipped and launched, all internal and external NTFS volumes will be listed with status of reading and writing. Then, enable NTFS writing is just in one click.
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Sum-up: SL-NTFS is not a long-term option to write to NTFS disks on Mac. It's reasonable that no technical support and reliability are available from NTFS for Mac free app.
7. Paragon NTFS for Mac
Paragon NTFS for Mac is a file system driver, which allows macOS to write to Windows NTFS-formatted hard drives, SSD, USB thumb drives, etc. It claims to grant full read-write access to NTFS file system on Mac computer.
#10-day free trial #NTFS for M1 Mac #NTFS for Mac Big Sur #NTFS for Mac Monterey- Pros:
- 10-day free trial
- Support macOS from High Sierra to Monterey
- Compatible with Apple Silicon M1 Mac
- Fast read/write access
- Friendly UI
- Cons:
- Advertising updates and notifications
- Extremely hard to uninstall
- Charge for upgrading
- Loss of users' login account and password
Overall experience
Paragon NTFS for Mac works well in mounting NTFS volumes in read-write mode most of the time. Like most NTFS for Mac products, you only need to download, install, and connect NTFS formatted disks to your Mac to make it effective. It's a commercial NTFS driver but you can try free for ten days. However, after that trial period, it's a different story to uninstall it from your Mac.
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Sum-up: Microsoft NTFS for Mac by Paragon allows write, edit, copy, move and delete files on Microsoft NTFS volumes from your Mac. But it's not recommended if you just a bonus hunter who wants try a free product. You nearly are unable to uninstall it from your Mac after 10-day trial period. Read Paragon NTFS for Mac review.
8. Tuxera NTFS for Mac
Tuxera NTFS for Mac is a commercial NTFS file system implementation for macOS built on the base of NTFS-3G.
#15-day free trial #NTFS for M1 Mac #NTFS for Mac Big Sur #NTFS for Mac Monterey- Pros:
- Free trial for 15 days
- Support macOS 12 - Mac OS X 10.4
- Compatible with Apple Silicon M1 Mac
- Cons:
- Prone to corrupt users' data
- Commercial Windows NTFS add-on driver
- Slower data transfer rate
Overall experience
Speaking of its performance, Tuxera NTFS for Mac does the same work as other free NTFS for Mac alternatives, helping open, copy, move, delete files on NTFS drives. But a big notice is that, it's more likely to corrupt data when you transfer files between Windows PC and Mac using an NTFS USB drives.
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Sum-up: Though not completely free, you can try Tuxera NTFS for Mac free for 15 days before paying for a lifetime license key. However, you should always back files up in case of data corrupt. Read Tuxera NTFS for Mac review.
A comparison table of 8 NTFS for Mac software
Here concludes the comparison result of iBoysoft NTFS for Mac, Paragon NTFS for Mac, Tuxera NTFS for Mac, SL-NTFS, FUSE for macOS, NTFS-3G, Mounty for Mac, iBoysoft DiskGeeker, it intuitively helps you decide which NTFS for Mac software is the best for you.
| Supported macOS | Auto-mount | Transfer Speed | Price | Modern Interface | Others highlights | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iBoysoft NTFS for Mac | macOS 12 - macOS 10.13 | Yes | Fast | Free trial | Yes | 1. Support M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max Mac 2. Clean NTFS volumes 3. Format to NTFS |
| iBoysoft DiskGeeker | macOS 12 - macOS 10.13 | Yes | Fast | Free trial | Yes | 1. Map network drives in Finder 2. Support M1, M1 Pro, and M1 Max Mac |
| Mounty for Mac | macOS 11 - OS X 10.9 | No | Slow | Free | Yes | N/A |
| NTFS-3G | macOS 10.10 - OS X 10.6 | No | Slow | Free | No | N/A |
| FUSE for macOS | macOS 12 - OS X 10.6 | Yes | Slow | Free | No | N/A |
| SL-NTFS | macOS 10.12 - OS X 10.6 | No | Slow | Free | Yes | N/A |
| Paragon NTFS for Mac | macOS 12 - 10.12 | Yes | Fast | Free trial | Yes | 1. Format to NTFS 2. Support M1 Mac |
| Tuxera NTFS for Mac | macOS 12 - OS X 10.4 | Yes | Relatively slow | Free trial | Yes | 1. Check NTFS drives 2. Support M1 Mac |
Conclusion:
All NTFS for Mac free software has obvious flaws or shortcomings (like low write speed, poor compatibility, and no technical support). Some disadvantages can even put your data at risk. If you don't care about the risks and want to try out the free NTFS for Mac programs, generally speaking, Mounty for NTFS and FUSE for macOS are better free ones.
Most free NTFS drivers are for macOS Mojave edition, macOS High Sierra, and earlier, and few are compatible with macOS Big Sur especially on M1 Macs. With the arrival of macOS 12 Monterey, free ones are less useful.
But you have a better choice, cost-effective NTFS for Mac alternatives like iBoysoft NTFS for Mac, so that you can get enough reliability, stability, compatibility, and simplicity from that app. Though they are not completely free, they can provide a lot of merits that NTFS for Mac free software doesn't do.
Why do you need free NTFS for Mac driver?
NTFS is a file system developed by Microsoft, the competitor of Apple. It's for Windows platform, especially used in the system drive. That's why you use Boot Camp to install Windows on Mac but find you can't mount BOOTCAMP partition in read-write mode.
Up to now, Mac operating systems, including macOS Monterey, Big Sur, Catalina, Mojave, High Sierra, Sierra and Mac OS X El Capitan, only provide NTFS read support but no NTFS write support.
Business is business, but for users, you need Mac to write to NTFS drives. Users want Windows NTFS file system to be fully compatible with macOS or Mac OS X. Sure. That it. You need NTFS for Mac free software to share NTFS drives between Windows and Mac.
People Also Ask
Q: Is NTFS for Mac free?
A: NTFS drivers generally cost $20 around, but there are four completely free NTFS for Mac software:
- 1. Mounty for NTFS
- 2. NTFS-3G
- 3. FUSE for macOS
- 4. SL-NTFS
Q: How can Mac read NTFS for free?
A: Mac can read NTFS drives for free by default. All you need to do is to mount the disk in Disk Utility by:
- 1. Connect the NTFS drive to your Mac for automatically mounting.
- 2. Open Disk Utility if the NTFS drive is not mounted.
- 3. Select the NTFS drive and click on Mount.
- 4. Mac reads the NTFS drive for free then.
Q: What is the best NTFS for Mac?
A: There are three best NTFS for Mac software:
- 1. iBoysoft NTFS for Mac
- 2. Paragon NTFS for Mac
- 3. Tuxera NTFS for Mac
Q: I lost the data from NTFS drive, how to recover?
A: Free download the professional data recovery software: iBoysoft Data Recovery and have a try.
About author
Jessica Shee is a senior tech editor and strategist at iBoysoft with a wealth of computer software-related experience. She has been sharing knowledge and tutorials in the tech industry for 3 years.