What is MotionDesk used for?

MotionDesk is a macOS app for animated desktop wallpapers and custom folder icons, with GPU-accelerated scenes, interactive themes and multi-display support. It is a good fit for personalizing a Mac desktop with animation and giving Finder folders custom icons.

Yes. MotionDesk has a free plan.

Is MotionDesk open source?

No. MotionDesk is proprietary (closed-source) software. In the Design category, open-source options include Penpot, Graphite and Krita.

What are some alternatives to MotionDesk?

Other SaaS products in the Design category include Wavedance, Glyphs and Screenshot Bro.

MotionDesk: features, pricing and alternatives

About MotionDesk

MotionDesk is a desktop customization app for macOS. Its main feature is live and interactive wallpapers, each a GPU-accelerated scene that supports multiple displays and can be tuned in detail, such as live weather, drifting space scenes, a growing garden, rolling tide, a neon wireframe sign, liquid glass, smoke, DNA, ASCII and a magnetic field.

You can also bring your own looping video as a wallpaper, and the app includes 40 or more artisan folder icons for customizing Finder folders. Some scenes react to the pointer, such as ripples that spread from the cursor.

Two scenes are free forever, with the rest in a paid tier described on its pricing page. The app is presented as lightweight, and the site has pages for scenes, folders, pricing, FAQ and a Mac download.

Key features

GPU-accelerated live wallpapers
Interactive scenes that react to the pointer
Support for multiple displays
Custom video wallpapers
40+ custom folder icons
Weather, space, garden and other scene types

Good fit for

Personalizing a Mac desktop with animation
Giving Finder folders custom icons

Tags: macos; live-wallpaper; desktop-customization; folder-icons; gpu; themes; mac-app

MotionDesk: questions and answers

What is MotionDesk used for?: MotionDesk is a macOS app for animated desktop wallpapers and custom folder icons, with GPU-accelerated scenes, interactive themes and multi-display support. It is a good fit for personalizing a Mac desktop with animation and giving Finder folders custom icons.
Is MotionDesk free?: Yes. MotionDesk has a free plan.
Is MotionDesk open source?: No. MotionDesk is proprietary (closed-source) software. In the Design category, open-source options include Penpot, Graphite and Krita.
What are some alternatives to MotionDesk?: Other SaaS products in the Design category include Wavedance, Glyphs and Screenshot Bro.