--- title: "MacOS Big Sur Software Pricing, Alternatives & More 2026 | Capterra" description: "With the help of Capterra, learn about MacOS Big Sur Software - reviews, pricing plans, popular comparisons to other AB Testing products and more." source_url: "https://www.capterra.com/p/228984/MacOS-Big-Sur/" page_type: "product" language: "en" publication_date: "2026-10-19" --- # MacOS Big Sur Software Review 2026: Features, Integrations, Pros & Cons Last updated on October 19, 2026 Provider data verified by our Software Research team, and reviews moderated by our Reviews Verification team. [Description](#description)[Use cases](#use-cases)[Alternatives](#alternatives)[FAQs](#faqs)[Features](#features)[Pricing](#pricing)[Support](#support)[Reviews](#reviews) MacOS Big Sur ## What is MacOS Big Sur? MacOS Big Sur is the latest operating system for mac computers that provides a one-click control center and a customizable start page. ## What is MacOS Big Sur used for? [Operating Systems](https://www.capterra.com/operating-systems-software/)[AB Testing](https://www.capterra.com/ab-testing-software/)[Personalization](https://www.capterra.com/personalization-software/) Overall rating Based on 59 user reviews Reviews sentiment Positive 97% Neutral 3% Negative 0% Contact vendor for pricing Free trial not available Includes Free Version Capterra Shortlist charts the highest-rated and most popular products... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Our "Best of" badge program showcases products with the highest ratings... Do you work for MacOS Big Sur?[Manage this product listing](https://www.g2.com/products/wingify-vwo-testing/claim_requests/new?auto=true) ## Compare with a popular alternative Capterra selects software alternatives based on relevant features, verified user reviews and user interactions. Placement may be influenced by client status. ### MacOS Big Sur 4.8 (59) VS. [### Windows 11](https://www.capterra.com/p/251507/Windows-11/) [4.4 (106)](https://www.capterra.com/p/251507/Windows-11/reviews/) Starting Price Contact vendor Starting Price Contact vendor Free Trial Free Version Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version Ease Of Use 4.7 (59) Ease Of Use 4.5 (106) Value For Money 4.4 (43) Value For Money 4.1 (86) Customer Service 4.5 (41) Customer Service 4.0 (77) ## MacOS Big Sur alternatives [Android Enterprise Management](https://www.capterra.com/p/228982/Android-11/) [4.6 (123)](https://www.capterra.com/p/228982/Android-11/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 94% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/228982/Android-11/) Highest Rated [Ubuntu](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/) [4.7 (123)](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/reviews/) Starting price $225.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 99% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/229058/Ubuntu/) [iOS14](https://www.capterra.com/p/228981/iOS14/) [4.6 (53)](https://www.capterra.com/p/228981/iOS14/reviews/) Starting price Contact vendor for pricing Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 94% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/228981/iOS14/) [Red Hat Enterprise Linux](https://www.capterra.com/p/229025/Red-Hat-Enterprise-Linux/) [4.6 (27)](https://www.capterra.com/p/229025/Red-Hat-Enterprise-Linux/reviews/) Starting price $99.00 Per User, Per Month Pricing Options Free Trial Free Version User Rating 89% of reviewers rated it above 4 stars [Learn More](https://www.capterra.com/p/229025/Red-Hat-Enterprise-Linux/) [View all alternatives](https://www.capterra.com/p/228984/MacOS-Big-Sur/alternatives/) ## FAQs about MacOS Big Sur Overview ### Which roles and teams benefit most from MacOS Big Sur? MacOS Big Sur is most used by executives, software engineering teams, and customer-facing professionals who need dependable desktop tools for daily work. CEOs and owners manage communications and business tasks; developers and solutions architects build and test software; sales and customer success teams handle client interactions; students, researchers, and media creators support learning, analysis, and content production. Answer based on 59 reviews Overview ### What company size and industries is MacOS Big Sur built for? MacOS Big Sur serves small businesses, which represent 66% of reviewers, with Computer Software as the top industry at 8%. It also supports enterprise organizations (20%) and midsize businesses (14%), particularly in Information Technology and Services (7%) and Financial Services (5%), for operating system use cases. Answer based on 59 reviews Features and Usability ### What are the key features of MacOS Big Sur? MacOS Big Sur includes system updates, a redesigned user interface with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth controls, and native support for iOS and iPadOS apps. It provides data security and file-level encryption, while Finder supports folder organization and file access. Memory management and resource allocation support running multiple applications. Answer based on 21 reviews Getting Started and Support ### What training and onboarding options does MacOS Big Sur offer? MacOS Big Sur provides in-person training, documentation, and videos to help teams get started. In-person training supports guided instruction, documentation offers written reference material for self-paced review, and videos present visual walkthroughs for learning features and setup steps. Answer based on 1 reviews Getting Started and Support ### What customer support options does MacOS Big Sur offer, and how do users rate the experience? MacOS Big Sur offers FAQ/forum, knowledge base, phone support, 24/7 live representatives, and chat. Users generally describe the system as easy to use and stable, while support-related feedback points to installation failures with insufficient guidance, setup issues after major updates, and limited compatibility for some legacy, gaming, and M1 applications. Answer based on 16 reviews Security ### How does MacOS Big Sur handle data security and access control? MacOS Big Sur protects company and personal information through privacy settings, regular system and app updates, Safari security audits, and a cryptographically signed system volume designed to prevent system tampering. Reviewers also report strong virus protection without separate antivirus software, though frequent privacy and security confirmation prompts can interrupt use. Answer based on 16 reviews Features and Usability ### How easy is the MacOS Big Sur user interface to use? MacOS Big Sur provides an intuitive, modern desktop interface that many everyday users and designers find easy to learn. Redesigned icons, toolbars, Finder access, and visual styling support routine work, while the Unix-based terminal also suits technical administrators. People moving from Windows may face a steeper learning curve and miss familiar controls. Answer based on 19 reviews Features and Usability ### How well does MacOS Big Sur handle system updates? MacOS Big Sur delivers regular system updates that generally install smoothly and help maintain security and stability. Individual Mac owners often value the free upgrade path and familiar experience after updating. However, organizations may need device-management tools to control update timing, and legacy applications may require replacements or newer compatible versions. Answer based on 15 reviews Features and Usability ### Is MacOS Big Sur fast and reliable for everyday work? MacOS Big Sur maintains quick startup, responsive everyday work, and efficient resource management for many Mac users. Office workers and technical users describe smooth navigation and dependable task execution, with battery-conscious operation on supported hardware. Some users encounter occasional app freezes or crashes, so performance can vary with applications and device configuration. Answer based on 14 reviews ## Features AI summary Based on 945 AB Testing reviews Capterra data shows that buyers of Operating Systems rank the following features as their top priorities: - **File Management** (**45%** of reviewers rated this feature as critical) - **Data Security** (**50%**) - **System Updates** (**47%**) MacOS Big Sur supports all three features that reviewers rate most highly: **File Management**, **Data Security**, and **System Updates**. Together, these capabilities help businesses organize files efficiently, protect important data, and keep systems current with ongoing updates, allowing teams to work more securely and reliably day to day. File Management 4.6 (42) 59.52% of 42 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Create, save, and store files Data Security 4.8 (43) 46.51% of 43 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Protect sensitive data for digital privacy App Management 4.7 (41) 51.22% of 41 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Download applications that can be internally saved User Interface 4.8 (45) 55.56% of 45 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important A visual way of interacting with a computer using items such as windows, icons, and menus, used by most modern operating systems Memory Management 4.8 (35) 62.86% of 35 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Store and save retrievable data System Updates 4.7 (47) 59.57% of 47 reviewers that rated this feature as important or highly important Automatically update to the latest version MacOS Big Sur 10 features ### All Features - App Management: Download applications that can be internally saved - Data Security: Protect sensitive data for digital privacy - Desktop Interface: A way of interacting with a desktop computer using items such as windows, icons, and menus - File Management: Create, save, and store files - For Developers: For the intention to be used by developers - Kernels: Manage communication between software and hardware - Memory Management: Store and save retrievable data - Resource Allocation: Assign available resources to various projects and tasks - System Updates: Automatically update to the latest version - User Interface: A visual way of interacting with a computer using items such as windows, icons, and menus, used by most modern operating systems --- Features 4.7 (59) 4.7 Based on 59 reviews ## Pricing Value for money 4.4 (43) Value for money 4.4 (43) 4.4 Based on 43 reviews ## Support, customer service and training options Customer Service 4.5 (41) Support - Email/Help Desk - FAQs/Forum - Knowledge Base - Phone Support - 24/7 (Live rep) - Chat Training - In Person - Live Online - Webinars - Documentation - Videos Deployment - Web - Android - iPhone/iPad Typical users - Freelancers - Small businesses - Mid size businesses - Enterprises Customer Service 4.5 (41) 4.5 Based on 41 reviews ## User reviews Overall rating 4.8 Based on 59 reviews Filter by rating Counts reflect reviews available in this feed. 5(48) 4(9) 3(2) 2(0) 1(0) Mentioned topic Recent reviews first, then most helpful RE Reviewer IT Director Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Lovable and simple" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 8/10 July 28, 2025 I like managing and using macOS. It isn't my daily driver currently (Windows Admin is my daily) but it's simple and works well for my content creating users and I very rarely even need to do any troubleshooting to help with staff questions on using macOS because it is so easy to use. Pros I love that macOS centralizes all installed Apps to the Finder->Applications tab for easy finding or removing. File management is easy and the UI is simple to learn the CLI is similar to Linux so savvy Admins and write shell scripts with a little practice. Cons Updates constantly nag away in the top right and most users in my experience don't want to apply them or Admins are scared of incompatibilities so they defer to not doing them so they just hand out there. You can improve this if you deploy an MDM like Jamf or Intune to automate rules for updates if it won't make too many waves for your Org. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Pm Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "A more powerful and customizable mac os version bringing mobile interface to the desktop" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 May 6, 2022 Mac os big sur offers quite a lot of changes for old users of mac such as installing IOS apps natively if on the newest hardware, safari has also been supercharged to make one reconsider using other better relied on apps. Overall, if you are on the newest non intel based mac , big sur is a no brainer, if you were on the previous version ie catalina then all the newer features introduced then are further enhanced in big sur. Pros Mac os big sur has brought a lot of customizability to mac os, allowing deep changes to safari and the interface. Most apps are also quite fast with notable speed in safari over other browsers like chrome. If you also enjoy certain apps on IOs big sur is your best chance to run them on desktop. Cons If you are running hardware pre 2013 unfortunately it isnt compatible with big sur. Also the upgrade process has to be done very carefully as the compatibilty with externally installed apps has to be verified individually. Some apps could not activate their licenses after upgrade Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Ryan B. Manager Used the software for: 1-3 years ### "Big Sur Big Looks" 3.0 Overall Rating 3.0 3.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 3.0 3.0 Likelihood to Recommend 6/10 January 20, 2025 Pros The OS was easy to navigate and it is a very refined look. The processing power is very good. Cons The OS is not as intuitive as other systems and some people find it to be confusing especially when navigating files and other storage. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Verified Reviewer Solutions Architect Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Maybe the best option for developers" 4.0 March 22, 2023 Overall, I use it as my daily OS and can't wait to get some system improvements. Pros I went for macOS Big Sur mostly because of its reputation as the best operating system for developers. After a while, I would agree, as it provides a wide support for most of the required tools for every developer. Cons The learning curve (when switching from e.g. Windows) is quite steep, I know some people, that have problems with that - not particularly my case. Some standard features from other OS (Windows, Linux distributions) are missing and I would welcome them. I would say that if it had them, the transition would be smoother. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Team Lead Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "MacOS Big Slur is a must to try" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 April 5, 2022 Pros Apple security, Aesthetics, seem-less interface, amazing memory management and resource allocation. Cons Installation is a bit problem. Many users have seen installation failed messages including me. Installation guide needs to be improved. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Verified Reviewer Principal Software Development Engineer Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "MacOS Big Sur Experience" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 June 7, 2022 I loved it.Once i started. using macos i never touched other os. Pros 1\. It has regular updates 2. The performance is very nice 3. There memory management is top notch , no lags in the os 4. The UI is very nice and clean , loved it 5. The gestures are way too good 6. Battery life also improved 7. No need to turn off , just close the lid and next time just open it Cons 1\. There is not much support in the games , very few available 2. I am using the m1 version so issue of support in few apps Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer Senior Software Engineer Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Great user interface with occasional errors" 5.0 May 12, 2023 Pros Like other macOS distributions, Big Sur offers an intuitive, user-friendly interface. Big Sur introduced some changes in design, such as new icons and redesigned toolbars. I personally did not find these changes to be too disruptive and consider them a small improvement from previous versions. Cons There aren't many downsides to using macOS Big Sur, especially if you're already familiar with using Apple products. One issue I've noticed is that apps on Big Sur seem to become unresponsive slightly more frequently than on previous versions of macOS. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. José F. IM Manager Used the software for: 3-5 years ### "Excellent OS for tech" 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 December 5, 2022 In general, this OS is an excellent tool for manager, tech support and developer. Easy to use and fast integration with the Apple ecosystem, it allows me to perform my task on time. Pros The ecosystem integration, and frequency update, are easy to use. Cons Many IT application does not run on macOS yet. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. Chandrakeerthan P. student Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Had best features" 4.0 Overall Rating 4.0 4.0 Ease of Use 4.0 4.0 Features 4.0 4.0 Customer Service 4.0 4.0 Likelihood to Recommend 9/10 March 14, 2023 Big Sur needed to have greater faith in the user and be more transparent about the internal workings of the system. Maybe the improved version would be out later. Pros I appreciated the upgrades, different features, performance improvements, and other features that operate with both new and old gear as well as enhancing both of them. Cons Finding a complaint for this operating system is difficult because it has served me well and I haven't been able to identify any drawbacks. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. RE Reviewer CEO Used the software for: Less than 1 year ### "Best update in years." 5.0 Overall Rating 5.0 5.0 Ease of Use 5.0 5.0 Features 5.0 5.0 Customer Service 5.0 5.0 Likelihood to Recommend 10/10 October 1, 2021 For many years now, the company I manage has been using Apple devices, and Big Sur has fulfilled our expectations by far. Pros The update came with a total redesign of the interface, when using it makes you feel that it’s a totally new computer, even if it’s the same one you have used for years, the design of the dock, icons and the sounds are incredible! I don't regret having updated. Cons Negative points there are hardly any, and if there are, they are insignificant details like not being able to add the calculator to the widgets for example, and I’m being as neutral as possible. But it really is all very good in this update. Review source Non-incentivized review: any software user can leave a review for any product listed on our site. All submitted reviews are subject to our verification process prior to publication. [View all Reviews](https://www.capterra.com/p/228984/MacOS-Big-Sur/reviews/) ## Top-rated software of 2026 ### Fill out the form and we'll send a list of the top-rated software based on real user reviews directly to your inbox. Popular comparisons [Windows 11 vs MacOS Big Sur](https://www.capterra.com/compare/228984-251507/MacOS-Big-Sur-vs-Windows-11) [Linux Mint vs MacOS Big Sur](https://www.capterra.com/compare/228984-229032/MacOS-Big-Sur-vs-Linux-Mint)