Hostwright for Mac: edit your hosts file and environment variables without Terminal
by Kevin Fitzgerald
$4.99
Hostwright is the Mac's answer to PowerToys' Hosts File Editor and Environment Variables editor. Your Mac's hosts file becomes rows you switch on and off, grouped into profiles like “Local dev” or “Block distractions” that you flip from the menu bar. Variables you set once reach both Terminal and the apps you open from the Dock, like Xcode, VS Code and Docker.
The hosts file as rows: on/off, address, names, comment; lines you don't touch are written back exactly as they were
Profiles you switch from the menu bar, and Block sites (a name and its www. point nowhere)
Checks before saving: bad addresses, names a resolver won't take, a name pointed at two addresses, a missing localhost
A backup before every write, Restore Apple's Default, and the DNS cache flushed for you
Environment variables for apps (a login agent) and for shells (a marked block in ~/.zprofile), with Undo
A PATH editor: drag folders into order, with warnings for folders that don't exist
Try it free
Every feature for 7 days from the first time you open it. Then a one-time license key keeps adding and changing entries and variables. Taking Hostwright's changes out always works, key or not: switch lines and profiles off, restore Apple's default hosts file or a backup, undo, and turn the helper off.
What you get
The app as a signed, Apple-notarized .dmg (download right after purchase)
A license key that works on up to 3 of your Macs; paste it into Hostwright › License
Free updates from inside the app
Requirements and privacy
macOS 15 or later, Apple silicon or Intel. Saving the hosts file uses a small helper that you turn on yourself (macOS asks for your OK in Login Items); the app explains exactly what it can and can't do first. Variables and PATH need no permission. Your hosts file and variables stay on your Mac: Hostwright has no account and no tracking, and its only network requests are the license check with Gumroad and update checks at fitztoppicks.com.
Support: fitztoppicks.com/mac/hostwright