Permute

Permute is the app you reach for when the TV refuses an .mkv, or when someone needs a voice memo as an MP3 by lunchtime. You drop the file on the window, pick a preset, and it converts using the encoders already built into the Mac. There is no bitrate panel to reason about, which is the entire pitch — HandBrake will do a better job if you know what a B-frame is, and nothing at all if you don't. It will also stitch clips together, cut one in half, pull the audio out of a video, and chew through a folder of images in one pass.

The $14.99 is a licence from the developer rather than a rental, and the licence boundary is unusually clean: the jump from Permute 3 to Permute 4 was free, and the developer keeps that upgrade open with no expiry date. What the price does not buy is hardware — Permute 4 only runs on Apple silicon under macOS 26, so an Intel Mac or an older system puts you on the Permute 3 track instead.

Skip it if you convert two files a year; HandBrake and ffmpeg cost nothing and the occasional hour of reading is cheaper than the app. Skip it too if you need real control over the encode — two-pass, odd filters, subtitle muxing rules — because you will end up in a terminal anyway.