Plash and MacWall put different things on your desktop. Plash, a free app by Sindre Sorhus, makes any website your wallpaper, per its site. MacWall plays looping video from a curated catalog or your own files. If you want a dashboard, a live web page or a page you built yourself behind your windows, Plash is the better fit and costs nothing.
| Plash | MacWall | |
|---|---|---|
| Developer | Sindre Sorhus | OG APPS, LLC |
| Price model | Free; no in-app purchases listed | $12.99 one-time for 3 Macs (India $4.99); 5 Macs $19.99; 24-hour free trial |
| Where to get it | Mac App Store or the developer's site | Direct download from macwall.app |
| Platforms | App Store version: macOS 26.4+. Version from its site: macOS 26; older releases run on macOS 10.15+ | macOS 15+ (Apple silicon and Intel) |
| What it shows | Any website | Looping video |
| Lock Screen | No, per its site | Video, macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later |
| Customizing | Custom CSS and JavaScript, auto-reload on an interval, Browsing Mode | Import your own MP4 and MOV clips with Pro |
| Automation | Shortcuts and a URL scheme | Menu bar controls |
| Battery | Can pause on battery | Pauses behind full-screen apps; optional pause in Low Power Mode |
What Plash is good at
Plash turns a web page into the desktop background. That suits things a video cannot do: a live status dashboard, a calendar, a weather page, or a page you wrote yourself and style with custom CSS and JavaScript. It can reload the page on an interval, has a Browsing Mode, and can be scripted with Shortcuts or a URL scheme. It is free, and its Mac App Store listing shows no in-app purchases.
Its site also lists the limits: it shows one website at a time, and it does not cover the Lock Screen.
What MacWall is good at
MacWall is built for video. It has 1,000+ curated 4K live wallpapers across categories such as anime, nature, cars and space, plays a different loop on each display or the same loop on all of them, and decodes video in hardware. On macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later the same loop can play on the Lock Screen and as the Screen Saver. MacWall cannot show a website; it only plays video files.
Pick Plash if
- You want a website, dashboard or your own HTML page as the wallpaper.
- You want something free.
- You like to script your setup with Shortcuts or a URL scheme.
- You are on macOS 26.4 or later, or you are happy to use an older release from the developer's site.
Pick MacWall if
- You want moving video, not a web page.
- You want motion on the Lock Screen and Screen Saver on macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later.
- You are on macOS 15 Sequoia and the current Plash release needs a newer version.
- You are fine paying once: $12.99 for up to 3 Macs, after a free 24-hour trial.
Check your macOS version first
The current Plash on the Mac App Store needs macOS 26.4 or later, and the version on the developer's site needs macOS 26; the site says older releases run on macOS 10.15 and later. MacWall needs macOS 15 for desktop wallpapers and macOS 26 for the Lock Screen. Choose Apple menu > About This Mac to see your version.
Want other video wallpaper apps? See live wallpaper apps for Mac, compared or the full comparison index.
Sources
- Plash by Sindre Sorhus, accessed 27 October 2026
- Plash on the Mac App Store, accessed 27 October 2026
MacWall's own prices and requirements come from our pricing and download pages.