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ScaleKit
Desktop appFree
Sharp 125%, 150% and 175% HiDPI scaling for ultrawide and 1440p monitors on Mac: bigger text without the blur, and still 120 Hz.
- Price
- Free
- Works on
- macOS 14+, Apple silicon
- Admin rights
- None needed
- Licence
- MIT, open source
- Open source
- macOS
- Displays
- Productivity
01 / 05ScaleKit main window: 125% verified on an ASUS 3440 × 1440 ultrawide, looks like 2752 × 1152, HiDPI 2×, 120 Hz
What it does
Everything in one click.
The missing sizes
125%, 150% and 175% on monitors macOS won’t offer them for, alongside native 100% and 200%.
Sharp, not blurry
The desktop is rendered at 2× above your panel’s resolution and scaled down, the same way a Retina Mac does it.
Keeps 120 Hz
Your preferred refresh rate is kept and pinned. Anything that would lower it needs your explicit OK.
Every change is a trial
Review the change, then a countdown appears on every screen. Don’t press Keep Changes and it reverts by itself.
Can’t get stuck
Scaling lasts only while ScaleKit runs. Quit, crash or force-quit, and macOS restores your monitor.
Honest labels
Every size is Verified, Available, Experimental or Unsupported. It never quietly switches you to a blurry mode.
Preview first
See what each size looks like in a window before changing anything on your display.
Layout kept
Monitors next to the scaled one stay where they were, and it repairs itself after sleep, wake or reconnecting.
The details
Built for power users.
- No admin rights, no SIP changes, no kernel extensions or drivers
- A watchdog helper reverts everything if the app ever hangs during a trial
- A transparent 100-point recommendation with the reason for each part
- Per-app zoom guide for VS Code, browsers and terminals
- Every mode macOS reports, with rendering path and refresh rate
- Exportable diagnostics report and a command-line tool
- Menu bar icon to switch sizes or turn scaling off
- Opens at login so your size comes back after a restart
- Native SwiftUI, dark and light
- 236 automated tests, MIT licensed
Who it’s for
Who gets the most out of it.
- Anyone whose text looks tiny on a 34″ 3440 × 1440 ultrawide
- Mac users with a 27″ 1440p monitor who find Larger Text blurry
- Developers who want readable code without giving up workspace
- Gamers and designers who don’t want to lose 120 Hz or 144 Hz
Private by design.
ScaleKit has no network access, no account and no analytics. Diagnostic reports are written to your disk only when you export them.
The 125%, 150% and 175% sizes use a virtual display through one private macOS API, the same one BetterDisplay and DeskPad use. If a future macOS removes it, ScaleKit shows those sizes as unavailable instead of breaking.
FAQ
Good questions.
Why is text blurry on my external monitor on a Mac?
At the Larger Text sizes on a non-Retina monitor, macOS renders a smaller desktop at 1× and stretches it up to the panel, so every letter is scaled by an odd factor and looks soft. ScaleKit renders at 2× above the panel’s resolution and scales down, which stays sharp.
How do I get 125% or 150% scaling on a 1440p or ultrawide monitor?
macOS only offers sharp in-between sizes on displays it considers high density, and a 34″ 3440 × 1440 or 27″ 2560 × 1440 panel is about 109 PPI, so it doesn’t qualify. ScaleKit adds those sizes through a virtual HiDPI display. Pick a size, click Apply, try it and keep it.
Will I lose 120 Hz or 144 Hz?
No. ScaleKit keeps your preferred refresh rate and pins the monitor to it while scaling. Any change that would lower it asks you first.
Does it need SIP disabled or admin rights?
No, neither. It doesn’t touch system files and installs no drivers.
Why does scaling stop when I quit ScaleKit?
The virtual display belongs to the app, so quitting always restores your monitor. That’s the safety net. Turn on Open ScaleKit at login to keep your size.
How is it different from BetterDisplay?
BetterDisplay is a powerful, general-purpose display tool. ScaleKit does one thing, comfortable and sharp interface sizes on an external monitor, with a review, trial and keep flow and open source code you can read.
macOS says it can’t verify the app. Is it safe?
ScaleKit isn’t notarized by Apple yet, so macOS blocks it once. Go to System Settings › Privacy & Security, scroll down and click Open Anyway. Or build it yourself from the source.
Free. Go grab it.
Open source, no signup and no catch. Install it and start in a minute.
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