NetMuteWhat Hands Off! does
Hands Off! is a Mac security app from One Periodic that does two jobs at once: it controls which applications can reach the network, and it monitors which apps read, write, or delete files on your disk. That dual scope is what set it apart. Little Snitch and LuLu only handle the network side. On the network, it works like a classic outbound firewall: you set rules per app and per domain, and it either prompts you or silently blocks. On the disk side, it alerts you when an app tries to touch files or folders you have protected. It is a one-time purchase, listed at $49.99 (often discounted through third-party resellers), with a free trial. As a concept it is genuinely useful: one tool watching both the network and the file system. The problem is not what it does. It is how current it is.
The catch in 2026: aging and barely maintained
Here is the honest part. As of July 2026, Hands Off! is on version 4.4.3, and its listed system requirement is still OS X 10.10 or later. It has not received a meaningful feature update in years and is widely reported to be no longer actively supported by its developer. For a security tool, that matters more than for almost any other category: - Architecture. Hands Off! comes from the kernel-extension era. Apple has spent years pushing security software off kernel extensions and onto the modern Network Extension and Endpoint Security frameworks. A firewall that has not been rebuilt on those foundations is on borrowed time. - Apple Silicon and recent macOS. An app whose stated baseline is OS X 10.10 gives you little confidence it is tuned for today's Macs. - Threats move, blocklists do not. A privacy tool that is not updated cannot keep up with new trackers and new domains. None of this means it will not open today. It means you would be paying a $49.99 license for a tool that has effectively stopped moving.
What you actually need to replace
Before replacing Hands Off!, separate its two halves, because in 2026 they are not equally necessary. The disk-access half is largely handled by macOS now. When Hands Off! launched, macOS did little to stop apps from reading your files. Today, System Settings, Privacy & Security gates access to Files & Folders, Photos, Contacts, Full Disk Access and more, and apps must ask before touching protected locations. The OS now does most of what Hands Off!'s disk monitor used to do. The network half is the part still worth replacing. The built-in macOS firewall only handles *incoming* connections; it does nothing about apps quietly phoning out to trackers and analytics servers. That outbound control is what most people bought Hands Off! for, and it is exactly the gap a modern per-app firewall fills.
The modern alternative: NetMute
For the network half, the part that still matters, NetMute is the modern, actively maintained pick. - Built for today's Mac. NetMute uses Apple's current Network Extension framework, is notarized, runs native on Apple Silicon, and ships regular updates. - Automates the tedious part. Instead of hand-writing rules, Tracker Shield flags 1,100+ known tracker domains across advertising, analytics, social and data-broker categories and blocks them in one tap. Each app gets a privacy score based on what it actually contacts. - Adapts to your network. Profiles switch your rules automatically between home, work, hotspot and public Wi-Fi, and per-app data limits cap usage on metered connections. - Fair pricing. Free to download from the Mac App Store; Premium unlocks with a one-time in-app purchase, no subscription, with free updates. One honest caveat: NetMute is a network tool. It does not replace Hands Off!'s *disk*-access monitoring; for that, lean on the built-in macOS Privacy & Security permissions. If you specifically want a live disk-write watchdog beyond what the OS offers, that is the one thing Hands Off! still does that NetMute does not. If you want other options to weigh: LuLu is free and open-source (network only, no dashboard), and Little Snitch is the long-standing paid heavyweight.
The bottom line
Hands Off! still runs, but in 2026 it is a $49.99 license for a tool that has stopped evolving: stuck on the 4.x line, built for an older macOS, and no longer actively supported. Its disk-monitoring half has largely been absorbed by the macOS Privacy & Security controls. Its network half, the reason most people bought it, is better served today by a firewall built on Apple's current frameworks. If you want that outbound control on a modern, maintained Mac app with tracker blocking built in, NetMute is the straightforward pick, and it is free to try.
