Portero is a free, open source Mac app that shows every open port and the process behind it. See what's running, kill processes on busy ports, fix 'address already in use' errors, and block ports with the built-in macOS firewall.

I built Portero because I kept losing track of what was running on my own machine. A database from one project, a dev server from another, some API I forgot was still alive since Tuesday... and every time I hit "address already in use" I'd end up googling the same lsof flags for the hundredth time. The thing is, seeing the ports was never the hard part. Understanding them was. lsof tells you there's a process called "node" on port 3000. Cool. Which node? From which project? Is it safe to kill? So Portero shows every open port with the process behind it explained in plain words: "Vite dev server, project storefront" instead of just "node". "AirDrop and sharing" instead of "sharingd". It also flags port conflicts automatically, lets you kill processes (gracefully or by force), blocks ports through the built-in macOS firewall, and opens dev servers in your browser with one click.

Hey congrats on the launch! Q - Does it keep a log of what was running on a port historically, or is it strictly a live snapshot? Thinking about those annoying edge cases where a background task grabs a port and crashes before you can even catch what it was

Would love to see a quick right-click option to copy the PID or port number straight to the clipboard, since I often need to paste those into terminal commands when cleaning up stuck processes.

Portero

Know exactly what's running on every port of your Mac

Know exactly what's running on every port of your Mac