Can Digital Color Meter copy a hex code?

Yes. Digital Color Meter can copy the color under the pointer with Copy Color as Text (Shift-Command-C), and it can also copy the swatch as an image (Option-Command-C). The catch is that the text it copies is a raw value — an RGB triplet or a hex string — not formatted developer code. So you get something like a hex value, but not a ready-to-paste UIColor, SwiftUI Color, NSColor, or CSS declaration. ColorCopy copies the value already wrapped in any of 21 formats, so it's paste-ready for the file you're in.

Is ColorCopy a replacement for Digital Color Meter?

For most everyday color work, yes — ColorCopy picks colors from anywhere on screen and copies them in ready-to-paste formats, remembers your recent picks, manages palettes, extracts palettes from images, and checks WCAG 2 and APCA contrast, none of which Digital Color Meter does. But Digital Color Meter is a precise pixel measurement tool with an adjustable aperture, selectable color spaces, and an HDR/EDR display-native mode. If your job is reading exact pixel values or inspecting how a color reads across color spaces, Digital Color Meter does things ColorCopy doesn't. They're built for different jobs.

Do I need to install anything to use Digital Color Meter?

No. Digital Color Meter is preinstalled on every Mac — you'll find it in Applications, in the Utilities folder — so there's nothing to download and it's completely free. ColorCopy is a separate download from the Mac App Store; it's also free to download, with a full-featured free tier metered to 50 picks or copies per month and a one-time Pro purchase to remove the cap.

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ColorCopy vs. Digital Color Meter

The short version: Digital Color Meter is a measurement tool, not a developer color picker. It’s free, preinstalled on every Mac, and excellent for reading exact pixel values and inspecting color spaces, including an HDR/EDR mode. ColorCopy is the better fit if you want to copy colors in 21 ready-to-paste formats, keep a history of recent picks, manage palettes, and check WCAG 2 and APCA contrast. They’re built for different jobs.

This is the easiest, fairest comparison we publish, because the two tools aren’t really competing. Digital Color Meter ships with macOS (it’s in Applications → Utilities) and does exactly what Apple designed it to do: it measures and displays the color of the pixels under your pointer. ColorCopy is a menu-bar app for picking colors and pasting them into your code, designs, and palettes. Here’s where each one shines, checked against Apple’s own documentation in June 2026.

At a glance

	ColorCopy	Digital Color Meter
Pricing	Free to download. One-time Pro removes the monthly cap (check the Mac App Store for current pricing).	Free. Preinstalled on every Mac, nothing to buy or install
What it’s for	Picking colors and copying them in ready-to-paste formats	Measuring and displaying the color value of pixels under the pointer
Copies colors	Yes. 21 formats, paste-ready	Yes, but a raw value only (RGB triplet or hex), not formatted code
Developer / code formats	HEX, CSS, Swift, SwiftUI, UIColor, NSColor, Obj-C, .NET, Java, Android, and more	None
Pixel measurement	Reads the color under your pointer when picking	Adjustable aperture, from a single pixel up to an averaged area
Color spaces & HDR	Converts between formats; sRGB-based	Selectable color space, CIE readouts, and a display-native (EDR/HDR) mode
Recent colors history	Yes	No
Palettes & export	Palette manager, export to 8 formats	No
Palette from image	Yes	No
Contrast checker	WCAG 2 and APCA, with one-click auto-fix	No
Privacy	100% local, no accounts	Local Apple utility
Platforms	macOS only	macOS only

Verified against Apple’s Digital Color Meter User Guide, June 2026. Apple’s tool may gain features over time, so confirm current behavior in the app.

Where Digital Color Meter is the better choice

Reach for Digital Color Meter if:

You want something free and already there. It’s preinstalled on every Mac with nothing to download. Open it from Applications → Utilities and you’re reading pixels in seconds.
You need precise pixel measurement. The adjustable aperture lets you read a single pixel or average a region, which is ideal for inspecting exact values and gradients.
You care about color spaces and HDR. Digital Color Meter offers a selectable color space, CIE-based readouts, and a display-native (EDR/HDR) mode for inspecting how a color is actually shown.
You only need to read a value occasionally and don’t want another app in your menu bar.

Where ColorCopy wins

It copies paste-ready code, not a raw value. Digital Color Meter’s “Copy Color as Text” gives you an RGB triplet or a hex string. ColorCopy copies the color already wrapped in any of 21 formats — a SwiftUI Color, a UIColor, an NSColor, a CSS declaration, Android, .NET, Java, and more — so it’s ready for the file you’re in.
It remembers your picks. ColorCopy keeps a history of recent colors so you can grab one again later. Digital Color Meter shows the value under the pointer and nothing more.
Palettes. ColorCopy manages palettes and exports them to eight formats; it can also extract a palette from any image. Digital Color Meter has no palette features.
Contrast checking. ColorCopy checks WCAG 2 and APCA contrast with one-click auto-fix. Digital Color Meter has no contrast tools at all.

Honest caveats

Digital Color Meter is free and always present on your Mac. You never have to install it, and it’s great for raw pixel measurement, color-space inspection, and HDR/EDR work.
If all you need is to read a pixel value occasionally, you may not need anything else. Digital Color Meter does that job well.
Digital Color Meter does exactly what Apple designed it to do. ColorCopy isn’t “better” in the abstract — it’s built for a different job: copying colors into your work and managing them.

Try ColorCopy free

Easiest way to decide is to use it. ColorCopy is free to download and the free tier includes every feature, so you can see whether picking, copying, and managing colors fits your workflow before you think about Pro.

Download ColorCopy Free

ColorCopy vs. Sip, how ColorCopy compares to a dedicated picker.
Picking colors docs, how picking and copying work in ColorCopy.
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