ColorCopy vs. Pika
Pika (by Charlie Gleason) is open-source under the MIT license and beautifully focused on one thing: grabbing colors off your screen with a global hotkey. It’s free if you download it directly or via Homebrew; the Mac App Store build is a small paid download (around $2.99) that supports the developer. We’re not going to talk it down, because it’s a lovely tool whose source you can read. Instead, here’s an honest look at where the two apps actually differ, checked against Pika’s own site and GitHub repo in June 2026.
At a glance
| ColorCopy | Pika | |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free to download. One-time Pro removes the monthly cap (check the Mac App Store for current pricing). | Free via direct download & Homebrew; the Mac App Store build is a paid download (around $2.99) |
| Open-source | No. Closed-source | Yes. MIT license, read or fork the code |
| OKLCH & LAB | No. Neither supported | Yes, both, plus Hex, RGB, HSB, HSL, OpenGL |
| Color formats | 21 built-in, incl. UIColor, NSColor, SwiftUI, .NET, Java, Android | 7 (Hex, RGB, HSB, HSL, LAB, OpenGL, OKLCH) |
| Contrast checker | WCAG 2 and APCA, with one-click auto-fix to a target ratio | WCAG and APCA (compares a foreground & background pair) |
| Palettes | Full palette manager, 24 built-in presets | Named palettes (added in v1.6.0), but no built-in presets |
| Palette from image | Yes: K-means, median cut, or octree | No |
| Import / export | Export to 8 formats (.ase, .clr, JSON, CSS, HTML, txt, PNG, PDF); import .ase, .clr & JSON | Exports palettes to JSON; no import |
| Pick history | Persistent recent-colors list | Every pick saved: revisit, undo, redo |
| Distribution | Mac App Store | Mac App Store, direct download, Homebrew |
| Requirements | macOS | macOS 14+ (Sonoma) |
| Platforms | macOS only | macOS only |
Where Pika is the better choice
We mean this. Pick Pika if:
- You want it open-source. Pika is MIT-licensed, so you can read the code, fork it, and build it yourself, free of charge from the repo or Homebrew. ColorCopy is closed-source.
- You work in OKLCH or LAB. Pika supports both color spaces; ColorCopy supports neither.
- You want something tiny, fast, and native. Pika is around 4.7 MB, focused on quick picking with a global hotkey, and includes both WCAG and APCA contrast checking, an undo/redo-style pick history, login auto-start, a
pika://automation scheme, and multi-language support.
Where ColorCopy wins
Pika added named palettes in v1.6.0, so this is closer than it used to be. ColorCopy still pulls ahead on the palette-heavy workflow:
- Palettes from images. Drop in a photo and ColorCopy extracts a palette with your choice of three quantization algorithms (K-means, median cut, octree). Pika doesn’t do this.
- Built-in presets. ColorCopy ships 24 ready-made palettes (Tailwind, Material Design, Radix, Apple System Colors, and more). Pika lets you build and name your own palettes, but doesn’t include presets.
- Broader import and export. ColorCopy exports to 8 formats (.ase, .clr, JSON, CSS, HTML, txt, PNG, PDF) and imports .ase, .clr, and JSON. Pika exports palettes to JSON and doesn’t import.
- More formats, more dev targets. 21 formats vs Pika’s 7, including Apple-platform and cross-platform developer formats: UIColor, NSColor, SwiftUI, .NET, Java, and Android.
- Contrast auto-fix. Both apps check WCAG and APCA, but ColorCopy can auto-fix a failing pair to a target ratio. Pika compares a foreground and background but doesn’t auto-nudge a color to hit a target.
Honest caveats
- Pika is open-source (MIT) and free from the repo or Homebrew — ColorCopy is neither free of charge nor open-source. If you value reading and forking the code, Pika wins outright.
- Pika supports OKLCH and LAB; ColorCopy supports neither today. If those color spaces are part of your workflow, use Pika.
- Pika now has named palettes and JSON export, so the palette gap is smaller than it once was. ColorCopy still leads on image extraction, built-in presets, broader import/export, and contrast auto-fix.
- If you just need fast on-screen picking plus contrast checking and love open-source, Pika is an excellent choice and possibly all you need.
Try ColorCopy free
The honest test is just to use it. ColorCopy is free to download and the free tier includes everything so you can see whether the palette, image-extraction, and export workflow fits before deciding anything about Pro.
Related
- ColorCopy vs. ColorSlurp, another freemium contender.
- Palettes docs, how palettes and presets work in ColorCopy.
- All comparisons