Free Alternative to Lunar Pro

MonitorControl is the most popular free alternative to Lunar Pro. It uses DDC/CI to control external monitor brightness and volume exactly like the native Apple keyboard keys work for your MacBook screen. It shows native macOS OSD overlays, supports custom shortcuts, and handles multiple monitors. The app supports multiple protocols including DDC for external displays, native Apple protocol, gamma table control for software dimming, and shade control for AirPlay and Sidecar devices.

BetterDisplay goes beyond brightness control to solve the HiDPI problem on non-4K monitors. It creates virtual displays at higher resolutions, then mirrors them to your physical display, enabling HiDPI scaling on any monitor. The free version includes manual HiDPI resolution creation, Picture-in-Picture windows, resolution sliders, and basic display management. Pro features add DDC brightness sliders, XDR/HDR extra brightness, and streaming capabilities.

Lunar has a generous free tier that includes core DDC controls. You get brightness and volume control via DDC, sub-zero dimming for extra dark rooms, fallback when DDC fails, native brightness and volume keys support, command-line integration, input switching, and multi-monitor support. The Pro features you lose are adaptive brightness (sensor and location modes), sync mode with built-in display, and XDR brightness unlock.

Brisync does one thing well: it reads your MacBook's built-in display brightness and mirrors it to external monitors via DDC. When you adjust your MacBook brightness, external monitors follow. It's a focused tool that provides sync functionality similar to Lunar Pro's Sync Mode, but it requires your built-in display to be active (won't work in clamshell mode).

Brightness Slider is an ultra-simple menu bar app that adds a brightness slider for external monitors. It uses DDC to control hardware brightness without any complex configuration or features. The interface is minimal—just click the menu bar icon and drag the slider. Perfect for users who want the simplest possible solution without learning curves or advanced features.

Display Menu focuses on display management with resolution switching, refresh rate control, and rotation options. It includes basic brightness control via DDC as a secondary feature. The app excels at managing multiple display configurations and saving presets for different workflows. While not primarily a brightness tool, it provides solid DDC control alongside comprehensive display management.

f.lux is primarily designed to adjust your display's color temperature based on time of day, warming the screen at night to reduce blue light and improve sleep. While it doesn't control DDC hardware brightness, f.lux can perceptually dim the screen through white point reduction and gamma curve adjustments. The app automatically transitions from bright blue-tinted daylight colors to warmer evening tones, and includes a Bedtime mode that removes maximum alerting light. Though not a replacement for hardware brightness control, f.lux complements DDC apps by handling circadian-friendly color shifts while tools like MonitorControl handle actual brightness.

DisplayBuddy provides comprehensive DDC control with a beautifully designed interface that feels at home on macOS. The app controls brightness, contrast, and volume of external displays from your menu bar with smooth animations and native-feeling interactions. It supports multiple monitors with independent settings, keyboard shortcuts for quick adjustments, and preset configurations for different work scenarios.

While it's a paid app, the design quality and user experience are exceptional. DisplayBuddy focuses on doing DDC control extremely well with a polished interface rather than adding extra features.

ddcctl is a lightweight command-line utility that provides direct DDC control over external monitors. It's designed for power users who prefer scripting and automation over graphical interfaces. With ddcctl, you can adjust brightness, contrast, and input sources using simple terminal commands, making it perfect for integration with shell scripts, cron jobs, or keyboard shortcut managers like BetterTouchTool and Keyboard Maestro.

The tool is extremely fast and efficient, consuming virtually no resources. While it has no GUI, its scriptability makes it invaluable for advanced workflows and automated display control based on triggers like time of day, connected display, or application launching.

MonitorControl Lite is a streamlined version of MonitorControl available exclusively on the Mac App Store. It provides the core DDC brightness and volume control features in a simpler, more focused package. The App Store version benefits from sandboxed security, automatic updates through macOS, and easier installation for non-technical users who prefer not to use Homebrew.

While it has fewer features than the full MonitorControl, it covers the essential use case of controlling external monitor brightness and volume. The simplified interface removes some advanced options, making it more approachable for casual users.