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superhighfives/pika

Pika is an open-source native colour picker for macOS that samples colours anywhere on screen and outputs them in multiple formats.

Open-source alternative to:Digital Color Meter

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What is it?

Pika is a colour picker for macOS that lets you pick colours from anywhere on screen and quickly get them in the format you need. It supports Hex, RGB, HSB, HSL, LAB, OpenGL and OKLCH output, and it can pick both foreground and background colours.

Beyond picking, Pika keeps a history of picks with undo and redo, lets you swap foreground and background colours, and offers a colour compliance view and a colour preview. Most actions have keyboard shortcuts, and a pika:// URL scheme lets other tools and scripts trigger picks, copy values as text or JSON, and change settings.

Pika requires macOS Sequoia (version 14) or newer. It can be installed from the project website or with Homebrew, and the app is written in Swift and SwiftUI with Xcode as the development environment.

Key features

  • 01Picks colours from anywhere on screen
  • 02Supports Hex, RGB, HSB, HSL, LAB, OpenGL and OKLCH formats
  • 03Keyboard shortcuts for picking, copying and formatting
  • 04pika:// URL scheme for automation
  • 05Undo and redo for picks, plus a history view
  • 06Integrates with the system colour picker

Use cases

  • Grabbing exact colour values from a design or screenshot on macOS
  • Converting a colour between Hex, RGB, HSL and other formats
  • Checking foreground and background contrast during UI work
  • Scripting colour picks or copying palettes through URL triggers

Quick start

  1. 1

    Install via Homebrew

    brew install --cask pika

Things to know

  • macOS only, requires macOS Sequoia (Version 14) or newer.

In collections

Open-source Mac apps

Topics

#color-picker#macos#swift#swiftui#design-tools#productivity#app#xcode

FAQ

What is pika?
Pika is an open-source native colour picker for macOS that samples colours anywhere on screen and outputs them in multiple formats. Pika is a colour picker for macOS that lets you pick colours from anywhere on screen and quickly get them in the format you need. It supports Hex, RGB, HSB, HSL, LAB, OpenGL and OKLCH output, and it can pick both foreground and background colours.
Is pika free to use? What license does it have?
pika is open source under the MIT license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is pika still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to pika was on Nov 6, 2026.
What can I use pika for?
Grabbing exact colour values from a design or screenshot on macOS Converting a colour between Hex, RGB, HSL and other formats Checking foreground and background contrast during UI work Scripting colour picks or copying palettes through URL triggers
How do I install pika?
Install via Homebrew: brew install --cask pika
Where can I get pika?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/superhighfives/pika

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