SupaPick vs Digital Color Meter
Pick Digital Color Meter if you want to read the values under your pointer now and then, in sRGB, P3, Adobe RGB or L*a*b*, without installing anything. It is free and already on your Mac. Pick SupaPick if you pick colors often and paste them into code: one shortcut from any app, a click, and the value is on your clipboard as HEX, OKLCH, SwiftUI or a Tailwind class.
| SupaPick | Digital Color Meter | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $4.99 once; loupe, HEX copy and HEX history free after a 7-day trial | Included with macOS |
| How you open it | ⌃⌥C from any app, or Pick Color in the menu bar | Open it from Applications → Utilities and keep its window up |
| How you pick | The screen freezes, a loupe zooms 15 × 15 pixels, click one | Live values under the pointer; lock with ⌘L |
| What you copy | One value in your default format | The values as text (⇧⌘C) or a swatch image (⌥⌘C) |
| Formats | HEX, rgb(), hsl(), oklch(), SwiftUI (sRGB and Display P3), NSColor, UIColor, CSS variable, Tailwind v4 class | Decimal, hexadecimal, percentage or float channel values |
| Color spaces | sRGB, plus Display P3 for SwiftUI | Native, sRGB, P3, Adobe RGB, BT.2020, L*a*b* |
| History and palettes | Last 20 picks, palettes with export | None |
| Contrast check | WCAG 2 and APCA | None |
Digital Color Meter details are from Apple's Digital Color Meter User Guide and the menus of version 6.12 on macOS, checked November 11, 2026.
Price
Digital Color Meter costs nothing and needs no download. SupaPick is $4.99 once for three Macs. After its 7-day trial, the loupe, HEX copy and HEX history keep working for free, so a free HEX picker is on the table with either one. You pay for SupaPick only if you want the other formats, palettes and the contrast panel.
Reading values or copying code
Digital Color Meter is a meter. Its window shows the red, green and blue values under your pointer, live, in the color space you choose. It is the better tool if you need Adobe RGB, BT.2020 or L*a*b* readings, or an average over several pixels with the Aperture Size slider. To copy, you lock the position and press ⇧⌘C, and you get the channel values as text. SupaPick is a picker. It copies one ready-to-paste string, such as #3A7BD5, oklch(58.62% 0.153 257.2) or Color(red: 0.227, green: 0.482, blue: 0.835), and you never retype a number.
Speed
Digital Color Meter has to be open before you can use it. SupaPick waits in the menu bar. Press ⌃⌥C in any app and the screen freezes, so a video frame or a menu that closes on its own stays still while you aim. Arrow keys move the loupe one pixel, Shift and an arrow ten. Click, and you are back in your app with the color copied. Your last 20 colors stay in the menu for later.
Privacy
Digital Color Meter saves nothing. SupaPick needs Screen Recording permission because its loupe works from a capture of the screen. It takes one still image when you press the shortcut, reads it in memory and lets it go when the loupe closes. Your history and palettes are one file on your Mac, with no account.
Questions and answers
Can Digital Color Meter show HEX?
Yes. Choose View → Display Values → as Hexadecimal. It shows the red, green and blue values in hex in the color space you have chosen, so pick sRGB for web colors. SupaPick's HEX is always sRGB, copied as one #RRGGBB string.
Does SupaPick replace Digital Color Meter?
For picking colors to paste, yes. For reading Adobe RGB, BT.2020 or L*a*b* values, or averaging an area, keep Digital Color Meter. It is free and the two don't get in each other's way.
Is SupaPick a subscription?
No. SupaPick is $4.99 once for three Macs, with every 1.x update included.