The short answer
A second macOS user separates everything and costs nothing, but you only ever see one user at a time.
MacDualSpace separates one app at a time and keeps both accounts in your own desktop, side by side. If you want two whole separate environments, or a second Apple Account, a second user is the better tool.
How a second user works
Every user on a Mac has its own home folder, Library, keychain and settings. Log in as a second user and every app starts fresh, as if it had never seen you, so you can sign in to a different account in each one.
With fast user switching, the first user stays logged in while you switch, and its apps keep running in the background. You add a user in System Settings › Users & Groups; the step-by-step is in our guide.
Where it falls short for a second account
- One user on screen at a time. You can’t put your personal and work accounts next to each other, or glance from one to the other.
- Every switch asks for a password (or Touch ID) and takes a moment.
- Everything is separate, not just the app. Your files, Dock, browser data and app settings aren’t there, so you set them up again and keep them in step.
- Two sessions, twice the memory. Both users’ apps keep running while both are logged in.
What MacDualSpace does differently
MacDualSpace clones one app inside your own user. The copy, which it calls a Space, gets its own data folder for cookies, cache, settings and sessions, so it can be signed in to a different account. Everything else on your Mac stays shared, as usual.
- Both accounts are open at once, in windows you can put side by side.
- Each copy has its own Dock icon, with the Space’s color ring and letter badge.
- Notifications from every copy arrive on your desktop, labeled with the Space.
- Jump between copies with ⌥⌘1, ⌥⌘2 and so on, or from the menu bar.
A second macOS user and MacDualSpace, side by side
| Second macOS user | MacDualSpace | |
|---|---|---|
| What it separates | Everything: files, settings, keychain and every app’s data | One app’s data folder per copy |
| Both accounts on screen | No, one user at a time | Yes, side by side |
| Switching | Fast user switching, with a password or Touch ID | The Dock, the menu bar or ⌥⌘1, ⌥⌘2… |
| Your files and settings | Separate, set up again | Shared, as usual |
| Works with | Every app | Most apps; not Apple’s own apps or iPad apps |
| Apple Account and iCloud | Its own | The same as your user’s |
| Price | Free, built in | Planned: two Spaces free, Pro $29 once |
| Available | Now | Not released yet |
Which one should you use?
Use a second macOS user when…
- You want a completely separate environment, not just a second account in one app.
- The app ties your account to your Apple Account, iCloud or the Mac itself.
- Someone else shares the Mac and needs their own space.
Use MacDualSpace when…
- You need two accounts of the same app at the same time, like Claude Pro and Team.
- You want both accounts’ notifications without switching users.
- You’d rather keep one Dock, one set of files and one desktop.
Comparing other options too? See Chrome profiles vs MacDualSpace and every free way to run two instances of an app on Mac.