Velja

Every Mac gets exactly one default browser. For anyone who splits life across several browsers, that is one too few. The work account lives in Chrome, personal browsing lives in Safari, and Excel links belong in Edge. Meanwhile, a meeting link from a calendar invite opens in whichever browser happens to hold the default slot. Velja, from developer Sindre Sorhus, fixes this by taking the default slot itself. Once it is set as the default browser, it becomes a dispatcher. Every link the system hands off passes through Velja, which decides whether it opens in a specific browser, a particular browser profile, a private window or a native app.

That makes Velja infrastructure, not an app anyone opens on purpose. It succeeds when it rarely asks for attention, and the reception reflects that. App Store reviewers and tech sites including gHacks and Korben describe it as an easy way to keep work and personal links in separate browsers or profiles. Users also say it stays out of the way once it is set up. The US App Store does not yet show an average rating because there are too few ratings to compute one, so the evidence is qualitative, not numerical.

The business model has changed. Velja used to be free. The current version costs $10 as a one-time purchase, with a free trial to confirm the rules work before paying. It is sold through the Mac App Store, which matters more than it sounds: one user chose it specifically because their employer only permits App Store software. The catch is the minimum system requirement. The current release needs macOS 26, though older versions remain available for earlier macOS releases.

• Website and source-app rules: Links are routed by the site they point to or by the app they were clicked in. Work links can go to Chrome while personal ones stay in Safari.
• Granular destinations: A link can go to a specific browser, a specific browser profile, a private window or a native app.
• Zero-setup defaults: Without any configuration, Google Meet links open in Chrome, and Zoom, Microsoft Teams and Figma links open in their desktop apps.
• Optional browser picker: A prompt can appear for every link, only for links from chosen apps, or only while Fn is held. A single key picks the destination.
• Link cleanup: Velja expands short URLs and strips tracking parameters.
• Custom JavaScript rewriting: User-written scripts can transform URLs before they open.
• Automation hooks: It supports the Services menu, Shortcuts, Handoff and a scriptable URL scheme.
• History log: A record of routed links makes it possible to check what each rule actually did.
• Browser extensions: Extensions for Safari, Chromium-based browsers and Firefox let Velja catch links clicked inside a browser.

The Default-Browser Gambit

Velja’s design rests on one decision: it registers as a browser so that macOS will hand it every link. That is the cleanest place to intercept links. Mail clients, chat apps, calendars and documents all pass clicked URLs to the system default, so a single registration lets Velja see nearly every link that starts outside a browser.

The same decision creates its blind spot. A link clicked inside a browser never goes back to the system; the browser simply opens it. Velja’s answer is a set of extensions for Safari, Chromium-based browsers and Firefox, which catch in-browser clicks and apply the same rules. It is the right fix, but full coverage means installing an extension in every browser in use. That is exactly the kind of setup chore a set-and-forget utility hopes to avoid. Without the extensions, Velja controls which browser a link first opens in, but not what happens to links clicked from there.

Rules by Destination and by Origin

Velja routes links two ways: by the website a link points to, and by the app it was clicked in. Website rules are the obvious half. A rule might send one project-tracking domain to the work browser and leave everything else in Safari.

Source-app rules are the smarter half, because they capture context instead of individual addresses. A shared-document link from a work chat belongs somewhere different from the same kind of link in a personal message. Routing by origin handles that without an ever-growing list of domains. The Excel-to-Edge, everything-else-in-Safari split shows the payoff: one narrow rule fixes the one workflow that breaks, and nothing else changes.

Profile targeting is what makes this useful day to day. For many people, the real split is between two accounts in the same browser, not between two browsers. Sending a link to a specific profile handles that directly.

The built-in defaults deserve credit. Meeting links are the ones most likely to arrive minutes before a call starts. Routing Google Meet to Chrome and Zoom, Teams and Figma to their desktop apps gets them right before a single rule is written, which keeps the initial setup work close to zero.

The Picker as a Safety Valve

Rules handle the predictable cases, and the optional prompt handles the rest. Each of the three prompt modes reflects a different trade-off between automation and control:

• Prompting on every link turns a routing tool into a toll booth. It will wear thin for anyone who clicks dozens of links a day.
• Prompting for chosen apps is a sensible middle ground for one messy source, such as a client chat where destinations vary.
• Holding Fn is the best of the three. Automatic routing stays the default, and a manual choice is one held key away, so the picker appears only on request.

Single-key selection keeps the whole interaction on the keyboard. A picker that needed precise mouse clicks would slow down every link it touched.

Link Hygiene and Rewriting

Since every link already passes through Velja, it makes sense for it to clean them too. It expands short URLs and strips tracking parameters, and both are privacy gains that add no work for the user. Expansion also helps routing: a shortened link hides the domain that a website rule needs to match.

Custom JavaScript is the escape hatch for power users. It covers cases no built-in option anticipates, such as redirecting one domain to another or reshaping a URL’s format. The cost is that someone has to write the code. That is a fair trade for a feature that sits behind the basics instead of in front of them.

Automation and Accountability

Support for the Services menu, Shortcuts, Handoff and a scriptable URL scheme lets Velja fit into automation people already use, without demanding its own system. The history log is the underrated piece. Any tool that makes decisions silently needs a way to audit them. When a link opens somewhere unexpected, the log is where a misfiring rule gets diagnosed, which suggests the tool was built with ongoing rule changes in mind.

Where the Model Breaks

The weakest point is Apple’s own browser. Velja supports neither Safari profiles nor Safari’s private windows. If someone keeps work and personal browsing apart using Safari profiles, Velja’s main feature does nothing for them. Routing to a private window also only works with other browsers. This gap hurts because Safari is the natural home browser for the Mac-focused audience most likely to buy a Mac App Store utility.

Velja’s interface is designed to stay out of sight. It runs from the menu bar, and the option to hide the menu bar icon entirely is there for anyone who wants it. That is the right call for software meant to go unnoticed. The visible parts are the settings where rules are built and the picker prompt. Of the two, the picker matters more because it is the only part that appears during everyday use. Single-key selection keeps it nearly as fast as having no picker at all.

There are no measurements to report, so performance can only be judged from the design. Matching a link against a list of rules is lightweight work, and the app is built to be unobtrusive once it is configured. Two features add steps by nature. Expanding a short URL means following it to its final destination first, and custom JavaScript runs extra code on each link it applies to. Both trade a little directness for cleaner, better-routed links, which is a reasonable bargain.

Velja runs only on the Mac. Its App Store presence is a Mac App Store listing, and there is no iPhone or iPad version, so link routing on mobile devices is outside its reach.

• Input: It is built for a keyboard and a mouse or trackpad. The Fn-hold trigger and single-key picker assume a physical keyboard.
• System requirement: The current version needs macOS 26. Older versions can still be downloaded for earlier macOS releases.
• Cross-device: Handoff support connects Velja to Apple’s continuity features.
• Pricing: $10 as a one-time purchase with a free trial, and no subscription. The app was previously free.
• Distribution: Because it is sold through the Mac App Store, it can be used in companies that only allow App Store software.

The case for Velja rests on a simple observation. A single default-browser setting is a blunt tool, and people who work across several accounts pay for it in small, daily misfires. Velja replaces that setting with rules that consider both where a link goes and where it came from. It can target individual profiles, and its defaults fix meeting links before any setup. The Fn-triggered picker balances automation with control, and the link-cleaning features follow naturally from a tool that already sees every URL.

The limits are real. People who rely on Safari profiles or private windows get the least from it. The extension requirement turns full coverage into a setup task across every browser. The macOS 26 requirement shuts out anyone who has not updated. Longtime users may also resent paying for something that used to be free. Even so, $10 once, with a trial to check that the rules fit, is a fair price for a utility built to fade into the background. We recommend it for anyone running multiple browsers or profiles on a current Mac, with the caveat that Safari-centric users should weigh the trial against their own setup before buying.