Native macOS SDR client // Apple silicon

Make the band
feel alive.

HermitSDR is a fast, local-first workstation for Hermes-Lite 2, SquareSDR, and Apache Labs ANAN radios, with receive support for the RFSpace NetSDR. Deep DSP, GPU-native spectrum work, serious transmit controls—without leaving your Mac.

Current releaseHermitSDR 2026.1006_004Released October 6, 2026 · macOS 15+ · Apple silicon · 35.2 MB DMGVirusTotal: 0/75 engines flagged · scanned 2026-10-06 · SHA-256 4c991665cd6c288d579f0e4e23d5782a5c44d061d2bad53d7d5249363ee14d00
↓ DOWNLOAD .DMG
no accountno package managerbuilt for arm64
HermitSDR branding artwork: a hermit crab in a hood against a radio waterfall
2radio protocol families
48–1536kHz sampled bandwidth
Swift + Metalnative performance path
LAN onlyradio traffic stays local
On the desk

The waterfall owns the window. The controls sit beside it.

Two views of the same 40 m session on a Hermes-Lite 2 / SquareSDR. Console Preview (View → Appearance) puts a dense receiver bank, transmitter bank and decoder workspace around a full-height spectrum; collapse them and the band takes the whole window. Living scenes — here the Aquarium and the Deep Space Observatory — paint under the signals without touching the DSP.

HermitSDR console with the receiver, transmitter and workspace banks collapsed: a full-width 40 m spectrum above an Aquarium waterfall scene with reef fish swimming through the signal traces
Banks collapsed, Aquarium scene. 7.157 MHz LSB, 384 kHz span, TX SAFE, S-meter and SWR in the header. Signals fall through the reef as streaks of light.
HermitSDR console with the receiver bank on the left, the transmitter bank on the right and the decoder workspace below a zoomed 40 m CW spectrum over a Deep Space Observatory scene with a ringed planet and an astronaut
Receiver, transmitter and workspace open, Deep Space Observatory. Zoomed to 7.050 MHz: RF gain, AGC, noise reduction, squelch, audio and Record controls on the left; ARM / PTT / TUNE / 2 TONE, drive, mic gain and source settings on the right; decoder activity below.
Ask The Crab

Describe the problem. Let the crab check the controls.

Ask The Crab is HermitSDR’s built-in assistant. Ask a radio question or describe what is going wrong in plain language. It can inspect supported app settings and make changes such as adjusting volume, unmuting audio, or changing noise reduction, with actions shown in the conversation.

In this example, turning the volume up did not restore sound. After the operator reported that the Mac mini speakers were still silent, the crab found muted output, unmuted it and disabled noise reduction. The operator confirmed that the audio was working again.

The conversation shown uses the on-device, private mode. An optional Claude API backend and optional web lookup are available in the assistant’s settings.

Ask The Crab audio troubleshooting conversation: volume raised to 100 percent, muted output identified and unmuted, noise reduction disabled, and the operator confirms audio is working
Audio troubleshooting in plain language. Setting changes appear beneath the replies. Click to view the full screenshot.
The operating desk

A whole radio station in one focused app.

Receive, transmit, inspect, decode, record, replay, spot, and shape audio from one desktop application. Keep an ADIF logbook with awards, a worked-world map and DX radar; organize tools with the Features catalog.

RF + DSPUSB, LSB, CW, AM, SAM, FM, NFM, DSB; filtering, NR, notch, AGC, EQ and squelch.
DECODERSFT8/FT4, CW, RTTY, SSTV, WEFAX and a GPU-wideband CW OmniSkimmer.
TRANSMITInterlocked PTT, metering, SWR protection, CAT PTT, TX EQ, dynamics and monitor path.
TIME MACHINEUp to 180 seconds of full-span IQ history; replay, export and investigate later.