TrackStudio vs Slidr: Whole Surface or Edge Sliders?

Slidr is the app that made the trackpad edge feel obvious. Slide the right edge for volume, the left for brightness, and the real macOS HUD appears. It is small, polished, and priced like a utility. TrackStudio starts from the same edge idea but treats the whole trackpad as the product.

We make TrackStudio, so read this with that bias in mind. The useful question is not which app has more features. It is whether you want two excellent sliders or a surface you can arrange.

What Slidr does well

Slidr puts volume on the right edge and brightness on the left. It shows the native macOS HUD, gives a haptic tick as the level changes, and supports external monitor brightness over DDC. It adds a three-finger middle click, fine control, side swapping, a bottom-quarter mode, typing detection, cursor freeze, and an optional modifier requirement.

It costs $4.99 one-time after a three-day trial and runs on macOS 12 or later. It is also included in Setapp. The product is focused: there is no scene editor to learn, no action catalogue to browse, and no per-app configuration. You slide, and the value changes. For a lot of people, that is exactly enough.

What TrackStudio does

TrackStudio maps the whole trackpad. The left and right edges can be brightness and volume rails; the bottom edge can scrub media; the corners can run actions; you can draw rectangular areas for anything else; the center can hold a gesture. Each app can have its own scene, so Safari, Figma, Final Cut Pro, and VS Code can behave differently.

It also has a haptic language: detents on the rails, a tick when an action runs, a texture while scrubbing. It costs ₹499 one-time and runs on macOS 13 or later. There is no trial listed. It is not a scripting platform, a key remapper, or a full window manager. If you want those, BetterTouchTool or Multitouch is the better comparison.

Side by side

Prices and features checked on the vendors’ public pages on November 2, 2026. Regional pricing and taxes vary. “Not listed” means the vendor does not document the feature; it does not prove the app cannot do it.

Choose Slidr if…

You only want volume and brightness on the edges. You like the idea of a native HUD, a haptic tick, and a three-finger middle click. You use Setapp and want the app included. You want the lowest one-time price in this comparison. You do not need corners, custom areas, per-app scenes, or media scrub. You want to install it and stop thinking about configuration.

Choose TrackStudio if…

You want the whole trackpad to be a layout, not just two sliders. You want a different arrangement for Figma, Final Cut Pro, VS Code, and Safari. You want media scrub on the bottom edge, corners for Mission Control or screenshots, and custom areas for undo/redo or tabs. You care about haptic feedback across the whole surface. You are willing to pay more than an edge-only utility and to spend a little time arranging scenes.

Can you use both?

Yes, but do not give both apps the same edge. Pick one owner for brightness and volume. If Slidr owns the left and right edges, use TrackStudio for corners, areas, center gestures, and media. If TrackStudio owns the edges, turn Slidr off or restrict it to a different edge. Two apps fighting over the same strip will feel unpredictable.

The bottom line

Slidr is the better edge-only app. It is cheaper, simpler, and does the two-slider job with more polish than a general-purpose surface app. TrackStudio is the better whole-surface app. If you only want to change volume and brightness, buy Slidr and stop reading. If you want the trackpad to behave differently in every app, TrackStudio is the more natural place to start.