Here’s the Deal
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When comparing Karabiner vs Bartender, the Slant community recommends Bartender for most people. In the question“What are the best power user tools for macOS?” Bartender is ranked 13th while Karabiner is ranked 29th.
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Common Questions
Pros
Pro Low-level key bindings/mappings
For example: Fn+C now calls up contextual menus for me with:
<!-- Fn + C = same as right-click mouse -->
<item>
<name>kybd control click</name>
<identifier>private.keybd_to_control_click</identifier>
<autogen>
__KeyToKey__
KeyCode::C, ModifierFlag::FN,
KeyCode::VK_MOUSEKEY_BUTTON_RIGHT
</autogen>
</item>
Pro Make FN key into a new modifier key for custom shortcuts across apps
Pro Cleans up the menubar so it's less cluttered
Pro Great customisation options for the menu bar
Pro Lean and efficient
Does what it is supposed to do efficiently.
Cons
Con Difficult to configure custom actions
Configuring custom actions requires editing an XML file with very strange syntax, for which it's difficult to find good documentation.
Con Expensive
$15 for download or $7.50 for upgrade if you have Bartender 1.