The racing games for Mac that cost nothing and install nothing run in a browser tab: Mars Rally Championship, a free browser rally game listed first because it is ours, PolyTrack and Slow Roads. SuperTuxKart is the free native download. The Mac App Store has Asphalt Legends, free with in-app purchases, and GRID Legends at $39.99. Apple Arcade has Horizon Chase 2 and Gear.Club Stradale, and art of rally runs natively from Steam.
Diagram: five ways onto a Mac. Only the browser tab costs nothing and installs nothing; the rest are downloads, store purchases, a subscription or streaming.
The Mac gets fewer racing games than Windows, so the route matters as much as the title. On a Chromebook instead? The same formula for ChromeOS is a separate post.
What racing games actually run on a Mac?
Five routes work today, and each has a catch.
A browser tab. Any Mac with a current browser can run a 3D browser game, with nothing to install. The requirement is WebGL 2, which Safari has supported since version 15, Chrome since 56 and Firefox since 51 (caniuse.com/webgl2).
A free native download. SuperTuxKart is open source and ships a Mac build. PolyTrack also has macOS downloads on itch.io, in addition to its browser version.
The Mac App Store and Apple Arcade. GRID Legends and Asphalt Legends are on the Mac App Store. Horizon Chase 2 and Gear.Club Stradale come with an Apple Arcade subscription, which Apple lists at $6.99 a month with a one-month free trial offer.
Steam's macOS builds. art of rally has a native macOS build. On Steam, Mac support can also disappear: DiRT Rally once had macOS and Linux versions made by Feral Interactive, and its Steam page now reads "DiRT Rally is no longer available on the Steam store."
Streaming. GeForce NOW plays PC games from a data centre, so the Mac only decodes video. It is covered further down, with its limits.
Apple silicon is a recurring question, and the honest answer is "only where a source says so". Apple's GRID Legends page states support on Apple silicon Macs, and PolyTrack's itch.io page lists separate arm64 and x64 macOS builds. SuperTuxKart's Mac download covers all architectures. For the others, nothing checked for this post states an Apple silicon or Rosetta status, so the table leaves a dash.
The best racing games for Mac, in order
Mars Rally Championship is first because it is ours; the rest are ordered by how good a racing game each is on a Mac. Last checked: November 2026. Prices are US store prices as listed on 7 November 2026.
Mars Rally Championship: a rally stage in a Safari tab
Our game, listed first for that reason. This is Mars Rally Championship's own site; everything below it is ranked on its merits.
Mars Rally Championship is a free 3D rally game that runs in the browser with no download, no install, no account and no ads. You drive one rover across Martian terrain and chase medal times on four stages: The Eight (2,676 m, at night), The Long Run (2,306 m), The Opener (1,164 m) and Down the Mountain (1,689 m, at sunset). Each stage has four boards: forward, reversed, storm and reversed storm.
What it does badly on a Mac is plain. There is no native Mac app. It needs WebGL 2, so Safari 15 or later, Chrome or Firefox. No minimum spec is published. The game ships on HIGH, and on an older MacBook you step QUALITY down to MEDIUM or LOW from the pause menu; the physics is the same on every preset, so times stay comparable. The first visit fetches about 9 MB of terrain for a stage. There are four stages and one rover, so it is a narrow game next to a catalogue like GRID Legends. The low-end PC post covers the preset advice, which applies to older Macs too.
In-game screenshot: Stage 4, Down the Mountain, at sunset, lined up for gates 12 and 13, the narrowest on any stage, with the plain below.
Play free — no downloadPolyTrack: the best free time trial, in a tab or as an Apple silicon app
PolyTrack, by Kodub, is "a low-poly racing game with loops, jumps and high speeds", heavily inspired by TrackMania and built with Three.js. It includes a level editor, and its itch.io page lists HTML5, Windows, macOS, Linux and Android versions. The macOS downloads come as separate arm64 and x64 zips, so an Apple silicon Mac gets its own build. The browser version is free; the download is "name your own price".
It is still in development, with multiplayer and car customization added in version 0.6.0. The handling is arcade rather than simulation, and the input list on itch.io is keyboard and touch. Games like PolyTrack and TrackMania goes deeper.
SuperTuxKart: the free native download
SuperTuxKart is a free, open-source kart racer with 21 original tracks, a Story Mode, and local and online multiplayer. Its FAQ lists official binaries for Linux, Windows, Mac, Android and Switch Homebrew. The Mac download is a signed zip for all architectures, version 1.5, and it is also on itch.io.
The minimum GPU is a GeForce GTX 470, Radeon HD 6870 or Intel HD Graphics 4000 with 512 MB of VRAM, and a fallback renderer needs only OpenGL 2.1. It is a kart game, not a simulator. The project lists a gamepad with at least 6 buttons as optional, and says keyboard, gamepad and wheel are all fine.
art of rally: the stage rally game with a real macOS build
art of rally, by Funselektor Labs, was released on 23 September 2020 and costs $24.99 on Steam. It is a stylised stage rally game, and its Steam page lists Windows, macOS and SteamOS plus Linux. The macOS minimum is Mac OS 10.13, an Intel Core i3 at 2.9 GHz, 4 GB of RAM and a GeForce GTX 650 or AMD equivalent; the recommendation is Mac OS 11 and 8 GB, with the note "MacBook Pro or iMac recommended". It has full controller support for Xbox and PlayStation pads.
Its spec list names Intel hardware, and nothing checked here states its Apple silicon status, so read Steam's page for your Mac before buying. For a paid, native rally game, it is the clearest pick in this list.
GRID Legends: the big-budget racer for Apple silicon Macs
GRID Legends is on the Mac App Store at $39.99, developed for and published on macOS by Feral Interactive. The listing says it is officially supported on all Mac models with an Apple silicon chip. It names no Intel Macs, so check the page before buying for an older machine.
The Deluxe Edition listing promises "the biggest ever Career mode", a customisable Race Creator, a live-action Story, all the DLC, and action racing across 10 disciplines. It is the most conventional big racing game here, and the most expensive.
Horizon Chase 2: arcade racing on Apple Arcade
Horizon Chase 2, by Aquiris Game Studio, is an Apple Arcade game on iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV. Its App Store page lists controller support, split-screen multiplayer, an online crew and local multiplayer. Apple describes Arcade as hundreds of premium games without ads or in-app purchases, with Family Sharing, at $6.99 a month.
The catch is the subscription: you rent the game for as long as you pay, and it is not a purchase.
Slow Roads: a drive, not a race
Slow Roads is "a casual driving game designed for long, cathartic journeys on quiet, scenic roads", with endless procedurally generated landscapes and no ads, distractions or goals. It is built on three.js and runs in a browser tab.
It has no clock and no opponents, so it is a poor answer if you want a race. There is a Steam version at $7.99, but its listing shows Windows and Linux only, not macOS. A paid "Web Edition" offline download for macOS is on itch.io. See games like Slow Roads for calm drives.
Gear.Club Stradale: supercars on Apple Arcade
Gear.Club Stradale, by Eden Games, is on Apple Arcade for iPhone, iPad, Mac and Apple TV, with controller support listed. The download is 3.9 GB, which is the biggest cost of trying it. It sits under Horizon Chase 2 here only because the sources state less about it.
If you already pay for Apple Arcade, it is worth a look. We could not confirm more from its store page than its supercars, the platform list, the size and the controller entry, so this entry stays short.
Asphalt Legends: free on the Mac App Store, with paid random items
Asphalt Legends, by Gameloft, is on the Mac App Store as "Free · In-App Purchases", and the page warns that it "contains in-app purchases, including paid random items." It costs nothing to install, and the catch is the store: the page itself says some purchases are random items.
It is fine to try, but free to install is not the same as free to play. Its App Store page shows a Controller entry; the scrape did not show its value, so it is listed rather than confirmed.
Racing games for Mac, side by side
| Game | Kind of racing | How it runs on a Mac | Price | Apple silicon | Controller |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mars Rally Championship Play | Stage rally time trial | Browser tab: Safari 15 or later, Chrome or Firefox (WebGL 2) | Free | Runs where the browser runs | Yes, standard gamepad |
| PolyTrack | Arcade time trial | Browser tab, or a macOS download from itch.io | Free in the browser; download is name your own price | arm64 and x64 builds | Keyboard (itch lists keyboard and touch) |
| SuperTuxKart | Kart racing | Native download, also on itch.io | Free, open source | One zip for all architectures | Gamepad (6 buttons or more) or wheel |
| art of rally | Stylised stage rally | Steam, native macOS build (macOS 10.13 or later) | $24.99 | — | Full controller support (Steam) |
| GRID Legends | Circuit and arcade racing | Mac App Store (Feral Interactive) | $39.99 | Officially supported on Apple silicon Macs | — |
| Horizon Chase 2 | Arcade racing | Apple Arcade | Apple Arcade, $6.99 a month | — | Supported (App Store) |
| Slow Roads | Endless scenic drive, no clock | Browser tab; Web Edition download for macOS on itch.io | Free in the browser; Web Edition small price | — | Gamepad and wheel settings |
| Gear.Club Stradale | Car racing | Apple Arcade | Apple Arcade, $6.99 a month | — | Supported (App Store) |
| Asphalt Legends | Arcade racing | Mac App Store (Gameloft) | Free, in-app purchases incl. paid random items | — | Listed on the App Store page |
Prices are US list prices on 7 November 2026, and a dash means the source does not say. Five of the nine games cost nothing to open, and three of those run in a browser tab with no download.
Can you play Windows racing games on a Mac?
Streaming can, with conditions. GeForce NOW runs PC games on NVIDIA's servers and sends the picture to a native macOS app or to a browser tab. NVIDIA's system requirements list macOS 10.15 or higher on any Mac introduced in 2009 or later, Safari 16.4 or later or Chrome 77 or later in the browser, 15 Mbps for up to 60 fps at 1280×720, and under 80 ms of latency to an NVIDIA data centre.
The rule that surprises people: "You must already own or purchase titles to play them on GeForce NOW." It streams games you own from stores such as Steam, so it is not a catalogue. The free tier is ad-supported, with 1-hour sessions, up to 1080p at 60 fps, and no priority, so a wait of more than 2 minutes is typical. Paid tiers start at $9.99 a month. We did not verify which racing games are on the service, so check the library for the one you want. TrackMania is the case that has its own write-up.
Running Windows games through Wine-based compatibility tools is out of scope here, because nothing about them was verified for this post.
Controllers, keys and putting a racing game in the Dock
You can connect a wireless Xbox, PlayStation or other Bluetooth game controller to a Mac, which Apple documents on its support site. Pair it in the Mac's Bluetooth settings. A browser game sees the pad only after you press a button on it; Firefox exposes a gamepad to a page only after you interact with it while the page is visible.
In Mars Rally Championship, the GAMEPAD tab reads "No controller yet: press any button on it to connect." On a standard pad the left stick steers, RT is throttle, LT is brake, A is handbrake, B changes the camera, Y returns you to the last gate, and LB and RB shift gear down and up. On a keyboard, ↑ is throttle, ↓ is brake, ← and → steer, Space is handbrake, A and Z shift gears, C is camera, P pauses, R restarts and T returns to the last gate. Playing browser racing games with a controller covers pad setup in general.
On macOS Sonoma 14 or later, Safari can turn any page into a web app with File > Add to Dock. Apple's web app page says such an app "shares no browsing history, cookies, website data, or settings with Safari." So a Mars Rally Championship profile you built in a Safari tab will not follow you into the Dock web app, and the reverse is also true. Pick one and stay there.
Diagram: a Dock web app keeps its own website data, so a profile built in a Safari tab does not carry over, and the reverse holds too.
Where to start on a Mac
Start in a browser tab, because it costs nothing and tells you whether your Mac handles 3D racing before you spend money. Drive one stage of Mars Rally Championship, then try PolyTrack or Slow Roads depending on whether you want a clock.
Screenshot: the site's main menu opened at Stage 4, Down the Mountain; each of its four boards starts a run in the same browser tab.
- Down the Mountain, stage 4, the descent with the narrowest gates on any stage
- Today's daily challenge
- All four open stages
- Racing games on Linux
- The best 3D browser games