Installing Alpaca on Your Mac

Last updated: 2026-03-15

System Requirements

Before installing Alpaca, make sure your Mac meets these requirements:

macOS 15 (Sequoia) or later
Apple Silicon or Intel processor (Universal binary)
Approximately 25 MB of disk space

Alpaca is notarized by Apple, which means Apple has verified it is safe to install on your Mac.

Download

Visit the Alpaca download page and click Download for Mac - Free. Your browser will download a .pkg installer file to your Downloads folder.

Video Walkthrough

Watch the full installation process from start to finish. You can pause at any step and follow along.

Install

Open the Installer

Locate the Alpaca installer package in your Downloads folder (or wherever you saved it).

Alpaca installer package shown in the macOS Downloads folder — Find the Alpaca .pkg file in your Downloads folder

Double-click the package to launch the installer. The Welcome screen will appear — click Continue to proceed.

Alpaca installer Welcome screen — The installer Welcome screen

The installer will display a Read Me with system requirements and helpful information. Click Continue again.

Alpaca installer Read Me screen showing system requirements — Review the Read Me, then click Continue

Accept the License Terms

Review the license agreement when prompted.

Alpaca installer license agreement screen — Review the license agreement

Click Agree in the confirmation dialog to accept the terms and continue.

License Agree/Disagree confirmation dialog — Click Agree to accept the terms

Install and Authenticate

The installer will show the installation type and destination. Click Install to begin.

Installation Type screen showing destination — Review the installation destination

macOS will ask for your password to authorize the installation. Enter your Mac user password and click OK.

macOS password authentication dialog for the installer — Enter your Mac password to authorize

The installation will proceed — this usually takes just a few seconds.

Installation progress bar — Installation in progress

Installation Complete

When the installation finishes, you will see a completion screen. Click Close to dismiss the installer.

Clean desktop after installer closes — Alpaca is now installed on your Mac

First Launch

After installation, Alpaca will open automatically. If it doesn't, you can find it in your Applications folder or search for "Alpaca" using Spotlight (⌘ + Space).

On first launch, Alpaca will guide you through approving two network extensions — the DNS Proxy and the Content Filter. This is a one-time setup step required by macOS. See Network Extension Setup for the full walkthrough with screenshots.

The extension approval process only takes a minute or two, and you won't need to do it again unless you reinstall Alpaca.