Binary versions of Gnuplot for macOS

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Recommended version (just download and install)

Universal binary version (runs natively on ARM and Intel processors) of Gnuplot for macOS (includes Qt, wxt, PNG, JPEG, PDF, WebP, and many other terminals). Support for complex and special functions is included as well.

One-step installation for Intel- and ARM-based Macs (universal binary): Download Gnuplot 6.0.3 and install. No additional libraries required.


Alternative version with AquaTerm included

Choose this version if you prefer to use the AquaTerm terminal. It does NOT include the Qt terminal. Since this version is much less popular, I have not yet recompiled it with support for complex special functions.

Universal binary version (runs natively on ARM and Intel processors): Download AquaTerm and install. Then download Gnuplot 6.0.3 with AquaTerm and install. No additional libraries required.
Note: This version of AquaTerm contains several fixes not available in the official 1.1.1 release.



Frequently asked questions

  1. When installing, I receive a malware warning.
    Please see these detailed instructions.
  2. How do I confirm that support for complex and special functions is included?
    Versions compiled after July 9, 2025 should have full support for complex exponential integrals, Airy functions, Bessel functions, etc. In gnuplot, you can confirm this with the command 
    show version long

    The output should include: 

    +COMPLEX_FUNCS  +LIBCERF  +AMOS  +CEXINT
  3. Gnuplot prints a warning "qt.qpa.fonts: Populating font family aliases took ... ms. Replace uses of missing font family "Sans" with one that exists to avoid this cost."
    You are using a version of Gnuplot compiled with Qt support. Create a file ".gnuplot" in your home folder and add the line 
    set term qt font "Arial"

    Then restart gnuplot.

  4. Gnuplot prints a message that looks like: "2025-03-21 10:17:36.451 gnuplot_qt[19585:6148833] +[IMKClient subclass]: chose IMKClient_Modern"
    This is a log message of the operating system that has been reported for numerous other packages. Apple appears to have fixed this in macOS Sequoia 15.5.
  5. I receive an error message "dyld: Library not loaded: /Library/Frameworks/AquaTerm.framework/Versions/A/AquaTerm"
    You are using a version of Gnuplot compiled with AquaTerm support; please make sure you have installed the AquaTerm package as well (see orange box near top of this page).
  6. I receive an error message "dyld: Library not loaded: /opt/X11/lib/libfontconfig.1.dylib"
    You are using a version of Gnuplot relying on the X terminal. Please make sure you have installed the most recent version of X11/XQuartz.
  7. When using "set terminal png", I receive an error message that the Arial font is missing.
    On some versions of OS X, such as Catalina, the "Arial" font has been moved. To fix this, issue the following command before starting gnuplot: 
    export GDFONTPATH=/Library/Fonts:/Library/Fonts/Microsoft:/System/Library/Fonts:/System/Library/Fonts/Supplemental
  8. I encounter a problem not addressed here.
    Please contact Erik Luijten.



Technical details (no need to read unless you are curious)

  • The universal binaries were compiled on an ARM-based Mac running macOS Sequoia 15.5 but should also work on Macs running older and newer macOS versions.
  • All versions provided here include the GNU Readline library. The WebP terminal is included starting with version 6.0.3.
  • AquaTerm is a universal (Intel + ARM) binary that works on macOS 10.15.7 and newer. Even though it will appear as version 1.1.1, it was compiled from the git repository and contains several important patches compared to the official release.
  • Full list of current versions



Older versions

Versions that do not require XQuartz

Older versions that require XQuartz (not recommended, unless you prefer XQuartz or are running a very old OS)

Please note that you MUST install X11/XQuartz to use these versions. Do not forget to reboot your computer after the installation, or the X11 terminal within Gnuplot will not work. Moreover, these versions do not feature the cairo/wxt terminals. Versions 5.4.1 and 5.4.0 were compiled on OS X 10.15.6 (Catalina) and the versions up to 5.2.8 were compiled on OS X 10.11.6 (El Capitan). All these versions were confirmed to work also on macOS 10.13 (High Sierra), 10.14 (Mojave), and 10.15 (Catalina).

  • 5.4.1 (December 15, 2020)
  • 5.4.0 (September 23, 2020)
  • 5.2.8 (December 2, 2019)
  • 5.2.7 (May 31, 2019)
  • 5.2.6 (January 1, 2019)
  • 5.2.5 (October 7, 2018)
  • 5.2.4 (does not include PNG, JPEG, and GIF terminals)
  • 5.2.3 (does not include PNG, JPEG, and GIF terminals)
  • 5.2.2 (does not include PNG, JPEG, and GIF terminals)


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