Table of contents
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AI-generated summary
Presenting Setapp
Setapp is the Netflix of apps — meaning you no longer own your applications, you rent them. The subscription price has gone up and now costs €10/month to access the catalog, and at that price you can only use it on a single machine.
The app is well-made and lets you browse the catalog in a clean, elegant way. Each piece of software is nicely showcased and sometimes includes a demo video. You can also click the developer’s website link for more details on how to use it.
Apps are virtually all accessible from Spotlight — I say “virtually” because even uninstalled ones show up in search results. Simply select an uninstalled app in Spotlight to kick off the installation. It’s very convenient, and Apple could take notes for its own App Store.
Apps are installed in a dedicated Setapp directory for easier access. You can remove them just as quickly.
They update automatically, just like the App Store — which is a plus and means you don’t have to think about it.
My particular case
My favourite Setapp apps
I use Ulysses to write pretty much all web content in Markdown — that’s around €30/year on a special deal.
I’m a big fan of Bartender, which costs €15 to buy outright and lets you keep a tidy menu bar.
Mind Node is a mind-mapping app I stopped using once it switched to a subscription model at €22/year.
Instead of Mind Node I use Ithoughtx, which has the advantage of being available on all platforms for €50 on Mac.
And for work I need a database management tool — the most expensive one available on Setapp is SQLstudio Pro lifetime at €220.
TablePlus — a great database client.
iStat lets me monitor all sorts of parameters on my Mac: fan management, customizing how the date and time appear in the menu bar. Its price is €11.
I use Endurance to maximize my Mac’s battery life — it does a good job of preventing the laptop from jumping into Turbo Boost on battery. This utility isn’t cheap at €20.
In the utilities category I also really like CleanShot, which replaces the default screenshot tool on Mac, lets you record video and GIFs — excellent software, budget around €30.
Pricing breakdown 💰
Looking more closely, the apps that require a subscription add up to roughly €80/year, while an annual Setapp subscription is €120. So I’d need to find software worth that €40 difference.
Setapp is interesting if it covers at least the cost of the subscription-based software you’d pay for anyway over a year. In other words, I’d need €120 worth of software rentals per year to break even with Setapp.
But even that break-even isn’t guaranteed if one of the apps leaves the package. Because just like with Netflix when movies disappear from the platform, the same thing can happen with Setapp subscriptions.
I noticed that some apps don’t recognize the Setapp license and ask me to purchase it outright — that happened notably with Gifox .
Expensive for multi-device use
Setapp is incredibly expensive for multi-device setups. I have two computers, my wife has one — just for my own use I’d be paying €20/month! Unlike the App Store, which makes developers gnash their teeth 🦷 with its 30% cut, app usage on the App Store is tied to your Apple account. If you have two computers like I do, they’re likely both linked to the same iCloud account — so you don’t pay twice for your apps. Similarly, a purchased app can be shared with family members.
Setapp doesn’t work that way — it charges for each physical computer 👩💻 you attach to your license. I find that frustrating, because I can’t get my head around paying per machine when I’m the only one using them.
Some apps have an iOS counterpart, but to use them you unfortunately need an add-on plan at €2.50/month extra! Yes, you read that right… That brings the subscription to €12.50/month for one Mac and one iOS device, which I find completely unacceptable.
I don’t see why you should pay more based on the number of machines when only one person is using the software at a time!
Conclusion
As you’ve gathered, it’s hard to recommend this service outright — it’ll depend on each person’s situation.
Personally, I find the pricing too high. Professionally, it’s a different story — a number of apps can be genuinely useful (database managers, project management tools).
In short, despite a solid pitch if you’re the type who “buys” the bigger apps, I find the subscription 🏷 price too steep relative to what’s on offer and the variety of apps available.
The idea is genuinely good, but the sore spot is that a license is tied to a device rather than a user, which seems far more logical to me. Imagine someone who has: a MacBook 💻, an iMac 🖥, an iPhone 📱, and an iPad — that scenario isn’t far-fetched. Yet they’d have to pay €20/month!
I might come back to the subscription the day they tie licensing to the user rather than 🙅♂️ the machine.
