Buy once instead of Setapp
- Setapp costs
- $108a year. Mac plan billed annually, which includes AlDente Pro; $14.99/month if billed monthly. Their pricing
- Ways out
- 23apps that do the same jobs
- Cheapest to buy
- $4.99Magnet, which pays back in under a month
- Cost nothing
- 6freeware or open source
Read the catch on each before you switch. A one-time price is not automatically the better deal, and we say so where it is not.
| AAppCleanerFinds the preferences and caches an app leaves behind | FreeFreeware | No build listed for macOS 27 yet — the newest release on the page stops at macOS 26 |
 IceFree GPL menu bar manager, the open alternative to Bartender | FreeOpen source | The repo has not been pushed to in a year and some README features are still unimplemented |
 OnyXFree maintenance and hidden-settings utility, going since 2003 | FreeFreeware | Each major macOS release needs its own build, and the current one is Apple silicon only |
 RectangleFree, MIT-licensed window snapping with keyboard shortcuts and edge zones | FreeOpen source | Saved layouts, display-triggered layouts and window throwing are held back for the paid Rectangle Pro |
 StatsMIT-licensed system monitor with a module for every menu bar readout | FreeOpen source | Fan control is in legacy mode and, in the README's words, receives no updates or fixes |
 TinkerToolFree GUI for the hidden macOS preferences Apple ships but does not show | FreeFreeware | Only surfaces preferences Apple already ships; the system-level tools are in paid TinkerTool System |
 MagnetThe $4.99 App Store snapper with no subscription and no in-app purchases | $4.99Perpetual | App Store only, so there is no trial, and updates have slowed to occasional minor fixes |
 AltTabWindow switcher with thumbnails, free core plus a one-time pro tier | $9.99This version | $9.99 Pro covers the current major version only; the $24.99 lifetime tier is the forever one |
 Rectangle Pro$9.99 for saved layouts, display-triggered arrangements and window throwing | $9.99Perpetual | No published upgrade policy, so a future Rectangle Pro 2 could be a second purchase |
 iStat MenusThe long-running Mac system monitor, sold outright rather than rented | $11.99Paid upgrades | Weather is a separate subscription once the six months included with a licence run out |
 WitchPaid text-list switcher for windows, tabs and apps across spaces | $14This version | Your licence is valid forever but includes only about a year of updates, and Witch 5 will cost extra |
 BetterTouchToolGestures, shortcuts and window snapping, with a real $25 lifetime licence | $15This version | The $15 licence stops getting updates after two years; only the $25 tier is a true lifetime |
 MoomGrid popup on the green button, plus layouts that follow your displays | $15This version | Major versions are a paid upgrade — Moom 3 to 4 cost owners $8 — and free updates run about a year |
 SwishTwo-finger trackpad gestures on the title bar instead of shortcuts | $16Perpetual | Useless without a trackpad; on a mouse-only Mac almost none of the gestures are reachable |
 DownieVideo downloader for a long, maintained list of sites | $19.99Perpetual | Which sites work depends on constant updates; a redesign can break one for a while |
 AlDente ProHard charge limit for a MacBook that lives plugged in at a desk | €23.99Lifetime tier | Recent Apple silicon MacBooks already cap charging at 80% in macOS, which may be all you need |
 BartenderMenu bar icons hidden behind a chevron, sold as a licence or a subscription | $25Paid upgrades | $24.99 buys Bartender 7 only; version 8 is a paid upgrade and Pro features are yearly |
 Base 3Native SQLite browser and editor for one small payment | £29.99This version | Menial does not publish update terms, and past major versions were paid upgrades |
 PopClipPop-up bar of actions on any text you select | $32Perpetual | The cheap $12 tier stops getting updates after two years; $26 buys the one that never does |
 DropzoneDrag-and-drop action grid with a $35 lifetime licence | $35Perpetual | The free tier is deliberately basic — the actions worth having sit behind the $35 Pro licence |
 RightFontFont manager that charges once where its rivals charge monthly | $59Paid upgrades | One Mac per licence, and updates stop after a year unless you pay half price again |
 IconJarIcon library manager with a real buy-once option next to the yearly plan | $75Lifetime tier | The pricing page never states what future major versions the 75 dollar licence covers |
 PasteVisual clipboard history with a real lifetime plan | $89.99Lifetime tier | At $89.99 the lifetime plan takes about three years of the annual plan to pay off |