If you’re a Mac user, you know some great apps made by big and small indie developers that elevate the Mac experience. Those apps, though, burdened by high prices and in-app subscriptions, can be hard to keep track of. The Mac App Store is notorious for its high app prices, and the popularity of in-app subscription models has been off-putting to users.

The issue is more than just a one-dimensional problem. The Mac App Store is not as vibrant as Apple and users would like, and most users still get their core workflow apps from the web rather than the Mac’s dedicated app platform. The selection of apps on the App Store is another factor, with most apps being too expensive and tailored somewhat to a niche hardcore Mac audience rather than casual day-to-day users.

There is no perfect solution, but there is at least a solution. Meet Setapp, which I personally view as an alternative to the Mac App Store (though the official narrative disagrees). In plain terms, Setapp offers a growing catalog of high-quality, powerful, and feature-rich apps for a single monthly price. From the offset, it sounds like a business model destined to fail: charge one fee for hundreds of apps that typically cost $15.99 each. It sounds wild, but it works.

Setapp and the Mac App Store are as similar as they are different on paper. Setapp focuses heavily on offering a wide range of apps (many of which you’ll find for relatively steep prices on the App Store itself) for a single monthly fee. On the other hand, Apple views the premium you pay for its products as the equivalent of a monthly subscription to the App Store.

In more practical terms, both Setapp and the App Store allow users to download and browse apps and offers developers a platform to distribute their apps to users. Despite the similarities, the team at Setapp doesn’t view the two platforms as competition or complementary. “At Setapp, we do not view ourselves as a direct competitor or a complimentary service to Apple’s App Store,” said Maria Polishchuk, Setapp’s business development manager, during an exclusive interview with Supercharged. “Rather, we see Setapp as a unique platform that offers distinct benefits to both users and developers,” she continued.

If we tried hard enough, we could directly pit the two platforms against each other, but doing so would be a disservice to both. I’ve used Setapp for well over three years and can say that though the fundamentals are similar, Setapp is what I wish the Mac App Store is.

App Discoverability

One tricky thing in user design is creating an experience that inspires people to take on self-responsibility to explore and discover. Right here at Supercharged, the team has spent countless hours painstakingly creating a simple, modern design that invokes inspiration to explore our breadth of content.

I think we’ve nailed the fundamentals of it, and so has Setapp. Apple has a dedicated “Discover” section on the App Store, which never appealed to me as a place I’d find something new despite its name. Setapp takes a different approach, splitting its discoverability strategy into four sections: Collections, How-tos, App Guides, and My Explorer.

My Explorer is the face of the app. It’s the homepage that dynamically updates to whatever’s the latest on the platform. The three most helpful sections are Recommend for you, New arrivals, and recently updated. The new arrivals section has quickly become my favorite, given the pace at which new apps are added to the platform (more on that later). There’s also a “Recommend for You” section that, as you’d expect, surfaces apps it thinks would be relevant to you by looking at the apps you already use, matching them against the picks of other users, and factors in popularity and relevance.

Collections are next. Think of Collections like a group chat of apps based on different goals, from staying productive, keeping your Mac clean, or boosting your privacy. Collections are “persoanzlied app kits bundled by the Setapp team”. Collections aren’t for everyone, and in my eyes, they are tailored and made for someone who’s just new to the Mac and is just getting around the basics. For more Veteran users, I reckon they’ll find Collections a tad too basic.

How-tos and App Guides are pretty self-explanatory, and like Collections, they aren’t for everyone but are there for those who need them.

Note: If there’s one how-to I love, it’s the yearly recap of what’s new for that year’s macOS release. This year, the team has a “Get the taste of macOS Sonoma” post showcasing different macOS Sonoma features you can get using Setapp apps. A+ for snarky marketing.

Another big part of discoverability is search. Setapp uses AI to power the search engine behind its platform. One clever aspect of using an AI-based search engine is that it’s able to match up apps with synonyms, substitute words, and even typos for an app’s name or functionality. It makes app discoverability a tad easier since you don’t have to directly search for an app or its correct spelling to get it to pop up.

Apps Themselves

The individual app pages look similar to Apple’s, with a few neat additions. Each app has four bullet points listed at the top that quickly highly the app’s core features without needing to read the massive description. There are screenshots and videos, and ratings and reviews.

One popular writing app on the App Store is Ulyesses. Ulysses is free to download with the App Store but requires a $5.99 monthly subscription to unlock its features. With Setapp it’s offered on the platform as part of the monthly subscription. Downloading apps from Setapp couldn’t be easier. They download and install quickly, and since many of these apps require an account, Setapp automatically logs you into the apps and activates their premium features for you.

The prominent headliner feature, perhaps, is iOS apps. Many Setapp apps have an iOS counterpart, and depending on your Setapp plan, you can get the whole unlocked experience through Setapp on your iPhone, too.

Given the limitations of the iPhone and iOS experience, to unlock the whole experience of an app through Setapp on your iPhone, you’ll first download the app from the App Store, then get a QR code on the app’s respective page on Setapp to unlock the whole experience. It’s not a streamlined process, but it’s out of Setapp’s control and relies entirely on the limited freedoms Apple gives to other app platforms.

New Apps and Developers

To get an app on Setapp, developers can submit a request directly to the team, but Setapp also proactively reaches out to apps it thinks fit on its platform. “We also take into account our users’ recommendations and conduct research on promising new apps through platforms like Product Hunt,” said Polishchuk.

Over the three years I’ve used Setapp, the depth of new apps added to the platform has been impressive. The new arrivals section on the My Explorer page has quickly become my favorite spot on the app. I pitched the question to Polishchuk on how Setapp decides what apps to put on Setapp, cautious of not over-saturating the platform with low-quality or repetitive apps.

Polishchuk said Setapp’s primary goal is to provide users with solutions to problems they commonly face on their Mac, so Setapp prioritizes apps “that offer specific task-related solutions and can benefit a wide range of our users.” “While these apps may not be used on a daily or weekly basis, they are readily available when users require them,” Polishchuk added..

I also found it intriguing when figuring out how Setapp falls into place with all of the controversies around the App Store and the app review process. Setapp employs similar rules and guidelines for its apps on its platform compared to Apple’s. Setapp rejects apps that do the following:

• Paid features and app components
• Built-in stores and in-app purchases
• Advertising, promotional, or direct marketing functionality
• Incorrect diagnostic or other inaccurate device data
• Improper or wrong information about the app itself
• References or commentary about a religious, cultural, or ethnic group that are defamatory, offensive, mean-spirited, or likely to expose the targeted group to harm or violence
• Pornographic material or user-generated content that is frequently pornographic

All apps on Setapp, including app updates, are subject to the Review Team that runs the app against several tests for quality, functionality, and privacy guidelines. Setapp also rejects apps that require users to download other apps, keep background tasks running without user consent, and apps that violate pretty basic privacy and data protection norms.

While using Setapp, concerns around the app review process never really occurred to me as either a user or someone deeply entrenched in the app and digital world. Setapp is positioned as a developer-friendly platform, and its policies and open nature symbolize that approach. Developers still need to make a living on Setapp, and the platform “works closely with developers to showcase their apps to a broader audience and provide them with a sustainable revenue stream,” according to Polishchuk.

We actively seek out and curate applications that offer unique value, ensuring that our subscribers have access to the best-in-class software across various domains. By offering developers an alternative distribution channel and a steady income, we aim to support their work and encourage the creation of innovative applications.

Maria Polishchuk, Setapp’s business development manager

To me, the message between the lines is pretty simple for developers: tired of Apple’s policies and the App Store? Then come to Setapp. Again, pitting the two platforms against each other is unfair, but it’s hard to neglect the attractive alternative Setapp offers developers.

Setapp shares 70% of each user fee among developers of the apps that were used by a particular customer. In other words, Setapp calculates developers’ shares in profit per user separately. On top of 70%, Setapp gives a guaranteed 20% of the user fee to anyone who introduced a particular paying user to Setapp. To sum it up, Setapp vendors and developers may receive up to 90% of the revenue from a user fee every month, with fees as low as 10%.

Your Personal App Store Siri

Pinch me if you’ve heard this already, but another app has implemented AI into its experience. AI has become a talking point so often thrown around that it’s lost meaning of how powerful it can be to a user experience when done correctly. Several apps on Setapp utilize AI, and this isn’t a review of those apps, but instead of what Setapp calls the “Setapp Assitant.”

In simple terms, it’s a chatbot powered by ChatGPT and Setapp’s own pre-trained language model that helps you find the perfect app for whatever you need. Pitch any scenario or use case, and it’ll narrow Setapp’s growing catalog of apps and suggest an app that’s most likely useful for you. Is it groundbreaking? No. Is it innovative? No. Is it cool? Sure. Though outside its official scope, you can also use the chatbot to write emails and have it tell you a joke.

Favorite Apps and App Quality

Every app is different, but you’ll get a few guarantees no matter what app you use from Setapp. Each will be high quality, premium, and easy to use. There’s a level of trust with Setapp apps that you’re getting what you want, with no ads or annoying pop-ups asking you to subscribe to a monthly subscription.

My entire Mac is filled with Setapp apps, many of which have become indisputable in my workflow. CleanMyMac X, a crown jewel app for Setapp and parent company MacPaw, is a live saver for keeping your Mac in tip-top shape. Other apps like CleanShot, Bartender, and so many others will make you ask how you lived without them.

It’s not a perfect experience, though. I’ve found that with some apps, like CleanMyMac X and CleanShot, the apps will refuse to open unless Setapp is open. Plus, the way app updates are handled could use some significant improvements. You can find the release notes for new updates by going to the menu bar in Setapp and selecting “What’s New.”

It feels somewhat hidden and secluded from the rest of the app experience. A dedicated and more prominent app update page, where release notes for each new update are shown, is a shockingly missing feature. The What’s New menu approach is not it.

Setapp’s Value for Money and Prices

For $9.99 a month, Setapp is the best investment you can make for your digital life. You get hundreds of apps, premium features, and a dynamic, constantly updated catalog of apps for less than what most in-app subscriptions cost. There are different plans that differ in the number and type of devices you can have connected.

Conclusion

Even at the most expensive plan, for $19.99 a month, you can get an unparallel value for money. I can’t stress it enough, but Setapp is worth every penny. Not only do you get an ad and in-app subscription-free experience, but you also get a growing number of apps and all of their premium features for a single price. It’s a deal in every way.

This review was sponsored by Setapp, but all opinions stated are at Supercharged discretion.