Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Setapp VS GameMaker Studio

Compare Setapp VS GameMaker Studio and see what are their differences

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Setapp logo Setapp

The one place for trusted apps. Hundreds of high-quality apps for your Mac and iPhone, including AI tools.

GameMaker Studio logo GameMaker Studio

Making top 2D games with the GameMaker: Studio game engine is easy. No code or programming required
  • Setapp
    Image date //
    2026-06-25
  • Setapp
    Image date //
    2026-06-25
  • Setapp
    Image date //
    2026-06-25
  • Setapp
    Image date //
    2026-06-25
  • Setapp
    Image date //
    2026-06-25
  • Setapp
    Image date //
    2026-06-25

A unified marketplace for Mac and iPhone users to get hand-picked, trusted apps. Get over 260 apps for a flat fee with Setapp Membership, or purchase individual apps on flexible terms through Setapp Marketplace.

  • GameMaker Studio Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-01-21

Setapp

Website
setapp.com
$ Details
paid Free Trial $14.99 / Monthly (1 Mac)
Release Date
2017 January

Setapp features and specs

  • Diverse Application Library
    Setapp provides access to a wide range of high-quality Mac applications across different categories, all from a single subscription service.
  • Cost-Effective
    For a monthly fee, users gain access to multiple paid applications, which can be more cost-effective than purchasing individual app licenses.
  • Updates and Upgrades Included
    All apps within Setapp come with automatic updates and upgrades included in the subscription, ensuring users always have the latest features and security patches.
  • Easy Installation and Management
    The Setapp platform provides a user-friendly interface for browsing, installing, and managing applications, simplifying the overall user experience.
  • Free Trial Available
    Setapp offers a 7-day free trial, allowing potential users to explore and evaluate the service before committing to a subscription.

GameMaker Studio features and specs

  • Ease of Use
    GameMaker Studio provides an intuitive drag-and-drop interface alongside its scripting language, GML, making it accessible for beginners and efficient for experienced developers.
  • Cross-Platform Export
    It supports exporting to multiple platforms, including Windows, macOS, iOS, Android, and more, which simplifies the process of reaching broader audiences.
  • Robust Documentation and Community
    GameMaker Studio offers extensive documentation and has a large community, which is helpful for troubleshooting, learning, and accessing a wide array of tutorials and resources.
  • Powerful Built-In Features
    The engine has a range of built-in features like physics and pathfinding, which can help speed up game development.
  • Active Development and Updates
    GameMaker Studio is actively maintained with regular updates, ensuring compatibility with the latest platforms and adding new features.

Possible disadvantages of GameMaker Studio

  • Performance Limitations
    While suitable for 2D games, GameMaker Studio may struggle with performance and optimization for more complex or demanding projects.
  • Pricing Model
    It has a tiered pricing model, which might be costly for some developers who need to access all export options or advanced features.
  • 2D Focus
    The engine is primarily designed for 2D games, which might not be ideal for developers looking to create 3D games.
  • Limited Third-Party Integrations
    Compared to some other game engines, GameMaker Studio may have fewer integrations with third-party tools and services.
  • Learning Curve for Advanced Features
    While beginner-friendly, utilizing more advanced functionalities can require a deeper understanding of GML and the engine's complex systems.

Analysis of Setapp

Overall verdict

  • Overall, Setapp is considered good for users who frequently use multiple Mac apps and value convenience and flexibility. It provides excellent value for money by offering a diverse selection of reliable and well-crafted applications. However, it might not be the best choice for those who only need a few specific applications or prefer to own their software outright.

Why this product is good

  • Setapp is a subscription-based service that provides access to a wide range of Mac applications for a single monthly fee. Users often find it beneficial because it offers a curated selection of high-quality apps without the need to purchase each one individually. It saves time and money for those who require multiple tools, ensuring they always have the latest versions without additional costs. Furthermore, it simplifies software management by centralizing the process of discovering, updating, and accessing various applications.

Recommended for

    Setapp is recommended for professionals, creatives, and productivity enthusiasts who use a variety of Mac applications regularly and appreciate the ease of access to a comprehensive software library without the hassle of individual purchases. It's also suitable for users who enjoy exploring new tools and apps to enhance their workflow.

Setapp videos

What's Setapp?

GameMaker Studio videos

A Closer Look At GameMaker Studio 2

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Setapp and GameMaker Studio)
Project Management
100 100%
0% 0
Game Development
0 0%
100% 100
Productivity
100 100%
0% 0
Game Engine
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Setapp and GameMaker Studio.

What's the story behind your product?

Setapp's answer

Setapp was created in 2016 by MacPaw, the company behind apps such as CleanMyMac, ClearVPN, and more. The key idea behind Setapp was to give users a simple way to discover high-quality apps for Mac. Over the years, the catalog has grown to over 260 apps and now includes tools for Mac, iOS, and web. Setapp is localized in eight languages and has users all over the world. Here are the key dates:

November 2016: Setapp closed beta is launched for the press, opinion leaders, and influencers. December 6, 2016: Setapp Beta release. January 25, 2017: Setapp public release. August 6, 2020: Setapp let users install iOS apps. August 11, 2021: Setapp arrives on iPhone and iPad. March, 2026: Single app purchase via Setapp Marketplace is introduced. Now, Setapp includes 260+ apps, 50+ iOS apps, and about 10 web apps with more to come.

What makes your product unique?

Setapp's answer

Setapp's key differentiators:

-Curation. Setapp is a curated platform with trusted, hand-picked apps โ€” not a place filled with self-submitted apps.

-Professional focus. Setapp includes apps aimed at improving productivity and workflows for professionals who rely on their Macs. Setapp users range from developers and marketers to educators, healthcare experts, logistics and retail professionals, and more.

-Flexible access. Users have two ways to get apps: a single-fee subscription to 260+ fully unlocked Mac, iOS, and web apps; or individual app purchases via Setapp Marketplace, for those who need just a few apps rather than the full catalog.

-Security. Setapp holds ISO/IEC 27001:2022, SOC 2, and GDPR certifications. Apps are not permitted to display ads or include hidden in-app purchases.

-AI access. AI+ plans give access to all popular LLM models โ€” GPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok โ€” through a single gateway.

Setapp gives users apps they can count on. Itโ€™s not an endless store but a curated collection of apps worth usersโ€™ time and money.

Why should a person choose your product over its competitors?

Setapp's answer

-Quality over volume. The catalog includes only hand-picked, trusted apps. When downloading an app from Setapp, users can be sure it is high quality and safe to use.

-Trusted apps, no fillers. Every app is Apple-notarized, ad-free, fully unlocked, and has no features locked behind additional paywalls. Getting apps through Setapp means avoiding malware and unpleasant surprises.

-Save costs. Setapp Membership offers access to over 260 apps for a flat fee โ€” no need to subscribe to multiple individual apps and juggle subscriptions. In Setapp Marketplace, users can purchase hand-picked, trusted apps individually, with no need to double-check quality or security.

How would you describe the primary audience of your product?

Setapp's answer

Setapp is actively used by professionals who rely heavily on their Macs and want to improve their workflows โ€” including developers, IT specialists, content creators, designers, marketers, writers, educators, students, and specialists in agriculture, logistics, retail, healthcare, and other fields.

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Setapp and GameMaker Studio

Setapp Reviews

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GameMaker Studio Reviews

Game Engines: A Comparative Analysis
GameMaker Studio, a versatile engine, has carved a niche for itself by specializing in 2D game development. Known for its user-friendly drag-and-drop interface, GameMaker Studio is favored by beginners and indie developers for its rapid prototyping capabilities and affordable pricing.
Source: medium.com
Best Game Engines for 2023 โ€“ Which Should You Use?
This popular video game engine created in 2017 is the newest version of GameMaker Studio, which has been around since 1999 through many iterations and names. GameMaker is widely supported across multiple platforms, even including the Nintendo Switch. It is also a very friendly choice for those who have no experience with coding, as it primarily uses a drag-and-drop visual...
Trending 10 BEST Video Game Design & Development Software 2021
Gamefroot is a great resource for making simple 2D games very quickly for free. GameMaker Studio has a very loyal fan base spanning two decades for several good reasons. You can expect awesome tools for 2D games and a responsive community to answer your issues.
Trending 7 Best Game Development Software 2021
The one frustration in GameMaker Studio 2 is, you cannot embed any videos within the games. If we leave this issue, then GameMaker Studio 2 is one of the most suitable game development software.
Source: vilesolid.com
The Top 10 Video Game Engines
GameMaker Studio 2 is an engine from Yoyo Games. Itโ€™s the second iteration of GameMaker Studio and comes with an import feature so your previous projects with the first one can be up and running in no time.

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, GameMaker Studio should be more popular than Setapp. It has been mentiond 37 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Setapp mentions (15)

  • Ask HN: How to Sell as a Software Engineer?
    > I've reached the conclusion that software quality and even price matters much less than distribution, especially now. I highly doubt that is true. We don't yet know how end-users will make purchasing decisions now that almost anyone can build something that "works". Taking AI out of the picture: you still need to define the target market segment before you build anything. You still need to find a way to... - Source: Hacker News / 3 months ago
  • Show HN: BoringBar โ€“ a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS
    There could be 4x buyers at $10. Iโ€™d be one of the now, the dock is a constant annoyance. The app looks great, downloading the trial now. To the appโ€™s author Iโ€™d say get as many licensees as you can fast before youโ€™re Sherlocked or somebody vibecodes a clone out of โ€œwhy notโ€. I use many free and paid apps, little QoL types, like BetterDisplay, Coctail, etc and for me the included support is of little value. These... - Source: Hacker News / 4 months ago
  • Coders Coded Their Job Away. Why Are So Many of Them Happy About It?
    I used a bunch of tools from https://setapp.com/ and no longer subscribe. I used to pay for Linear for all my personal projects, built one with CC that perfectly fits my needsโ€ฆ I also built a myriad of small tools that help me automate bunch of busy work I used to do manually, both for professional and personal projects. - Source: Hacker News / 5 months ago
  • Italian Competition Authority Fines Apple $115M for Abusing Dominant Position
    > are there any real 3rd-party AppStores for iOS now "Always has been": Setapp. Very interesting model. Readily recommend devs subscribing to this collection, but non-devs as well if you're into "there's an app for that" and fatigued with IAP. https://setapp.com/. - Source: Hacker News / 8 months ago
  • The One Productivity Tool You Didn't Know You Can't Live Without
    I use Paste, a very feature rich clipboard manager for Mac with gorgeous UI. It's not free, but it comes along with a Setapp license that I got from work, so if you already have a license you can use it to install Paste. - Source: dev.to / about 1 year ago
View more

GameMaker Studio mentions (37)

  • Ask HN: Platform for 11 year old to create video games?
    Game maker studio might fit the bill: https://gamemaker.io/en. - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: Yo wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
    I am no game developer but have over the past few years played around with GameMaker and their studio software[0]. I would imagine it to be one of the easiest ways to get started with making a 2D game. Then there is also the option of not jumping directly into the coding bit, and rather cultivate in your son the ability to do on paper designs first. This is a skill that would probably benefit him later in life as... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • Ask HN: Yo wants to build a game, I'm lost. What can I do?
    My introduction to programming was when I was 10 with GameMaker. I found that the same company has a product with the same name that seems to be the spiritual succesor of it[0]. I allowed me to start with very simple no-code and move on to incrementaly add codes nipets here and there. Eventually I went crazy and tried to make a game fully with code, avoiding all the tools the engine gave me, just as an experiment... - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago
  • What programming language do the Battle Network games use?
    If you're looking for a tool that's fairly simple for a beginner, but has the flexibility to also offer more advanced features as you learns more, and has plenty of tutorials and learning resources available for a novice programmer starting out: it's worth noting that GameMaker has recently (i.e. 2 weeks ago) been made completely free for non-commercial users. Source: over 2 years ago
  • Having trouble logging in through GameMaker after the new update?
    Go to https://gamemaker.io/en, and accept the new TOS. You won't be able to log in through the software until you do. Source: over 2 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Setapp and GameMaker Studio, you can also consider the following products

Konfigure - APARTMENTS | VILLA | WORKSPACE | RETAIL

Unity - The multiplatform game creation tools for everyone.

Metavine Platform - Metavine Platform is a comprehensive Platform-as-a-Service that help businesses build agility and compete effectively in the digital world by enabling them to iterate and create apps quickly.

Godot Engine - Feature-packed 2D and 3D open source game engine.

QuickBase - Quickbase provides a no-code operational agility platform that enables organizations to improve operations through real time insights and automation across complex processes and disparate systems. โ€‹โ€‹

GDevelop - GDevelop is an open-source game making software designed to be used by everyone.