Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Setapp VS Hackster

Compare Setapp VS Hackster and see what are their differences

Note: These products don't have any matching categories. If you think this is a mistake, please edit the details of one of the products and suggest appropriate categories.

Setapp logo Setapp

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

Hackster logo Hackster

Hackster is a community dedicated to learning hardware.
  • Setapp
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    2026-06-25
  • Setapp
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    2026-06-25
  • Setapp
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    2026-06-25
  • Setapp
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    2026-06-25
  • Setapp
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    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.

  • Hackster Landing page
    Landing page //
    2023-10-04

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.

Hackster features and specs

  • Community Engagement
    Hackster provides a platform for community interaction, facilitating shared learning and collaboration between project creators and users.
  • Diverse Project Range
    The platform hosts a wide variety of projects across different domains, catering to users with varying interests and skill levels.
  • Learning Resources
    Hackster offers numerous tutorials and guides that can help beginners learn new skills and improve their technical knowledge.
  • Access to Open Source Projects
    Users can access and contribute to open-source projects, enhancing collaboration and innovation within the tech community.
  • Networking Opportunities
    The platform allows users to connect with industry professionals and hobbyists, potentially leading to collaboration and career opportunities.

Possible disadvantages of Hackster

  • Quality Variability
    The quality of projects and tutorials can vary widely, with some offerings lacking depth or clear instruction.
  • Overwhelming for Beginners
    The sheer volume of content and advanced projects can be overwhelming for newcomers who may not know where to start.
  • Reliance on User Contributions
    The platform largely relies on user contributions, which might lead to inconsistency and gaps in the topics covered.
  • Limited Vetting Processes
    Projects and tutorials aren't always thoroughly vetted, meaning users may encounter outdated or incorrect information.
  • Commercial Bias
    Some projects and resources may be influenced by commercial sponsorships, which can affect the objectivity of the content.

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?

Hackster videos

HACKSTER (LV 100) - EL GRAN IMIGBOSS!! ๐Ÿ˜ - Monster Legends Review

More videos:

  • Review - EL RATON HACKSTER LV 100 - Monster Legends
  • Review - Monster Legends - Hackster Review, Level 1 to 100

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Setapp and Hackster)
Project Management
100 100%
0% 0
Additive Manufacturing
0 0%
100% 100
Productivity
100 100%
0% 0
Digital Fabrication
0 0%
100% 100

Questions & Answers

As answered by people managing Setapp and Hackster.

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

Share your experience with using Setapp and Hackster. For example, how are they different and which one is better?
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Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Hackster should be more popular than Setapp. It has been mentiond 26 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 / 2 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 / 3 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 / 4 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 / 7 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

Hackster mentions (26)

  • A powerful AR Cyberdeck that fits into your pocket!
    You'll find on our website a lot of info regarding this laptop + we are working on a Hackster.io page to share our journey through devlogs :). Source: almost 3 years ago
  • Broken Samsung charger
    Note that I could not find much documentation on references written on these components and that I am pretty new to electronics but it's something I'm interested in and I love to experiment (I have already went through hackster.io and instructables.com tutorials). Source: about 3 years ago
  • Single NeoPixel Micro Device w/ Rechargeable Battery Possible?
    Something like the Gemma M0 or one of the Feather boards would work pretty well depending on what kind of connectivity you want. They both have JST connectors to connect a rechargable battery and the Gemma already has a single NeoPixel onboard. The Learn section on Adafruit or hackster.io both have excellent guides on running projects with either board. Source: over 3 years ago
  • What to do during down time
    I say this because learning Python and R are cool, but learning them in a traditional academic framework might not be as fulfilling or as productive as looking up some of the wild projects on hackaday.com, hackster.io, and instructables.com. If you start looking at these, they can really broaden your lens of what is possible, while at the same time offering projects that are more fun than rote coding exercises. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Starting my Journey
    The website https://randomnerdtutorials.com has a lot of good stuff to get you going. A lot of the more advanced projects are on https://hackster.io. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

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

Konfigure - APARTMENTS | VILLA | WORKSPACE | RETAIL

Instructables - DIY How To Make Instructions

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.

HackADay - Hackaday.io is a platform for people who like to build things.

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€‹

Gumroad - An all-in-one solution to sell your work and grow your audience.