Setapp Reviews and Details

Questions & Answers

1. What's the story behind Setapp?

   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.

2. What makes Setapp unique?

   Setapp's key differentiators:

   -Curation. Setapp is a curated platform with trusted, hand-picked apps — 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 — GPT, Claude, Gemini, and Grok — through a single gateway.

   Setapp gives users apps they can count on. It’s not an endless store but a curated collection of apps worth users’ time and money.

3. Why should a person choose Setapp over its competitors?

   -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 — 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.

4. How would you describe the primary audience of Setapp?

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

Is Setapp good?

Social recommendations and mentions

• 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 – a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS

  There could be 4x buyers at $10. I’d be one of the now, the dock is a constant annoyance. The app looks great, downloading the trial now. To the app’s author I’d say get as many licensees as you can fast before you’re Sherlocked or somebody vibecodes a clone out of “why not”. 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 needs… 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

• Moom 4, the next-generation window manager

  > Q: Are mac people more likely to look for and buy misc desktop utilities? This has been one of the options for well over a decade. And yes. Check out dozens of them less expensively using setapp: https://setapp.com/ Many work on both MacOS and iOS (yes, iOS software paid for through a SetApp subscription). - Source: Hacker News / almost 2 years ago

• Apple Announces Changes to iOS, Safari, and the App Store in the European Union

  But developers can actually enlist their apps in both of these "stores" (setapp is subscription based) which probably increases their potential revenue. [0]: https://setapp.com/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago

• Apple Rejects the Hey Calendar from Their App Store

  In a lot of neighborhoods that's exactly what it does. Also, you can shop for iOS apps in other places, like https://setapp.com/. - Source: Hacker News / over 2 years ago

• The End of the Subscription Era Is Coming

  Https://setapp.com is one example of a service that does bundling, albeit by offering what seems to be the full features of many things for a single subscription price (instead of your thought of a subset of features). It's not clear to me whether all of the apps offered are subscription-based, though. It's a model I'd be more willing to try than subscriptions to individual apps, although its OS and app offerings... - Source: Hacker News / almost 3 years ago

• PDF Reader Pro vs PDF Expert, Which is the best PDF editor to buy and why?

  I can't say that it's the best solution, but I use Nitro PDF from Setapp https://setapp.com/. Source: about 3 years ago

• If it goes somewhere, it’s a link. If it does something, it’s a button

  There's also Sizzy (https://sizzy.co). It's available standalone, but it's also included with a Setapp subscription (https://setapp.com — Mac app subscription service). - Source: Hacker News / almost 4 years ago

• My Favorite AWS Tools and Resources that I Use Every Day

  Cost: $9.99 from https://www.renfei.org/snippets-lab/ or on SetApp. - Source: dev.to / about 4 years ago

• What's the Problem with Old but Excellent Mac Apps?

  I try to stay with the default native apps and programs that comes with the OSes (currently Apple) as much as possible. I have begun to ponder upon and want to go linux once I retire from active work. I try to keep backups of the content in either open or universal formats to be able to move and decouple from Apple smoothly, if needed. I continue to experiment and tinker with new tools but after using it,... - Source: Hacker News / over 4 years ago

• Orion is the new WebKit-based browser for Mac

  I'm on Safari, with the occasional testing and account segregations with Chrome. The combination of AdGuard[1] (found via SetApp[2]) and NextDNS[3] works for me well on Safari. 1. https://adguard.com 2. https://setapp.com 3. https://nextdns.io. - Source: Hacker News / almost 5 years ago

• Launch HN: Superpowered (YC W21) – Calendar in your menu bar

  This looks really good! I'm a Meeter user so it's a real use case I have already spent time looking for solutions to. I agree with other commenters though - I'd pay a one-time $10, but $10 per month seems unreasonably high. For perspective Meeter is free, and Spotify is $4 for a family of 4 (in my country). Maybe it could be part of the bundle at https://setapp.com/ or similar? Or you could have a... - Source: Hacker News / over 5 years ago