Setapp Membership covers 300+ apps for Mac, iOS and web in one subscription from $14.99, and a payment method is required to start its trial, though you won’t be charged for 7 days. The best Setapp alternatives split that bundle into parts: a free installer, a store, a bundle of lifetime licenses or a handful of free utilities. Homebrew logged 116,520 install events for the rectangle cask and 4,392 for the setapp cask between 2025-11-03 and 2026-11-03.
Nine alternatives are ranked below on five weighted criteria, scored from each vendor’s own price and policy pages plus Homebrew’s cask record. Setapp’s latest pricing update came on June 10, 2026, and new members subscribe to updated plans that cost more but include more AI credits. A Setapp vs Mac App Store comparison follows the ranking. Prices and versions are current as of November 3, 2026, except BundleHunt’s, taken from an October 15, 2026 snapshot.
Key Takeaways
- Setapp lists 300+ apps for Mac, iOS and web from $14.99, and a payment method is required for its trial.
- Homebrew counted 116,520 install events for rectangle and 111,100 for maccy between 2025-11-03 and 2026-11-03, against 4,392 for setapp.
- BundleHunt’s 2026 Powerhouse Bundle offers 37 premium Mac and Windows apps priced from $0.99, sold as lifetime licenses.
- Apple One’s Individual plan costs $21.95 a month and bundles iCloud+ 50GB, Apple TV, Apple Music and Apple Arcade.
- An app that leaves Setapp stays functional if you keep it installed, but you can no longer install it again after uninstalling, and owners stopping support covers over 90% of all cases.
- Applite is free and open source for macOS 14 and later, and it installs apps using Homebrew; its GitHub repository has 7,110 stars.
Quick Picks
Applite tops the weighted scoring at 8.8 out of 10 and Homebrew follows at 8.7, because both put a large catalog of Mac apps one click or one command away at no cost.
- Best overall: Applite, because it is free, MIT licensed and updates all your apps in one place.
- Best for the command line: Homebrew, whose GitHub repository carries 50,193 stars under a BSD-2-Clause license.
- Best for families: Mac App Store, where Apple Arcade costs $6.99 a month and is shared with up to five people at no extra cost.
- Best free utility pack: Raycast Free, since the $0 tier includes Clipboard History, Snippets and Window Management.
- Best for lifetime licenses: BundleHunt, where apps start at $0.99 with a lifetime license term.
- Best for web software with a refund window: AppSumo, which advertises a 60-day money back promise.
Alternative | Price anchor | Payment model | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
Applite | Free, MIT licensed | No payment | A free app store for apps outside the App Store |
Homebrew | Free, BSD-2-Clause | No payment | Terminal users and new Mac setups |
Mac App Store | Apple Arcade $6.99/month | Store listings plus Apple subscriptions | Families on Family Sharing |
Raycast Free | $0/month, Pro $8/month billed annually | Free tier, optional subscription | Clipboard history and window management |
Rectangle, Maccy, Keka, Pear Cleaner | Free | No payment | Replacing single Setapp utilities |
MacUpdate | Desktop $9.99 (beta) | Paid app | App updates and uninstalls in one window |
BundleHunt | Apps from $0.99 | Lifetime licenses | Owning paid Mac apps outright |
StackSocial | BuhoCleaner Family Plan $24.99 | Lifetime and one-time deals | One discounted app at a time |
AppSumo | Deals such as $49/lifetime | Lifetime deals | Web software with a refund window |
Source: Applite, Homebrew, Apple, Raycast, Rectangle, Maccy, Keka, Pearcleaner, MacUpdate, BundleHunt, StackSocial, AppSumo, November 2026
Each of these Setapp alternatives was scored across the weighted criteria in How We Ranked.
Homebrew publishes an install counter for every cask on formulae.brew.sh, which gives a like-for-like adoption figure for the free tools that stand in for common Setapp utilities. Homebrew counts reported cask events, not unique users or machines. Homebrew counts only installs made through Homebrew, so read the setapp bar as a floor, not a market share.
View the data
By the numbers: Homebrew’s analytics for 2025-11-03 to 2026-11-03 show 116,520 install events for rectangle, 111,100 for maccy and 4,392 for setapp. Free single-purpose tools draw far more Homebrew installs than the Setapp client, which suggests many Mac users already assemble their own stack of utilities.
1. Applite
Applite leads the ranking because it gives you a Setapp-style, one-window install and update experience for free. Applite’s site promises thousands of Mac apps in one place, with install, update and uninstall in one click, and it is free and open source for macOS 14 and later. Its GitHub repository shows 7,110 stars under the MIT License.
Applite installs apps using Homebrew, brings its own copy and sets it up in the background the first time you open it. It has no accounts, no analytics and no telemetry of any kind, and it can export the app list from an old Mac and install the ones you tick on a new one.
Free App Store Built on Homebrew
Applite
Best for a free app store for apps outside the App Store
- Free and open source under the MIT License.
- Update All handles every installed app in one place.
- No accounts, analytics or telemetry.
- Moves your app list to a new Mac.
- Catalog is limited to apps Homebrew packages.
- Needs a recent macOS release.
- No paid apps bundled in, so premium licenses are still on you.
Is there a free alternative to Setapp?
Applite is the closest free alternative, because it installs and updates Mac apps from one window at no cost. Applite says it is free and always will be. Pair it with the free utilities in item five, and you cover window snapping, clipboard history, archiving and uninstalling without a subscription.
2. Homebrew
Homebrew sits right behind Applite because it is the free package manager underneath it, with the same catalog and more control. Homebrew’s GitHub repository has 50,193 stars under the BSD-2-Clause license, and its cask analytics recorded 25,761,908 reported cask install events in 365 days.
Homebrew won’t install files outside its prefix, and it installs each package into its own keg inside the Cellar. Its packages are formulae and casks, and casks are the Mac apps. One brew install --cask command per app replaces a Setapp click.
brew install --cask rectangle maccy keka
brew upgrade
Package Manager for Mac Apps and Tools
Homebrew
Best for terminal users and new Mac setups
- Free and open source.
- Scriptable, so a new Mac can be rebuilt from one file.
- Installs apps and command-line tools from one catalog.
- Public install analytics for every cask.
- Terminal only; Applite adds the window.
- Paid apps still need a license from the developer.
- No curated editorial picks.
3. Mac App Store
The Mac App Store follows the two free installers: it costs nothing to browse, it handles updates, and Apple’s subscriptions add a bundle of their own. Apple lists nearly 2 million apps available worldwide across 175 storefronts in over 40 languages. That figure is for the whole App Store, across Apple’s platforms. Apple says over 120 expert editors work on the store worldwide.
Families get the most from it. With Family Sharing, you and up to five family members can share access to Apple services like iCloud+, Apple Music and Apple TV, and that includes eligible App Store subscriptions and eligible purchases of apps when you enable Purchase Sharing.
Apple Arcade costs $6.99 a month, carries no ads and no in-app purchases, and can be shared with up to five people. Apple One’s Individual plan costs $21.95 a month for iCloud+ 50GB, Apple TV, Apple Music and Apple Arcade. Neither covers the paid productivity apps Setapp bundles, so they work best as a games and media layer on top of the free stack.
Apple's Built-In Store With Subscriptions
Mac App Store
Best for families on Family Sharing
- Built into macOS with automatic updates.
- Family Sharing for up to five family members.
- Apple Arcade has no ads or in-app purchases.
- Apple One rolls several subscriptions into one bill.
- Many Setapp utilities are not sold there, so you fetch them as direct downloads.
- Paid apps are bought one at a time.
- Apple One is aimed at media, not productivity apps.
4. Raycast Free
Raycast’s free tier makes the list because it folds several paid Setapp-style utilities into one launcher at no cost. Raycast Free costs $0 a month and includes Clipboard History, Quicklinks, Calculator, Snippets, Emoji Picker and Window Management, plus thousands of extensions. The raycast cask logged 116,228 Homebrew install events in 365 days.
Raycast Pro adds AI and costs $8 a month, or $96 a year billed annually. You do not need Pro to replace a clipboard manager, a snippet expander and a window snapper; the free tier already does all three.
Launcher With Built-In Utilities
Raycast Free
Best for clipboard history and window management in one app
- Free tier covers clipboard history, snippets and window management.
- Thousands of extensions.
- Optional Pro plan adds AI and access to all features.
- AI features sit behind Pro.
- One app doing many jobs, so it is all or nothing.
- A launcher, not an app store.
5. Free Utility Stack: Rectangle, Maccy, Keka and Pear Cleaner
These four free Setapp alternatives cover single jobs people often pay Setapp for: window snapping, clipboard history, archiving and uninstalling. Rectangle’s GitHub repository has 30,210 stars, and Maccy’s has 22,184 under the MIT License. Each is a separate download, which is the trade-off against one subscription.
The stars chart shows how much developer attention each project draws on GitHub.
View the data
Rectangle moves and resizes windows in macOS using keyboard shortcuts or snap areas, and it is nearly a complete drop-in replacement for Spectacle. Its paid Rectangle Pro upgrade is free for 10 days. Maccy describes itself as a lightweight clipboard manager for macOS.
Keka’s site says the App Store version is the same app as the version from its website, only updated through the App Store, and buying it supports development. Keka uses AES-256 encryption for 7z files. Pearcleaner calls itself a free, source-available and fair-code licensed Mac app cleaner, with 15,033 GitHub stars.
Four Single-Purpose Utilities
Rectangle, Maccy, Keka and Pear Cleaner
Best for replacing single Setapp utilities
- All four are free to download.
- Maccy is MIT licensed.
- Every one installs with a single Homebrew command.
- Keka has a paid App Store copy if you want to support it.
- Four separate apps to keep track of.
- No shared catalog or discovery.
- Pear Cleaner uses a source-available, fair-code license.
6. MacUpdate
MacUpdate earns its place as a paid updater, uninstaller and launcher for Mac apps, with a store built in. MacUpdate Desktop is a beta app store, updater, uninstaller and launcher for Mac priced at $9.99, at version 0.9.1. Its store sells top Mac apps directly from developers, and its launcher opens apps installed from the web or the Mac App Store.
Automatic App Updates keeps your apps on the latest versions in the background, without searching for installers. MacUpdate also offers MU Notifier, which scans your Mac from the menu bar and highlights every app with a newer version on MacUpdate.
Paid Updater, Uninstaller and Launcher
MacUpdate Desktop
Best for app updates and uninstalls in one window
- Launches apps installed from the web or the Mac App Store.
- Uninstaller and launcher in the same app.
- Built-in store sells Mac apps directly from developers.
- Still a beta release.
- Does not include the apps themselves.
- Paid, while Applite and Homebrew update apps for free.
7. BundleHunt
BundleHunt scores 4 out of 10 on updates and 9 on ownership, because you pay once and keep the license. Its 2026 Powerhouse Bundle offers 37 premium Mac and Windows apps priced from $0.99, which you mix and match as lifetime licenses with no subscription. BundleHunt puts prices 89% below the $1,319 combined retail of the bundle.
Every app has its own price, and spending past $30 takes a discount off your whole basket. BundleHunt says the keys are lifetime licenses from the developer, with no subscription and nothing to renew. The live site served a bot check during research, so these figures come from the Wayback Machine snapshot dated October 15, 2026; check the current edition before you buy.
Why it matters: A Setapp app stays tied to your membership, while a BundleHunt license is yours to keep. BundleHunt sells 37 apps from $0.99 as lifetime licenses from the developer, so a buyer who only needs three or four paid utilities can own them for less than a few months of Setapp.
Build-Your-Own App Bundle
BundleHunt
Best for owning paid Mac apps outright
- Lifetime licenses, nothing to renew.
- Pick only the apps you want.
- A discount on the whole basket once you pass the threshold.
- Bundles rotate, so a given app may not return.
- You install and update each app yourself.
- No central app for discovery like Setapp's.
8. StackSocial
StackSocial is a deal store that sometimes carries Mac software at a discount. Its storefront listed BuhoCleaner for Mac: Family Plan as a lifetime subscription at 75% off, and Microsoft Office 2024 Home for Mac or PC as a one-time purchase at 20% off.
StackSocial works best as a place to check when you want one specific paid app at a discount. Read each listing’s license terms, because “lifetime” on a deal store means the lifetime of the product as the seller defines it.
Discount Deal Store
StackSocial
Best for one discounted app at a time
- Lifetime and one-time pricing on some Mac apps.
- Mainstream software such as Microsoft Office appears there.
- No subscription to the store itself.
- A general deal store, not a dedicated Mac catalog.
- Deals come and go.
- No updater or installer.
9. AppSumo
AppSumo closes the list at 5.5 out of 10, selling lifetime deals with a generous refund window. AppSumo advertises handpicked deals, a 60-day money back promise and over 2 million satisfied customers, and its top deals include one at $49/lifetime against $1,164.
AppSumo’s top-ranked deal, LeadOcean, is a go-to-market data API rather than a native Mac app, so treat AppSumo as an alternative for the web services some Setapp members pay for separately. The refund window lets you try a deal for two months before you commit.
Lifetime Deals on Web Software
AppSumo
Best for web software with a refund window
- Two-month refund window.
- Lifetime pricing on many tools.
- Large customer base.
- Few native Mac apps.
- Lifetime depends on the vendor staying in business.
- No installer or updater.
Setapp vs Mac App Store
Setapp is the cheaper way to use many paid Mac utilities, and buying apps outright from the Mac App Store is the cheaper way to get a few. Setapp’s monthly plans cost $14.99 for Mac, $18.99 for Mac + iOS and $22.99 for Power User, plus tax, and yearly billing saves up to 40%. The App Store has no membership fee at all.
Setapp’s Mac + iOS plan covers 1 Mac and 4 iOS devices, and Power User covers 4 Macs and 4 iOS devices. Setapp discontinued its Family plans due to low demand.
View the data
Setapp’s Power User plan costs $1.04 a month more than Apple One’s Individual plan, yet the two buy different things: productivity apps on one side, media and games on the other. The table sets out the user-side differences.
Factor | Setapp | Mac App Store |
|---|---|---|
Cost | From $14.99/month plus tax | No store fee; Apple Arcade $6.99/month |
Catalog | 300+ apps for Mac, iOS and web | Nearly 2 million apps across the App Store (all Apple platforms) |
Family | Family plans discontinued | Family Sharing for up to five family members |
Curation | Every app pre-vetted by Setapp | Over 120 expert editors |
Sharing purchases | Not offered to new members | Purchase Sharing for eligible apps |
Source: Setapp, Apple, November 2026
Setapp says it pre-vets and selects every app to meet its quality standards, and Apple says the App Store has been a safe and trusted place to discover and download apps for over a decade.
Is Setapp cheaper than the Mac App Store?
Setapp is cheaper, and worth the cost, only if you would otherwise buy several paid utilities. Setapp’s Mac plan costs $14.99 a month plus tax, while browsing and free apps on the App Store cost nothing. If you need two or three paid apps, buying them once from the store or a bundle often beats a monthly fee within a year.
Where Setapp Still Beats Setapp Alternatives
Setapp keeps its place over Applite, Homebrew and the rest for people who use many paid utilities and want one bill. Setapp says full access with no limitations or ads works for ~97% of its apps.
Setapp’s desktop app takes up just 300 MB. None of the alternatives above bundles paid productivity apps like those on the Setapp app list under one fee.
TechLila’s Setapp trial link gives a 30-day free trial for Setapp, and Setapp’s redeem page states plans from $14.99 a month plus tax. Setapp’s standard trial requires a payment method, so expect to add a card when you sign up. The Setapp trial link is an affiliate link; TechLila earns a commission if you subscribe through it.
Verdict by Use Case
Scores run from 8.8 for Applite down to 5.5 for AppSumo, but the right pick depends more on whether you want to own apps or rent access to them than on rank.
- Best overall: Applite, for free one-window installs and updates on a recent Mac.
- Best for the command line: Homebrew, for scripted Mac setups and the same catalog without a window.
- Best for families: the Mac App Store with Apple Arcade or Apple One, shared through Family Sharing.
- Best free utility pack: Raycast Free, for clipboard history, snippets and window management in one launcher.
- Best for replacing single utilities: Rectangle, Maccy, Keka and Pear Cleaner, all free.
- Best for lifetime licenses: BundleHunt, for licenses from the developer with nothing to renew.
- Best if you use many paid utilities: Setapp itself, for one subscription across its catalog, with the current Setapp coupon on top.
How We Ranked
Five criteria, weighted to 100%, were scored from each vendor’s own price, policy and product pages, plus Homebrew’s cask record and GitHub’s repository data. Cost carries the heaviest weight at 30%.
View the data
Evidence per criterion. Cost came from each vendor’s price page or storefront. Ownership came from license and removal policies, such as Setapp’s support page on removed apps and BundleHunt’s license terms. Catalog breadth came from published app counts and Homebrew’s cask record.
Install and update handling came from each product’s feature list. Vetting came from published review or curation statements, licenses and GitHub records.
Candidate pool. Twelve services and tools were considered: nine are ranked and three are excluded below, with Setapp itself as the benchmark rather than a candidate. Inclusion required a vendor page we could capture with a current price or license, and a product that runs on a current Mac.
Pick | Cost (30%) | Ownership (20%) | Catalog (20%) | Updates (20%) | Vetting (10%) | Total (of 10) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Applite | 10 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 8 | 8.8 |
Homebrew | 10 | 9 | 7 | 9 | 7 | 8.7 |
Mac App Store | 7 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8.4 |
Raycast Free | 10 | 8 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 8.0 |
Free utility stack | 10 | 9 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 7.6 |
MacUpdate | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 6 | 6.9 |
BundleHunt | 8 | 9 | 5 | 4 | 6 | 6.6 |
StackSocial | 7 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 6 | 5.7 |
AppSumo | 6 | 8 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 5.5 |
Source: TechLila scoring rubric, November 2026
Why each scored where it did. Applite and Homebrew lead on a perfect cost score with strong update handling; Applite edges ahead on vetting because it is signed, notarized and collects no telemetry. The Mac App Store gives up cost points for paid apps but tops catalog breadth and vetting.
BundleHunt, StackSocial and AppSumo score well on ownership but low on updates, because each sells a license and leaves installing and updating to you. MacUpdate scores 7 on cost, catalog and updates, but trails every other pick on ownership.
Exclusions. Setapp Mobile was left out because Setapp Mobile was sunset on February 16, 2026, and all its apps were removed from the platform on that date. Raycast Pro was scored as part of Raycast Free rather than as its own pick, because it costs $8 a month billed annually and mainly adds AI. The Setapp Family plan was excluded because Setapp no longer sells it to new members.
Each tool was scored against the criteria above using vendor pages, Homebrew analytics and GitHub records. Where evidence was unavailable for a criterion, that criterion was not scored, and the writeup says so. Weighted totals are rounded half up to one decimal place.
TechLila earns money from advertising and from affiliate links, and the Setapp trial link on this page is one of them. No listed brand paid for inclusion or position, and every score comes from the criteria above.
What happens to Setapp apps if I cancel?
Setapp apps run through your Setapp membership, so plan any switch before your billing period ends. Setapp’s support page on removed apps documents the closest case, and it is the nearest guide to what changes once an app is out of your reach.
When an app leaves Setapp, it remains functional via Setapp if you keep it installed, but after uninstallation you can no longer install it again. Setapp says it always emails users before an app is removed, so there is time to back up essential data. The most common reason an app leaves is that its owners stop supporting it or retire it completely, and that reason covers over 90% of all cases.
Before you cancel your Setapp subscription, export settings from any app you plan to replace with Rectangle, Maccy or a BundleHunt license.
Is there a Setapp alternative for iPhone or Windows?
On iPhone, the nearest option is Setapp’s own Mac + iOS plan, since Setapp Mobile, its EU-only alternative iOS marketplace, was sunset on February 16, 2026. Setapp’s Mac + iOS plan covers 1 Mac and 4 iOS devices for $18.99 a month plus tax.
On Windows, BundleHunt is the closest match from this list. Its 2026 Powerhouse Bundle mixes Mac and Windows apps, with 6 Windows titles among the 37. Keka’s GitHub description calls it the macOS & iOS file archiver, so it covers iPhone too.
Conclusion
Setapp still offers 300+ apps for Mac, iOS and web from $14.99, and that bundle wins if you use many paid utilities every month. For everyone else, Applite or Homebrew plus a few free tools covers the basics at no cost, and BundleHunt sells lifetime licenses for the 37 apps in its current bundle.
Start with the free stack, add a paid app only when a free one falls short, and use the Mac App Store when the whole family needs it.
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