Setapp Review: Is It Actually Worth $10/Month in 2024?

Why I Almost Cancel Setapp Every Year (And Never Do)

Every February, like clockwork, I get that renewal email from Setapp and my first instinct is always the same: another subscription I don't need. I head over to cancel, fully convinced I barely use it. Then I start looking at the apps I have installed and realize just how many of them are part of Setapp.

When you add up what each of those apps would cost individually, the math isn't even close. Setapp comes out dramatically cheaper than buying everything à la carte. So consider this both a recommendation and a note to my future self: yes, Setapp is worth it, and here's exactly why.

What Is Setapp and How Does It Work?

Setapp is a subscription service, roughly $10 per month depending on your plan, that gives you access to over 240 Mac apps. There are a handful of iOS apps included as well, though the service is fundamentally Mac-first since iOS app installation happens through the Mac client.

The best way to think about Setapp is as an alternative app store, but one that works more like Apple Arcade than the traditional App Store. You pay your monthly fee and everything inside is yours to use, no additional purchases, no surprise charges. If you're the kind of person who likes to experiment with new tools, Setapp is a playground where you can try anything without worrying about your wallet.

The home screen is laid out with recommendations, curated collections, and a new arrivals section that adds one to three fresh apps each month. It's a great way to discover tools you might never have found otherwise.

Installing and Uninstalling Apps in Seconds

One of Setapp's strongest selling points is how frictionless it is to try new software. Installing an app is a single click. You hit install, and within seconds the app is running on your Mac, ready to go. There's no license key to enter, no separate account to create.

Uninstalling is just as painless. Click on the app name inside Setapp, hit the disclosure triangle next to the Open button, and choose Uninstall. You can either remove just the application or do a complete uninstall that wipes every trace from your system. For tinkerers and tool enthusiasts, this alone might justify the subscription. You can freely explore new software without any commitment or cleanup headaches.

Is Setapp Legit? Who's Behind It?

A common question I get is whether Setapp is some kind of piracy service. It's not. Setapp is completely legitimate, created by MacPaw, an established Mac software company you may already know.

MacPaw develops several well-known apps of their own, including CleanMyMac X, ClearVPN, and Gemini 2 (a duplicate file finder). All three of these apps are available through Setapp, which shows that MacPaw genuinely believes in the platform. If you were to buy just those three MacPaw apps separately, you'd be looking at roughly $97 per year: $35 for CleanMyMac X, $42 for ClearVPN, and $20 for Gemini. That's nearly the cost of the entire Setapp subscription before you've even looked at the other 237 apps.

Ulysses: The Best Distraction-Free Writing App

Ulysses is a writing app built for long-form content: blog posts, newsletters, course scripts, and anything that benefits from a clean, focused writing environment. The interface strips away every distraction, leaving you with nothing but your words on the screen.

What makes Ulysses especially powerful is its native Markdown support. Writing headlines, adding links, and embedding images is fast and intuitive once you learn a handful of keyboard shortcuts. The learning curve is measured in minutes, not hours. When you're finished writing, Ulysses can publish directly to WordPress, Medium, Ghost, or Micro.blog, so your workflow from draft to published post is seamless.

Ulysses normally costs $40 per year on its own. That single app covers more than three months of your Setapp subscription right there.

Paste: The Clipboard Manager That Changes Everything

Paste is a clipboard manager, and I know that sounds boring. But this app genuinely changed the way I use computers. It keeps your entire clipboard history, going back as far as you want (even unlimited), and syncs it across all your Macs via the cloud. If you move between a desktop and a laptop, Paste makes it feel like you're working on a single machine.

Activate Paste with a keyboard shortcut or a mouse button and you get a visual timeline of everything you've ever copied. But the real power features are Pin Boards and Paste Stacks. Pin Boards let you drag any copied item into a permanent, organized collection. You can save template messages, frequently used text, images, and even Final Cut Pro titles or effects. Anything you copy can be pinned.

Paste Stacks take batch copying to another level. Activate a stack, copy a series of items in order, and then paste them out in sequence wherever you need them. For tasks like entering multiple DNS records or filling in repetitive form fields, Paste Stacks save an enormous amount of time. At $30 per year, Paste combined with Ulysses already covers more than half your annual Setapp cost.

Sip: A Color Picker for Designers and Developers

If you build websites, do email marketing, or work on any kind of visual design, Sip is an incredibly handy tool. It lives in your menu bar and lets you pick any color from anywhere on your screen with a magnifying-glass eyedropper.

Every color you pick is saved to your history, and you can organize colors into named palettes. Starting a new project and want to pull inspiration from a website you admire? Just hover, click, and build a palette in seconds. Those palettes sync to the cloud so you can access them from any Mac or share them with teammates.

Sip costs $20 per year individually. When you add it to Ulysses and Paste, you're already at $90 in app value, covering nine months of your Setapp subscription. And we haven't even gotten to the best one yet.

CleanShot X: Screen Capture Done Right

CleanShot X is the app that pushes the Setapp value equation well past the break-even point. It's a screen capture and recording tool that I use every single day, and it's one of those apps I genuinely couldn't work without.

The standout features are window-isolated screenshots with custom backgrounds and the ability to annotate with text, arrows, and highlights. Your screenshots come out looking polished and ready to share on social media or use in YouTube thumbnails. CleanShot also works as a Loom replacement: put your webcam in the corner, record your screen, and send a walkthrough to your team or tech support.

Through Setapp, you get CleanShot with a 10 GB cloud plan for uploading and sharing recordings, which is included in your subscription at no extra cost. Buying CleanShot's cloud plan separately runs $10/month if you pay annually. Even valuing the Setapp version conservatively at half that, you're adding another $60 in annual value, pushing your total well beyond the $120 Setapp costs per year.

The Final Verdict: Setapp Is Worth Every Penny

When you tally up just the four apps covered in detail here—Ulysses ($40), Paste ($30), Sip ($20), and CleanShot X (conservatively $60)—you're looking at $150 in value from a subscription that costs $120 per year. And that's without counting the two dozen other Setapp apps installed across my Macs, or the MacPaw apps like CleanMyMac X that come along for the ride.

Setapp isn't for everyone. If you only use one or two Mac apps and you're happy with them, it probably doesn't make sense. But if you're someone who relies on a handful of productivity, writing, design, or utility tools, the math works out overwhelmingly in Setapp's favor. It's the rare subscription that actually saves you money.

Watch the Full Video

Prefer watching to reading? Check out the full video on YouTube for a complete walkthrough with live demos and commentary.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Setapp?

Setapp is a subscription service that gives you access to over 240 Mac and iOS apps for a single monthly fee. Instead of buying apps individually, you get unlimited access to a curated library.

How much does Setapp cost?

Setapp costs approximately $10 per month for Mac-only access or $13 per month for Mac and iOS. Team plans are available at discounted per-user rates for businesses.

Is Setapp worth the monthly subscription?

If you regularly use 3 or more apps from the Setapp library, the subscription typically pays for itself. The value depends on whether the included apps match your actual workflow needs.

What popular apps are included in Setapp?

Setapp includes popular apps like CleanShot X, Bartender, BetterTouchTool, Ulysses, Paste, and many other productivity and development tools that would cost hundreds individually.

Can you cancel Setapp anytime?

Yes, Setapp is a monthly subscription that you can cancel anytime. You keep access until the end of your billing period but lose access to all included apps after that.