Setapp Gives You Access to Over 240 Useful Indie Apps for Mac
Indie apps need a recurring income to stay in business. People are tired of subscriptions. These statements contradict each other, but they are both undeniably facts, and this is a problem if you want applications built by small teams to continue to exist.
Setapp points to a potential way forward: a suite of independent apps for the Mac. This service, offered by a company based in Kyiv, Ukraine, offers access to more than 240 Mac apps for $9.99 per month. (You can save 10% by paying annually, and there’s even an education discount .)
The list of suggested apps, which you can browse online , includes many well-reviewed indie apps that have previously topped the Mac App Store charts. If you buy a lot of Mac apps—and in particular, if you subscribe to a lot of Mac apps—this bundle is worth a try. There’s even a seven-day trial if you want to get a feel for it.
The app works similar to an app store, although you’ve already paid for everything it offers: you can explore and install as many of the included apps as you like. It has several apps that I use every day, some of which I’ve written about for Lifehacker. There’s Session , a combination Pomodoro timer and distraction blocker that I use when I’m having trouble concentrating. There’s Eter, my favorite radio app , and MarsEdit, the best blogging app for Mac . I also use WifiExplorer whenever I need to diagnose a wireless network problem, and I usually appreciate access to apps like Permute (a media converter), Numi (a prettier calculator app), BetterZip (an archiving tool), and GetBackupPro (an app for Mac backup, obviously).
I could go on—while you can expect a lot of software due to the amount included, there are plenty of well-reviewed apps in this package, all included in your ad-free monthly subscription. Whenever I’m looking for an app to do something, I really like to search Setapp first – it’s nice to know I won’t have to pay anything extra to get access to a useful new tool. If you too enjoy having custom-built native Mac apps for specific tasks, consider this my unqualified endorsement.