SetApp is a monthly subscription service that offers access to 240 different Mac apps starting at $9.99 a month. I currently have 37 different applications from Setapp installed on my MacBook Air. Some of them are startup items that run all the time when my Mac is on. Others I use an a regular basis for maintenance and routine tasks. They have quite a few apps that I’ve purchased in the past but no longer have to pay for upgrades because they are now included in my plan. I’ve listed a dozen of my favorite programs from Setapp, along with their cost if purchased or subscribed to separately to give you an idea of what you can save with a subscription.
Check out his post to see the apps that make the subscription worth it. I also use SetApp and have different options that make my subscription pay for itself.
Bartender
Do you have way too many menu bar items on your Mac? Yeah, me too. Get them under control. Hide them permanently or put them on a different shelf or in groups that you hit the button to see. Know what menu bar items are there even if you have a huge ugly notch in your MacBook Pro. Trigger specific bars by location, battery level, wifi connection, and time of day. You don’t know you need this app until you have it. ($16 for Bartender 5 without SetApp)
Boom 3D
This app makes music and movies sound amazing. You can play with 3D surround, various EQ presets, a volume booster, managing individual app volume levels, 20k radio stations, and a great local music player. I don’t know how it works, but it makes my cheap headphones and sound sticks sound great. ($25 for Boom 3D without SetApp)
Clop
Pika.page, where this blog is hosted, doesn’t process images. What you post is what it serves. Our iPhone photos and camera images are huge, so having an app that optimizes them to the smallest possible size with little to no loss in quality and places them in my clipboard ready for pasting is great. ($15 for lifetime license without SetApp)
Hookmark
Dude. Just start using this app. I use Craft as a second brain and project manager. It’s a great container for all the documents that accompany my projects and my resources folders. The problem is that when you open and modify the file, you must delete the old copy from Craft and re-drop the new one. Not optimal. With Hookmark, I can have folders with all my documents inside and create links to documents. Every edit and move around my hard drive are two-way linked. I tried explaining how I use it, but it’s robust and can do much more. You’ve got to check it out if you use a note-taking app that you’d like reference files connected to. ($69.99 year one. The app is updated every 12 months, and if you’d like to upgrade, it’s $34.99 each year without SetApp.)
Luminar Neo
Simply put, this app uses AI to edit your photos. Think of anything you’d like to do to make an image great. It does it effortlessly. ($143 annually without SetApp, but they’re always doing some kind of sale.)
Nitro PDF Pro
I hate using Acrobat. This app lets you edit PDF text, OCR, embed links and files, add images, notes, and annotations. You can convert PDF documents to apps in Office Suite. In addition, you can fill out sign and combine files. A fully featured and powerful PDF editor. ($179.00 as a one-time purchase without SetApp.)
Spark Mail
Yeah, it’s just an email app. The AI is terrible. Keep it turned off. It’s pretty and has everything modern email apps have. Still, I mainly use it because I can use Gmail shortcuts that require no modifier key. Hit one button, and you’ll be archiving, deleting, and moving up and down your inbox. ($59.99 annually without SetApp.)
Gemini
Find and delete duplicate files. That’s it. ($19.95 annually without SetApp.)