Setapp vs getapps.cafe: An Honest Comparison for 2026

Setapp is the default answer when someone asks "which Mac app subscription should I get?" They've been around since 2016, their library is past 330 apps, and their marketing is everywhere. But a lot has changed in 2026 - their plans and pricing were reworked, and a newer option appeared that competes on price and on cross-platform support.

Here's the direct comparison. Every number below was read off both companies' own pages on 16 September 2026.

One Sub, Many Apps - How They Work

Both services give you access to a library of apps for a flat monthly fee. That's where the similarity ends.

Setapp is a membership for Mac, iOS and web. You pay monthly or annually, install the apps your plan covers, and they stay usable as long as you keep paying. Their homepage puts it at "330+ Mac, iOS, and web apps in one subscription" - a genuinely large library, assembled from many independent developers, and browsing is part of the deal.

getapps.cafe is a curated subscription for Mac and Windows. One flat fee unlocks 124 apps across 8 categories, from office tools and screen capture to system utilities and creative apps. They're native binaries rather than a bundled browser, and they work offline. 46 of those 124 also ship a Windows build.

Feature	Setapp	getapps.cafe
App count	330+ Mac, iOS and web apps	124 apps across 8 categories
Entry plan	$14.99/month - Mac, 1 Mac	$9.99/month - Solo Cup, 1 device
Multi-device plan	$22.99/month - Power User, 4 Macs + 4 iOS devices	$15.99/month - Family Roast, up to 5 devices
Annual price	$8.99/mo equivalent (Mac), $11.24 (Mac + iOS), $13.49 (Power User), billed yearly	$59.88/year Solo ($4.99/mo), $95.88/year Family ($7.99/mo)
Free trial	7 days	7 days - card saved through Stripe, nothing charged until it ends
Windows support	No	46 of the 124 apps ship a Windows build
iOS support	Yes - 4 iOS devices on the $18.99 plan and above	No
Web apps	Yes	No - desktop only
Works offline	Varies by app	Yes - the apps open and edit your files without a connection
Buy one app outright	Yes, for some apps, through their Marketplace	No - membership only
Curated or firehose	Firehose - 330+ apps, you browse	Curated - a smaller set, one app per job
Founded	2016	2026

Pricing Breakdown: What You Actually Pay

For one person on one Mac, getapps.cafe is cheaper: $9.99/month against $14.99/month. Pay yearly and the gap widens - $59.88 against $107.88, because their annual rate works out to $8.99/month and ours to $4.99.

Once you add devices, the comparison stops being about price alone and starts being about what a device is. Their Power User plan is $22.99/month and covers four Macs plus four iOS devices. Our Family Roast is $15.99/month and covers five computers, which can be any mix of Macs and Windows machines. If your household is four Macs and a couple of iPhones, their plan covers things ours does not reach at all. If it's two Macs, a Windows laptop and a desktop PC, ours is the only one of the two that covers the whole set.

That's the honest shape of it: we are cheaper per month, and they cover a platform we don't.

Windows Support: The Elephant in the Room

Setapp is Mac, iOS and web. If you have a Windows machine at work and a Mac at home, it covers half your setup.

getapps.cafe covers part of the other half. 46 of our 124 apps ship a Windows build alongside the Mac one - the office apps, the document and PDF tools, the font and photo tools, the resume builder. The other 78 are Mac-only for now. That's a real limit, and it's worth checking the app you actually came for before you count on it.

Where Your Files Live

The other difference is less about the bundle and more about the apps inside it.

getapps.cafe apps are desktop apps that read and write files on your own disk. A document you make in DocCafe is a .docx on your machine. A PDF you compress stays a PDF in the folder you put it in. Nothing needs a round trip to a server to open, which is why they keep working on a plane or in a cabin with no signal - and why, whatever happens to your membership, the files themselves are yours and stay where you left them.

Setapp's library is broad enough that this varies app by app. Some of their apps are entirely local; others are the desktop front end of a service. Neither approach is wrong, but they are different purchases, and the library is large enough that it's worth checking per app rather than assuming.

Who Should Pick Which

Choose Setapp if:

You want maximum app selection and don't mind browsing hundreds of options
You want your iPhone and iPad covered by the same subscription
You're a Mac-only household and don't need Windows
The specific apps you already rely on are in their library

Choose getapps.cafe if:

A curated set of apps that all serve a clear purpose matters more than volume
You need the same app on a Mac and a Windows machine
You're covering several computers and want one bill
You want apps that keep your work in ordinary files on your own disk
You want to pay less per month

The Bottom Line

Setapp is the bigger, older service, with more apps and a platform we don't cover. getapps.cafe is newer, cheaper, and the only one of the two that follows you onto a Windows machine.

They're the right choice for volume and for iOS. We're the right choice if you want fewer, cheaper apps that work on both of your computers.

Try getapps.cafe free for 7 days. Your card is saved when the trial starts and nothing is charged until it ends - cancel before then and you're never billed.

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