I’ve been a subscriber for over 3 years and it started with 2 seats for $10/mo. Don’t know when they changed to only 1 but if your grandfathered in you got a good deal. 
It’s only a good deal if you were not using your 2nd seat on another mac. If you are, than you need to pay an additional $5 a month which you previously were not when the iOS apps were already part of the subscription.
Moral of the story - have one mac with many iOS devices
I just canceled SetApp. Not because of this iOS decision, though that didn’t help. I’d actually been thinking for a few days that I’m just not getting value from it.
Here are the SetApp apps I’m currently using:
- ToothFairy
- Yoink
- Paste
- NotePlan
- iStat Menus.
I’m pretty sure I have separate licenses for ToothFairy, Yoink, and iStat Menus. There are plenty of alternatives to Paste that are just as good.
And what the heck I’ll pay for NotePlan or use Agenda. Or nail together something of my own – I’m still noodling on whether I want to start keeping daily running notes, and if so what app to use for that.
1 Like
I have started subscribing because I thought, after a while, when needing to pay for subscriptions AND license upgrades, this would end up being financially sound and I would recoup the cost, if I am willing to invest in it for a while.
This ridiculous “seat” model, which does not scale and punishes power users with several devices (whom I would venture make a sizeable chunk of Setapp subscribers) defeats the whole purpose and idea of the service. The App Store subscription and purchase model actually does scale and is therefore much more interesting.
I subscribed because I thought it was a way to support developers I love, and I’d use enough apps to make it financially worthwhile and I’d have a whole smorgasbord of apps to choose from and play with.
Instead, it seems like financially it’s at best a wash, the apps aren’t all that interesting. And I’ll support the developers I love by paying for their apps individually.
Yup. I’ll go further and say that power users with several devices are probably virtually their entire user base.
1 Like
I’ll support the developers I love by paying for their apps individually
Exactly my thoughts as well.
clarification question - do you need one SetApp seat for ALL iOS devices, or one seat for EACH iOS device? I can’t fully tell. Using Ulysses on both my iPhone and my iPad, that would be a big difference.
I’m currently discussing with support, and: one seat = one device.
If that had been one seat = all iOS devices, then that wouldn’t have been so bad.
2 Likes
Wow, that’s a rough path. I’m surprised they went all-in like that so quickly. Maybe it’s necessary so that the QR code can’t be used on 50 devices?
I want SetApp to continue and grow, but another $10 bucks a month for basically ulysesses is probably too much.
Side note: You guys were getting the iOS version of MindNode for free with your Setapp subscription? I paid $15 bucks for it on the App Store, and never upgraded to MindNode Plus!
I’m going down that path in my mind, and will probably follow suit. I have a lot of Setapp-provided apps “just because they’re in Setapp”. Not things I would buy anyway. Recently I bought the App Store version of MarginNote because it was never getting timely updates, including bug fixes (for a very buggy app) in SetApp. That purchase alone blew away the reason to keep my SetApp subscription alive for a year.
2 Likes
I have only one seat because that is how the Ed discount works. I can still use on my 3 Macs, I just have to sign into the website and disconnect the current Mac to allow me to sign in on another. It’s a pain, but I am getting it cheap(er). If the friction was too much I would have to pay more. I expect that is how the iOS device thing will work, but I also expect the friction coefficient will be higher.As it is I already owned many of the SetApps and aren’t that much interested in some of the niche apps, so I think I will be leaving too when it comes to renewal time.
1 Like
Well, based on this thread it seems I made the right choice in not using Setapp. I’ve taken the approach of minimizing subscriptions and total apps, using default apps when they are “good enough” and whenever possible paying for apps out right. I had a brief dalliance with Ulysses, which I like, but after several trials of Ulysses and Scrivener I’m settling on the latter. It is powerful, sync is rock solid and there is no subscription. I use IA Writer or the non-subscription version of Drafts for plain text and Markdown when needed. Virtually all of my apps sync across my devices so I can use them on any device at anytime.
For my workflow needs this approach works well and is cost effective.
1 Like
When I first started hearing about Setapp I figured there was no way in the world I would pay the price they were asking. When the education discount came along I took the plunge and I have loved it. However, the bad press Setapp is getting here is deserved in my opinion. It is just too much for too little. I am afraid this is a sign that the service may be at the beginning of the end. I have 28 of the apps installed at this time. It was 29 this morning. I was working on an email for incoming students and remembered that I had a Grammarly clone from Setapp (ProWritingAid) and I decided to scan my email before sending it. For some reason the app wouldn’t open. I did some research and found it had been pulled from Setapp in June. The developer said they weren’t making enough money to make it worth the effort. As a user of the service this is troubling to me for two reasons:
-
I want to be able to rely on having the apps I use available when I need them. The Netflix model doesn’t guarantee this.
-
This may indicate financial problems with the service. The recent price changes for iOS devices may be an attempt to fix that.
The service has been great for me. I am a fairly recent Mac convert and I don’t have years of software purchases to rely on. I have found several apps I would miss if I didn’t have Setapp any more. However, I am beginning to think I should start purchasing my most used apps because I am afraid they may start to disappear either from being pulled or from a collapse of the service.
3 Likes
Like many here, this is going to prompt me to reevaluate this subscription. I’ll certainly review it before it renews.
I get some value from CleanMyMac, but I sometimes think that I could happily use the free alternatives. I have been happy to install some other apps as needed, like when I wanted to query a SQL database for no particular reason last week. The solution on SetApp was powerful, easy to install and trustworthy. There is value, the question again is how much?
1 Like
For those of you who were already subscribed and had apps installed on iOS, are your iOS apps still working even If you don’t have a “seat” for iOS? Mine are.
I’m guessing that those of us who were already subscribed will continue to see things work.
That said, I fully agree that for new subscriptions, this move seriously reduces the value.
1 Like
All of my Setapp iOS apps I used previously are still working: Mindnode, Ulysses, Paste. Without another seat, as I am on the edu discount.
1 Like
They are working. For now. I would like to think the iOS/iPadOS apps that were installed before the subscription policy change are somehow grandfathered, but I haven’t seen anything from the company that says that. So I suspect they will stop working when, for example, Ulysses does a major upgrade on mobile platforms.
1 Like
I have had confirmation from support that they will keep working for now.
It was heavily implied that the new system will take over at some point, and that I was already grandfathered in with a two-plan device that’s not available anymore.
I can’t for the life of me figure how the company can remotely think this makes financial sense.
1 Like
I’ve done a little more checking this morning, and found two pages at the Setapp site that are relevant here.
At the bottom of Manage devices (seats): use Setapp on several Macs — buried at the bottom of the page — is this note: “If you’ve been using Setapp on several Macs before, you might find this article useful: The price or other terms of my subscription plan changed. Does that affect me too?”
The important bits of information there:
- “If you’ve been an active Setapp member for any time, your subscription terms and conditions, including price, won’t change and will stay the same as they were in your first payment.”
- “New terms and prices only apply to new Setapp members. However, if you decide to change or reactivate your subscription (after canceling it or missing some subscription payments), the conditions may change.”
So, as I read this, those of us who already subscribe should see things continue as they’ve always been — as long as we don’t let our subscriptions lapse. In my case, that means I have one seat for my Mac (I have the .edu subscription) and the ability to use apps on both my iPhone and iPad, since iOS devices weren’t “seats” when I subscribed.
That gives me good incentive to keep my subscription active, since my yearly fee is only slightly more than what I’d pay for Ulysses alone otherwise (and I use several apps in addition to Ulysses).
But I doubt I’d come aboard as a new subscriber under the current terms.
5 Likes
Assuming you had an “old” annual subscription with 2 seats: It looks that even if you change your plan for annual to monthly, the number of computers that you can install Setapp, goes from 2 to 1.
1 Like