Breaking down Setapp by category: Overview of what’s inside your subscription

I learned that the Setapp subscription provides access to over 250 Mac, iOS, and web apps for one fee. My favorite and frequently used apps include 2Do, Timing, Ulysses, Craft, CleanMyMac, and Capto. New apps are added regularly, and most sync across devices, making it ideal for freelancers, students, and creators who want to streamline their tools.

If you’re new to Setapp or just looking to learn more and improve your skills, I’ll showcase the best apps in Setapp 2025 that are included in the subscription and worth trying.

What’s included in a Setapp subscription?

A Setapp subscription is more than just apps. It’s an ecosystem built to simplify your digital life. Here’s what you get when you subscribe to Setapp:

• For a single monthly fee, you get 250+ premium Mac and iOS tools in popular categories: productivity, creativity, development, utilities, and writing. 
• No ads, no hidden costs, no endless trial-hopping. Once the trial's over, you just pay a flat monthly fee that covers everything. Learn more about Setapp subscription plans.
• Every plan gives you the full app library, with options to stick to one Mac or sync across Mac and iOS. 
• Beyond the apps themselves, Setapp also offers automatic updates, easy syncing, expert-picked additions, and built-in support whenever you need it.

You can also take a look at the full list of Setapp benefits.

Setapp apps by category — What you get and what they do

Whether you’re chasing deadlines, writing your next big piece, debugging code, or giving your Mac a tune-up, there’s an app waiting for you. Here’s a closer look at Setapp subscription app categories and the kinds of jobs they solve.

Productivity & workflow

Users looking to optimize their workflow will see Setapp as the ultimate everyday command hub. It offers tools that handle busy work so you can focus on big moves. A quick rundown of productivity tools included in Setapp:

• 2Do: This powerhouse task manager bends to your style. You can create tasks, checklists, projects, color-coded lists, and even location‑based reminders. The tool is perfect for freelancers juggling client work or parents balancing school runs.

• Timing: With this tool you can stop wondering where your Mac screen time always vanishes to. Timing auto‑tracks your app usage, groups activities by project, and spits out polished reports for invoices or retrospectives. Ideal for consultants, developers billing by the hour, or anyone wondering what they’ve been doing the whole time. 

• Paste: This app allows you to capture texts, images, links, and more with unlimited clipboard capacity. It is a practical helper for writers, designers, and data enthusiasts who want to keep ideas organized and ready to use.

• Workspaces: With this tool, you can drop files, folders, links, and even notes into a project bubble with this one-stop workstation. Project managers, researchers, and multitaskers will have less clutter and organizing to worry about. 

Writing & note-taking

These apps are designed for anyone who needs a place for their words and ideas. They transform empty pages into refined writing and disorganized thoughts into well-structured notes. 

The best apps in Setapp 2025 for this category include:

• Ulysses: The app lets you edit markdown without distractions with a proofreader designed for heavy-duty writing. Long‑form writers, bloggers, and novelists can organize sheets into projects, track word‑count progress, and publish directly to WordPress or Medium.

• Craft: With Craft, note hoarders, visual thinkers, and team collaborators can create visually rich documents using templates for meeting notes, SOPs, or a gratitude journal. Users can embed images, videos, and links, and share and comment in real time. 

• NotePlan: A hybrid calendar and notes app that lets you organize your schedule with daily notes, connect tasks to events, and reference projects easily. This Markdown-based paper planner is ideal for GTD enthusiasts, bullet journal lovers, and busy professionals. 

Development tools

Setapp brings together a strong lineup of developer essentials, the kind of tools that keep code clean, databases under control, and APIs easy to work with. Core picks include:

• DevUtils: Anyone who’s ever pasted JSON into a random website will find this app useful. Backend and frontend developers can explore over 30 mini-tools designed to streamline their workflow. The intelligent detection feature automatically selects the appropriate tool based on your clipboard content, including JSON beautifiers, JWT debuggers, timestamp converters, regex testers, and more. 

• SnippetsLab: Developers often stash code snippets, but only if it's super easy to find them again. SnippetsLab makes that whole find-and-reuse process simple. Its library helps programmers who are drowning in boilerplate, teams sharing quick hacks, or solo developers looking for some order. You can tag, group, and sync code snippets across more than 420 languages. Preview snippets from the menu bar, link to docs, or even push them to GitHub Gists for effortless sharing.

• TablePlus: Use this native GUI to efficiently manage and query multiple databases. Quick access tabs, intelligent filters, and native speed enable you to generate queries instantly. TablePlus reduces the hassle for database admins, full-stack developers, and data analysts working with MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Redis.

Mac maintenance & utilities

Essential for keeping your Mac fast, clean, and efficient, these apps help you declutter, diagnose, and safeguard your system so it runs smoothly day after day. Here are the best Mac maintenance apps included in Setapp:

• CleanMyMac: When your Mac slows down due to old caches, stray files, or lurking malware, CleanMyMac offers a one-click solution. It includes malware removal, system maintenance scripts, and health monitoring.

• Gemini: Photographers, music fans, or anyone with hidden duplicate photos or music files will really appreciate this app’s usefulness. Germini scans everywhere on your drives for duplicates and similar files. Plus, real-time monitoring helps you keep your drives tidy. 

Creativity & media

Whether you’re designing visuals, editing video, or capturing ideas on the go, these apps give you the tools to create smoothly and professionally. Perfect for designers, video editors, and digital content creators who want everything in one place:

• Capto: You can record and capture videos, create demos, and access editing tools for both video and text. Plus, Capto allows you to manage multiple projects with batch organization. Perfect for educators, tutorial creators, and UX designers. 

• Permute: A versatile converting tool for anyone dealing with multiple file formats. It supports video, audio, image, and document conversion, handles batch processing, and uses hardware acceleration to reduce conversion time. It’s particularly useful when you need reliable, repeatable results without extra setup.

• Gifox: This app allows you to create animated GIFs for professional-looking marketing materials, reports, memes, etc., using top-notch screen capture and editing tools. It is ideal for marketers, bug reporters, and GIF aficionados.

• CleanShot X: The app brings you advanced screenshot capture (scrolling, timed), screen recording, built‑in annotation, OCR, and 1 GB cloud sharing. For content creators, UI/UX researchers, and team collaborators.

Personal insight: Having all these apps separately would cost a fortune for me. That’s why I rely on the Setapp subscription, which allows me to use all these apps with all features included and without ads for just $9.99/month + tax. If you still want to explore pricing and whether it’s worth it, I recommend you check the Setapp pricing overview.

What kind of users benefit most from each category?

Still not sure if Setapp fits into your life? Here are a few examples of how different people use it day to day and how one subscription quietly replaces a whole lineup of paid tools.

The overloaded freelancer (productivity & workflow)      

Picture a solo designer trying to balance client projects, invoices, and an overflowing desktop. With Setapp, they’d keep:

• 2Do to manage deadlines
• Timing to log work automatically
• Paste for quick access to text and visuals
• Unclutter to keep the desktop neat.

The aspiring novelist (writing & creativity)

Now, imagine a writer with half-finished drafts scattered across apps. Setapp writing bundle lets you:

• Draft chapters in Ulysses
• Outline characters in Craft
• Track your thoughts in Diarly.

The startup CTO (development tools)

For a two-person dev team, tool sprawl is real, and that’s a lot of separate licenses to manage. Developer apps included in Setapp live under one roof:

• Snippets are instantly available, and queries run smoothly in TablePlus
• APIs get tested in Clobbr
• Docs load offline in Dash
• DevUtils handles the grunt work 

The careful collector (Mac maintenance & utilities)

Some people treat their Mac like a classic car: polished, tuned, and never ignored. With Setapp, you can:

• Run a cleanup with CleanMyMac
• Free up gigabytes with Gemini
• Recover lost files with Get Backup Pro

What you get with Setapp? [Final thoughts]

What I like most about the tools included in Setapp is that it takes the decision fatigue out of finding the right app. Instead of managing five different subscriptions, I just open Setapp and know I’ll find what I need (whether it’s a screenshot tool, a backup app, or a video editor). 

For me, the real value is how much headspace it frees up. With one subscription, my Mac is always ready for whatever project comes next. So if you want to try Setapp too, you can get a 7-day free trial and test all 250+ before committing.