Mac Apps Without a Subscription: 15 You Can Still Buy Once

I sell a Mac app for a one-time price, so I notice when other apps quietly move to a subscription. Every few months a tool I paid for once asks me for a monthly fee, and I end up checking which apps still let you buy once. This is that list, checked on each vendor's own pricing page on 9 October 2026.

One of the 15 is mine: MacMD Viewer, a read-only Markdown viewer at $19.99 one-time. It sits in the writing and reading group, not at the top. Read that entry knowing who wrote it.

Quick answer#

These Mac apps can still be bought once, without a subscription, as of 9 October 2026:

• Writing and reading: Typora, Things 3, MacMD Viewer
• Screenshots: CleanShot X
• Utilities: Alfred Powerpack, Bartender 7, iStat Menus, Little Snitch
• Files: Hazel, Transmit
• Media and design: Pixelmator Pro, Affinity (free), Audio Hijack
• Developer tools: BBEdit, Nova

"One-time" does not always mean "updates forever". The table says what each licence covers, because that is where the real cost hides.

App	Category	Pricing model	What a licence covers	Verified
Typora	Writing	One-time, $14.99	Up to 3 devices	2026-10-09
Things 3	Tasks	One-time, $49.99 (Mac)	Mac app; Things Cloud sync is free	2026-10-09
MacMD Viewer	Reading Markdown	One-time, $19.99	One Mac at a time	2026-10-09
CleanShot X	Screenshots	One-time with a year of updates, $35	1 year of updates, then $19/year to renew (optional)	2026-10-09
Alfred Powerpack	Launcher	One-time, £34 or £59	£34: v5 licence plus free upgrade to Alfred 6. £59: lifetime upgrades	2026-10-09
Bartender 7	Menu bar	One-time + paid upgrades (Pro is a subscription)	All Bartender 7 updates, on all your Macs	2026-10-09
iStat Menus	System monitor	One-time + paid upgrades	Current major version (7); v8 would be a discounted upgrade	2026-10-09
Little Snitch	Network firewall	One-time + paid upgrades	One user on multiple Macs; valid for v5 and v6	2026-10-09
Hazel	File automation	One-time + paid upgrades, $42	Hazel 6; upgrade from older versions $20	2026-10-09
Transmit	File transfer	One-time, $45	Transmit 5	2026-10-09
Pixelmator Pro	Image editing	One-time, $49.99 (App Store), or Creator Studio subscription	Mac app; iPad app and some tools only in the subscription	2026-10-09
Affinity	Design	Free for individuals	Full app; AI tools need a Canva premium plan	2026-10-09
Audio Hijack	Audio recording	One-time + paid upgrades, $69	Current version on all your personal Macs	2026-10-09
BBEdit	Text editor	One-time + paid upgrades, $59.99; free mode	Maintenance updates to BBEdit 16	2026-10-09
Nova	Code editor	One-time with a year of updates, $99	1 year of updates, then $49/year to renew (optional)	2026-10-09

Prices are in the vendor's own currency, before tax, as their pages showed them to me.

The three kinds of "one-time"#

When a Mac developer says "buy once", they mean one of three models. Knowing which one you are buying tells you the real cost over five years.

1. Lifetime updates. You pay once and get every future version. It is the rarest model, because the developer has no income from you after day one. Alfred's Mega Supporter licence and Bartender's Mega Supporter tier work this way, at a higher upfront price.
2. One-time with a year of updates. You own the app forever, and updates stop after 12 months unless you renew. Stopping is fine: the app keeps working at the version you have. CleanShot X and Nova use this model. It is a subscription you can pause without losing the app.
3. One-time with paid major upgrades. You get every update within a major version (6.0 to 6.9), and the next major version costs a discounted upgrade price. This is the classic Mac model: Little Snitch, Hazel, iStat Menus, Audio Hijack and BBEdit all work like this. You choose whether the new version is worth it.

Setapp, the subscription alternative#

Setapp is the opposite approach: one monthly fee for a catalogue of Mac apps. Bjango's page lists it at $9.99 a month as a way to get iStat Menus; Setapp's own pricing page showed me $17.99 a month, tax included, for its Mac plan. Several apps here (CleanShot X, iStat Menus) are in it.

The maths is simple. If you use five or more Setapp apps every week, it can beat buying each one. If you need two or three, buying once costs less within a year or two, and nothing disappears when you stop paying.

Writing and reading#

Typora#

Typora is a Markdown editor that hides the syntax as you type, so the document looks like the final result. It costs $14.99, covers up to 3 devices, and has a 15-day trial. For a polished writing app, that is the lowest price on this list, and it is one of the picks in my Mac apps for writers roundup.

Buy it if you write in Markdown and want the formatting to disappear while you type.

Things 3#

Things is a task manager with a reputation for being calm to use. The Mac app is $49.99 on the App Store with no in-app purchases, and Things Cloud, the sync service, is free. The iPhone and iPad apps are separate App Store purchases. Version 3.24.1 shipped on 30 September, so it is still maintained.

Buy it if you want a to-do app you pay for once and never think about again.

MacMD Viewer (I build this one)#

MacMD Viewer opens Markdown files in a native reading window: Mermaid diagrams, highlighted code, 12 themes and PDF export. It doesn't edit. You keep writing in VS Code, Cursor, Obsidian or Typora, and MacMD reloads the open file when the editor saves it. Its Quick Look extension renders a .md file when you press Space in Finder. It costs $19.99 once, for one Mac at a time, with no subscription and no trial.

Read-only is a deliberate limit. If your editor's preview pane is enough for you, you don't need it. I compare it with the free options in the best Markdown viewers.

Buy it if you read more Markdown than you write: READMEs, docs, notes from AI coding agents.

Screenshots#

CleanShot X#

CleanShot X captures, annotates, blurs and records from one overlay, and it scroll-captures long pages. The Basic licence is $35 one-time and includes the app, one year of updates and 1 GB of cloud storage. After the first year, updates renew at $19 a year if you want them. The Pro plan is a subscription for teams and unlimited cloud storage; you don't need it for local screenshots.

Buy it if you take screenshots for work every day.

Utilities#

Alfred Powerpack#

Alfred is a launcher, and the free version already replaces Spotlight for many people. The Powerpack adds workflows, clipboard history and snippets. The Single licence is £34 and, at the time of writing, includes a free upgrade to Alfred 6. The £59 Mega Supporter licence includes free lifetime upgrades. Neither is a subscription.

Buy it if you want Raycast-style power without a subscription for the features you use.

Bartender 7#

Bartender hides and reorders menu bar icons, which matters on a MacBook with a notch. The one-time Bartender 7 licence covers all Bartender 7 updates on all your Macs. There is now also a Bartender Pro subscription with extra tools, and a Mega Supporter tier that is one-time with all future upgrades. The buy page loads prices dynamically, so I can't quote a number.

Buy it if your menu bar icons are disappearing under the notch.

iStat Menus#

iStat Menus shows CPU, memory, network, temperatures and battery in the menu bar. It sells single and family licences with a 14-day trial, and version 7 was a paid upgrade from version 6 (free for anyone who bought 6 from January 2024). The official page did not display the price when I checked, so I don't quote one: check Bjango's store before buying.

Buy it if you want more detail than a free monitor like Stats gives you.

Little Snitch#

Little Snitch shows and controls which apps connect to the internet. It is sold as a one-time licence; the order page did not show a price I could read, and it states that current licences are valid for versions 5 and 6. A single licence covers one user on several Macs. Without a key it runs in demo mode.

Buy it if you want to know what your apps send and to whom.

Files#

Hazel#

Hazel watches folders and acts on files by rule: rename, move, tag, delete old downloads. Hazel 6 is $42, a household Family Pack is $65, and owners of older versions upgrade for $20.

Buy it if your Downloads folder is a mess you clean by hand every week.

Transmit#

Transmit is Panic's file transfer app for SFTP, S3 and other servers. It costs $45 once ("Keep it forever for only $45"), with a 7-day trial, and requires macOS 13 or later.

Buy it if you move files to servers or cloud storage more than occasionally.

Media and design#

Pixelmator Pro#

Pixelmator Pro is now an Apple app. It is part of Apple Creator Studio, a subscription at $12.99 a month or $129 a year, but Apple still sells the Mac version as a one-time purchase at $49.99 on the App Store. The subscription adds the iPad version and a few tools such as Warp.

Buy it if you edit photos and want a native Photoshop alternative you pay for once.

Affinity#

Affinity changed model: the app is now free for individuals, runs natively on Apple Silicon and Intel, and only the AI tools require a Canva premium plan. It belongs on a no-subscription list because the core design tools cost nothing.

Get it if you need layout, vector or photo work and don't need generative AI.

Audio Hijack#

Audio Hijack records audio from any app or device: calls, podcasts, streams. A single-user licence is $69 and covers the current version on all your personal Macs. Owners of version 3 upgraded to version 4 for $29, which is the model: one-time, with discounted major upgrades.

Buy it if you record podcasts or calls on a Mac.

Developer tools#

BBEdit#

BBEdit has been around since 1992 and has one of the fairest models on the Mac. After a 30-day trial it keeps working in a free mode without nag screens. A perpetual BBEdit 16 licence is $59.99 directly from Bare Bones and includes maintenance updates for that version; upgrades from 15.x cost $29.99. The Mac App Store version is a subscription only, because the App Store has no paid upgrades.

Buy it if you want a fast native text editor and prefer owning it to renting it. Buy direct, not from the App Store.

Nova#

Nova, Panic's code editor, is $99 once, with one year of updates. After that, updates continue at $49 a year if you opt in, and if you cancel you keep what you have. Panic offers a 30-day trial.

Buy it if you want a native Mac code editor instead of an Electron one, and accept paying for updates later.

Apps I left out#

• PDF Expert leads with weekly and yearly subscriptions. A Mac-only Lifetime licence still exists at €149.99, but the page says new features "may come at an extra cost". It is one-time in name, so I didn't list it.
• Ice, the free open-source Bartender alternative, would fit here, but its last GitHub release is from October 2024.
• Free apps such as IINA, Rectangle and Maccy cost nothing at all. They are covered in my must-have Mac apps for 2026.

Methodology#

• Source. I read each vendor's own pricing or store page on 9 October 2026. Where the page didn't show a price (iStat Menus, Little Snitch, Bartender), I give no price rather than an old one.
• Inclusion rule. An app is listed if you can use the full app today without paying a recurring fee. Apps that also sell a subscription stay in if the one-time option is real and covers the main features.
• Licence first, price second. Prices change and vary by country. What a licence covers changes less often, so the table puts it next to the price.
• Disclosure. I sell MacMD Viewer as a one-time purchase, so I have a stake in buyers preferring one-time apps. I put it in its category, not at the top.

Check the price before you buy. A list like this is accurate on the day it was checked, and pricing pages change without notice.

Frequently Asked Questions#

Are there Mac apps you buy once?#

Yes. On 9 October 2026, Transmit ($45), Hazel ($42), Things 3 ($49.99), Typora ($14.99), Audio Hijack ($69), Pixelmator Pro ($49.99 on the App Store) and MacMD Viewer ($19.99) were all sold as one-time purchases. Several others, such as CleanShot X and Nova, are one-time but include only a year of updates.

What does a one-time Mac licence usually cover?#

One of three things. Some licences include every future update. Many include updates for the current major version, and the next major version is a paid, discounted upgrade (Little Snitch, Hazel, iStat Menus, Audio Hijack). A few include one year of updates, after which you keep the version you have and can pay to renew (CleanShot X, Nova).

Is Setapp worth it compared to one-time apps?#

Setapp makes sense if you use five or more of its apps regularly and like trying new ones. If you only need two or three apps, buying them once is cheaper within a year or two, and you keep them if you stop paying. Check that the apps you want are actually in Setapp's catalogue before subscribing.

Which Mac apps switched from one-time to subscription?#

PDF Expert now leads with weekly and yearly subscriptions and keeps a Mac-only lifetime option at €149.99. BBEdit sells a subscription in the Mac App Store but still sells a perpetual licence directly. Pixelmator Pro moved into Apple Creator Studio, a subscription, while staying available as a $49.99 one-time purchase.

Are free Mac apps a good alternative to paid one-time apps?#

Often, yes. Affinity is now free for individuals, BBEdit has a permanent free mode, and open-source apps such as IINA, Rectangle and Maccy cover common gaps at no cost. Paid one-time apps earn their price when they save you time every day, and buying them keeps small developers in business.