Software you own, not rent
While the industry pushes monthly subscriptions, this directory collects the opposite: Mac software you buy once or use for free — with no recurring fee and no features vanishing the moment you stop paying.
Every listing is reviewed by hand. Only software with a fair, subscription-free model gets in. Listing is free for now; developers can submit their own app at any time.
Current listings
NotchLive
Live captions in the notch, no cloud
Freemium (no subscription) · Mac
RooCards
Loyalty cards as barcodes on your iPhone
Freemium (no subscription) · iOS
Cadence
Weekly planning in a single window
One-time purchase · Mac, iOS
Dispatch
An ASO toolkit for indie developers
One-time purchase · Mac
Drip Send
Personal emails from your own mailbox
One-time purchase · Mac
Rank for Mac
Search Console data as a weekly SEO plan
One-time purchase · Mac
Wallset
Switch wallpapers with a keystroke
Freemium (no subscription) · Mac
Suzume Mail
Mail threads that read like a conversation
One-time purchase · Mac
Folder Lock Vault
Folders sealed into encrypted vaults on your Mac
One-time purchase · Mac
MailTwin
Apple Mail replies in your own voice
One-time purchase · Mac
Vocal Notes
Transcription that never leaves your Mac
One-time purchase · Mac
Mundwerk
Fast, private dictation for macOS
Freemium (no subscription) · Mac
Druckkosten
Print-cost calculator for print shops
One-time purchase · Mac
CameraView
All your HomeKit cameras in one grid
Free · Mac
Acorn
Image editing without the bloat
One-time purchase · Mac
RadianceKit
Gaussian-splatting toolkit for macOS
Freemium (no subscription) · Mac
Sublime Text
A blazing-fast code and text editor
One-time purchase · Mac
Rectangle
Snap windows with keyboard shortcuts
Free · Mac
Monodraw
ASCII diagrams and art
One-time purchase · Mac
Keka
Compress and extract files
Free · Mac
Maccy
Clipboard history that stays out of the way
Free · Mac
NetNewsWire
A fast, ad-free RSS reader
Free · Mac
Cyberduck
Files to servers and clouds
Free · Mac
ImageOptim
Shrink images without quality loss
Free · Mac
IINA
The modern media player for macOS
Free · Mac
HandBrake
Convert video, free and powerful
Free · Mac
Transmission
A lean BitTorrent client
Free · Mac
Listen4Me
Real-time live captions of speech
Free · iOS, iPadOS
Sections: Productivity · Utilities · Internet · Graphics · Development · Media · Accessibility
Keyword index
no subscription subscription-free one-time purchase free open source freemium live captions local on-device AI speech-to-text 3D from photos 3D scenes 7z accessibility AES-256 AI email assistant Amazon S3 app marketing App Store Connect App Store optimisation Apple Mail Apple Silicon Apple Wallet ASCII art ASCII diagrams ASO Atom audio to text automatic wallpaper rotation AV1 bilingual BitTorrent bring your own API key bring your own SMTP camera grid camera viewer caption app card widget change wallpaper clipboard history clipboard manager cloud storage code editor compress files compression cost calculator deliverability SPF DKIM DMARC diagramming dictation downloading torrents draft emails DVD ripper email outreach email replies encrypt folder encryption without the cloud extract fast feed reader file archiver file transfer follow-ups FTP client Gaussian splatting Google Search Console H.265 HomeKit HomeKit cameras iCloud sync without an account image compression image editor IMAP import contacts improve click-through rate interview transcription iPhone to-do app keyboard shortcut keyboard shortcuts keyboard-first keyword ranking layers live translation local AI local transcription loyalty cards iPhone Mac captions Mac email client Mac SEO tool Mac task list Mac vault Mac wallpaper app macOS dictation macOS player mail threads media player meeting notes menu bar app multiple displays news reader newsletter without a subscription niche research offline offline speech recognition on-device speech recognition on-device transcription optimize PNG P2P password protect a folder paste history photo editing photo editor photogrammetry plan your week plugins print cost calculator print shop pricing programming protect files quote generator radiance fields rank tracking real-time captions reduce image size retouching review mining rewards cards RSS RSS reader scan barcode card SEO without a monthly dashboard SFTP shrink JPEG SMTP store card wallet subtitles surveillance technical SEO audit text diagrams text editor tiling torrent client transcription unrar video converter video player video transcoder video transcription voice typing wallpaper switcher week view weekly planner Whisper window management window manager window snapping ZIP Zoom captions