I don’t know about you, but I prefer the premium app selection on macOS compared to Windows hands-down. I’ve spent more money on software for my Mac than I ever have for Windows because I think the apps are so much better on macOS.
Out of all the apps I’ve purchased on macOS throughout the years, these are the five that I’d buy all over again if I didn’t already own them. While not cheap, these expensive apps completely change how I use my MacBook Pro.
1Alfred
While Spotlight on macOS is pretty great, I’ve usedAlfredas my go-to Spotlight replacement for the past few years. In fact, I think I purchased Alfred 3 back in the day (with a lifetime license) and have enjoyed using it ever since.
Alfred doesn’t just replace Spotlight, it enhances it. With Alfred, I’m able to build out functions by typing, and even do things that Spotlight could never dream of. One of my favorite features of Alfred is Snippets.
With Snippets, I’m able to simply type a combination of keys in any text field and Alfred will go about replacing the text I type with pre-defined text. I use this several times a day. I can type “kkem” to insert my email. Typing “kkad” will insert my shipping address. One that I use very often is “kkw” which inserts my name formatted as a photo credit for the pictures I take for How-To Geek.
I used to pay Text Expander $40 per year just for the ability to do the text expansion that Alfred does. That’s all Text Expander did. Alfred does text expansion and so much more. For instance, Alfred can also provide the definition of a word if you simply type “define” while typing “sleep” will put your Mac to sleep.
Really, Alfred is a whole box of tools in one. The above is barely scratching the surface of what the app is capable of. However, all of those features come at a price, which is about $80. Right now, the lifetime supporter pass for Alfred (what I’d recommend you buy as they release new versions frequently) is £59, which equates to $78.44 at the time of writing.
There is a cheaper plan for Alfred, which only gives you access to Alfred 5 (the current version), for £34, or about $45.20.
Either way you slice it, Alfred isn’t cheap, but it’s extremely powerful and totally worth it in my workflow. I don’t regret it at all.
Alfred
Alfred replaces the default macOS Spotlight search engine with a more powerful alternative.
2Photomator
I’ve been interested in photography and I’ve been doing it as a hobby for the past 12 years or so. Most of that time, I’ve usedAdobe Lightroomto edit my RAW photos. I’ve been using Lightroom for so long, I thought I’d never leave it.
I routinely tried to find a replacement for Lightroom every year that my Adobe subscription was up for renewal. For years, I was unable to successfully quit Lightroom—that is, untilPhotomatorcame around. While Photomator has existed for a few years, I’d never tried it until recently.
About a month ago, I saw Photomator featured in a YouTube video, and it looked to be exactly what I wanted in a Lightroom replacement. I looked into it, and found that there was a free trial to give it a shot. So, I tried it out and was instantly hooked.
While Photomator works slightly differently compared to Lightroom, the core functionality is the same, and that’s what I’ve been looking for. The way it organizes photos is similar enough to Lightroom that I feel at home, and the editing panes also work the same.
I’m able to edit all of my photography in Photomator as if I’ve been using it for years now, even though I’ve only used it for about a month. What really sold me on Photomator was the price—$8 per month, $30 per year, or $120 lifetime. I opted for the annual plan for now just to keep my out-of-pocket costs low, but I’ll likely spring for the lifetime plan next year.
Considering a year of Lightroom costs $144, Photomator is a steal. It’s definitely more expensive than using Apple Photos or afree and open-source alternative like Darktable, but I absolutely love Photomator and think it’s well worth the cost.
Photomator
Photomator is an Adobe Lightroom alternative when it comes to editing your RAW photos on macOS.
3Pixelmator Pro
I’ve also been a long-time Photoshop user. In fact, I’ve used Photoshop since back in the CS6 days. The problem is, back in 2013, Adobe went away from a one-time purchase of its software to a never-ending subscription.
Sadly, I’ve been caught in that subscription for so long that I don’t even want to think about the thousands of dollars I’ve given Adobe over the years. Thankfully, when my recent annual subscription to Adobe was due for renewal, I looked for a new Photoshop replacement (like I always do) and stumbled acrossPixelmator Pro.
Pixelmator was purchased by Appleback in November 2024, and has since received several solid updates, and offers many of the same features that Photoshop does. I use Pixelmator to do content-aware erase and fill, resizing, layering, and everything that I used to do in Photoshop.
The best part about Pixelmator Pro is that it’s both a vector and raster editor. It replaces both Photoshop and Illustrator for me, which makes it even better value.
However, there’s something even better about Pixelmator than just the fact it can replaceboth Photoshop and Illustrator—its price. Pixelmator Pro costs just $50. Yes, a one-time purchase of $50 is all it takes to get this solid Photoshop replacement, and it was a no-brainer purchase for me.
Pixelmator Pro
Pixelmator Pro is both a raster and vector photo editor, akin to Photoshop, developed exclusively for macOS.
4Ulysses
I have an on-off relationship withUlysses, but it’s hands down one of the best Markdown editors that I’ve ever used. I have written thousands of articles over the years using Ulysses, and the experience is quite fantastic.
When I’m wantingpureMarkdown writing, I have other apps that I use. But, if I’m working up a blog post that I plan to publish directly, then I’ll use Ulysses. Yes, Ulysses can publish your blog posts. I maintain a few personal blogs that run on WordPress and I can do all of my writing, inserting links and photos, and even setting tags in Ulysses. A few simple clicks sends it to WordPress, and all my formatting stays intact.
This is something no other Markdown editor I’ve used can do, and I absolutely love it. I hate the WordPress editor that Automattic switched to a few years ago. It’s just not intuitive to me, and the more I can avoid it, the happier I am.
Ulysses also does a great job at using Apple’s iCloud to sync articles between devices. I use Ulysses to write my Sunday School lessons for church, sermons, other notes, and more. Sadly, unlike the other apps on this list, Ulysses does require an annual subscription to use. You’ll pay $40 per year to use Ulysses, but it’s also included inSetAppif you have that subscription already.
While $40 per year isn’t a lot up front, it does add up over the long haul. I’ve had a Ulysses subscription since 2018, which means I’ve paid nearly $300 for access to a writing app.
I get that there are other free Markdown editors out there, andI’ve written about thembefore, but the Ulysses experience with posting to WordPress is just unmatched, making it a staple of my workflow.
Ulysses is a premium Markdown editor for macOS.
5Final Cut Pro
I’ve been doing video work for longer than I’ve been interested in photography. I started off using Premiere Pro and have ebbed and flowed through different apps as the years wore on. DaVinci Resolve, Premiere Pro, iMovie, LumaFusion, and others have all had a place on my desktop or laptop at one point or another. However, one app stands strong over a decade later for me:Final Cut Pro.
I got Final Cut Pro X back in 2012 when I purchased my first MacBook Pro. I originally got it as part of a student deal (that Apple still offers), where it cost me just $200 to get Final Cut Pro X, Logic Pro X, Compressor, Motion, and MainStage.
ThePro Apps Bundle for Educationmade Final Cut Pro affordable for me back in 2012. However, even today, Final Cut Pro is quite affordable compared to other professional-level video editing tools. At $300 with a one-time purchase, you’ll find that Final Cut Pro is way more affordable than Premiere Pro, which costs $276 per year to have access to.
Final Cut Pro is my favorite editor that I’ve ever used. While I started on Premiere Pro, once I took the time to learn Final Cut Pro, I couldn’t turn back. For the last few years that I was on Windows, I was back to using Premiere Pro for editing, and I honestly just couldn’t get into the flow with it. I kept wishing it was Final Cut Pro.
So, moving back to my MacBook, I’m much happier using Final Cut Pro again. It’s just a simpler tool, and I love the magnetic timeline. If I didn’t get Final Cut Pro as part of the Pro Apps Bundle for Education, I’d absolutely pay the $300 for it right now. It’s such a great app, and Apple keeps it updated with the latest hardware features for free once you buy it.
Final Cut Pro
Final Cut Pro is Apple’s premiere non-linear video editor, designed to compete with the likes of Premiere Pro and DaVinci Resolve.
While these apps are pretty pricey, there are plenty offree and open source apps for macOSthat you should definitely check out.
Plus, you should definitelyconsider replacing some of the default macOS appswith some third-party alternatives. I did that with Alfred (replacing Spotlight), but there are several other apps I should consider swapping out, too.
