# Native Mac apps by the numbers

> Pricing, availability and update figures for the 188 native macOS apps listed on MacWorthy, computed from Mac App Store, GitHub and Homebrew data checked 2026-10-19. A hand-picked set, not the whole Mac market.

## Key findings

1. 55% of the 188 native Mac apps on MacWorthy are free to start: open source, free, or free with paid upgrades.
2. 14% are sold only as a subscription, and 31% are paid up front.
3. 27% (51 apps) are open source, with a median of 8.7k GitHub stars.
4. 36% are on the Mac App Store, and 69% can be installed with a Homebrew cask.
5. Paid apps on the Mac App Store have a median one-time price of $13.99 (from $1.99 to $199.99).
6. 85% of apps with a public release date shipped an update in the last 90 days, and 94% in the last year.
7. Money leans most on subscriptions (3 of 5 apps), and Security & Privacy has the highest open-source share (5 of 8).

## Pricing models

| Pricing model | Apps | Share |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Open source | 51 | 27% |
| Free | 8 | 4% |
| Free + Pro | 44 | 23% |
| Paid | 59 | 31% |
| Subscription | 26 | 14% |

## By category

| Category | Apps | Free to start | Subscription | Open source | Mac App Store |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Productivity](https://macworthy.com/categories/productivity.md) | 32 | 38% | 31% | 16% | 63% |
| [Writing & Notes](https://macworthy.com/categories/writing.md) | 16 | 63% | 19% | 13% | 75% |
| [Developer Tools](https://macworthy.com/categories/developer.md) | 24 | 79% | 13% | 42% | 13% |
| [Design & Photo](https://macworthy.com/categories/design.md) | 18 | 33% | 22% | 17% | 61% |
| [Video & Capture](https://macworthy.com/categories/video.md) | 11 | 64% | 0% | 27% | 18% |
| [Audio & Voice](https://macworthy.com/categories/audio.md) | 12 | 25% | 8% | 17% | 17% |
| [Windows & Desktop](https://macworthy.com/categories/windows.md) | 16 | 50% | 0% | 44% | 25% |
| [Utilities](https://macworthy.com/categories/utilities.md) | 37 | 65% | 3% | 27% | 22% |
| [AI & Automation](https://macworthy.com/categories/ai.md) | 9 | 67% | 11% | 44% | 0% |
| [Security & Privacy](https://macworthy.com/categories/privacy.md) | 8 | 88% | 0% | 63% | 25% |
| [Money](https://macworthy.com/categories/finance.md) | 5 | 20% | 60% | 0% | 80% |

## Most-starred open-source apps

| App | GitHub stars | License |
| --- | --- | --- |
| [Zed](https://macworthy.com/apps/zed.md) | 92k | – |
| [Ghostty](https://macworthy.com/apps/ghostty.md) | 62k | MIT |
| [IINA](https://macworthy.com/apps/iina.md) | 47k | GPL-3.0 |
| [Stats](https://macworthy.com/apps/stats.md) | 43k | MIT |
| [MonitorControl](https://macworthy.com/apps/monitorcontrol.md) | 35k | MIT |
| [Rectangle](https://macworthy.com/apps/rectangle.md) | 30k | – |
| [Ice](https://macworthy.com/apps/ice.md) | 30k | GPL-3.0 |
| [HandBrake](https://macworthy.com/apps/handbrake.md) | 25k | – |
| [CodeEdit](https://macworthy.com/apps/codeedit.md) | 23k | MIT |
| [Karabiner-Elements](https://macworthy.com/apps/karabiner-elements.md) | 23k | Unlicense |

## Questions

### How many Mac apps are subscriptions?

Of the 188 native Mac apps on MacWorthy, 26 (14%) are sold only as a subscription. Another 59 (31%) are paid up front, and 103 (55%) are free to start.

### What does a paid Mac app cost?

Among the 18 apps sold up front on the Mac App Store, the median price is $13.99, from $1.99 to $199.99.

### How many good Mac apps are open source?

51 of the 188 apps (27%) are open source. The most-starred on GitHub are Zed, Ghostty, IINA.

### Are most Mac apps on the Mac App Store?

36% of the apps we list are on the Mac App Store. Many of the rest are sold from the developer's website, and 69% of all apps can be installed with Homebrew.

HTML version: https://macworthy.com/stats/