The Mac App Store gets a bad reputation. People say it’s full of scammy apps, overpriced subscriptions, and abandoned projects. And honestly? Some of that is true.
But buried between the subscription upsells and the knockoff apps are genuine gems — small, polished utilities built by indie developers who care about their craft. They cost less than a sandwich, they work beautifully, and they never ask for a monthly fee.
Here are the ones worth finding.
What makes an App Store gem
Not every cheap app is a gem. The apps on this list share four qualities:
These aren’t apps trying to be platforms. They’re tools — sharp, well-made, and purposeful.
The gems
QuietClip — Clipboard manager ($8.99)
Your Mac’s clipboard holds one item. QuietClip holds a thousand. Press ⌘⇧V and a Spotlight-style panel appears with your entire clipboard history — text, images, and files, all searchable. Everything stays on your Mac. No account, no cloud, no network access.
QuietClip is the app on this list you’ll use the most. Clipboard history sounds boring until you try it — then you can’t go back. macOS 14+, SwiftUI-native, under 5 MB. Free to start, $8.99 once for Pro.
Tot — Menu bar scratchpad ($19.99… wait)
Tot actually costs $19.99, which puts it just outside the $15 limit. But its menu bar widget is free, and that’s the part most people use — seven colored text scratchpads for quick notes, phone numbers, and temporary text. If the widget is enough, it costs nothing.
Hand Mirror — Camera check ($7.99)
One icon in your menu bar. Click it, see your webcam feed for a few seconds. That’s the entire app. It sounds trivial until you join a video call with bedhead or food on your face. Hand Mirror pays for itself the first time it saves you from embarrassment.
Batteries — Device battery monitor ($12.99)
Shows battery levels for all your Apple accessories in one menu bar icon: AirPods (left, right, case), Magic Keyboard, Magic Mouse, Magic Trackpad. Much more reliable than the Bluetooth menu, and it shows percentages instead of vague icons.
SpeakLine — Text to speech ($4.99)
Select text in any app, press a shortcut, and your Mac reads it aloud using high-quality system voices. Useful for proofreading (you catch errors you’d miss reading silently), accessibility, or consuming articles while doing something else.
Rocket Typist — Text expansion ($9.99)
Type a short abbreviation and it expands to a full snippet — email signatures, addresses, code templates, standard replies. Does what TextExpander does without the $4/month subscription. Snippets sync via iCloud.
One Switch — Menu bar toggles ($4.99)
Common Mac toggles behind a single menu bar icon: keep screen awake, toggle dark mode, hide desktop icons, show hidden files, connect AirPods. Each toggle saves you a trip to System Settings.
Pockity — Code snippet manager ($4.99)
A library for code snippets with syntax highlighting and organization. Lives in the menu bar, lets you search and paste snippets directly into your editor. Better than a folder of random text files.
Amphetamine — Keep your Mac awake (Free)
Prevents your Mac from sleeping during presentations, downloads, or long processes. More reliable and more configurable than the built-in settings. One of the highest-rated free utilities on the entire App Store.
Dato — Menu bar clock and calendar ($6.99)
Click the time in your menu bar and get a proper calendar with events, time zones, and upcoming meetings. Integrates with Google Calendar and Exchange. Far more useful than macOS’s built-in menu bar clock.
Why buy from the App Store
Some of these apps are also available directly from developer websites. Both options are fine, but the App Store has a few advantages:
Why the App Store matters for small apps
- Family Sharing — One purchase covers up to six family members.
- Automatic updates — Apps update silently in the background.
- Easy reinstall — Sign into a new Mac and re-download everything from your purchase history.
- Sandboxing — App Store apps run in a security sandbox, limiting what they can access.
The trade-off: developers keep 70-85% of App Store revenue versus 100% for direct sales. If you want to maximize support for indie developers, buying directly from their website is a nice gesture — but the App Store convenience is hard to beat.
The best Mac apps aren’t the expensive ones. They’re the focused ones — small tools that do their job perfectly and never try to become something they’re not.
Every app on this list costs less than a month of most subscription apps. And unlike subscriptions, you pay once and the app is yours forever. That’s how software should work.
Start with the one you'll use most.
QuietClip turns your clipboard into a searchable history — text, images, files, all private and local. Free to start, $8.99 once for everything.