Mac Productivity Apps Without a Subscription (2026)

You can find good Mac apps without a subscription for almost every everyday job. Start with the free built-ins: Apple Notes, Reminders, Dictation and the Clock app. Then add a one-time app only where a built-in falls short, such as Maccy for clipboard history, Soulver 4 for notepad math or MacWhisper for transcribing files. Skipping subscriptions usually costs you cross-device sync and cloud AI, and each entry below says where that app draws the line.

Quick picks (prices as of November 2026):

• Apple Notes, Reminders and Dictation: best free starting point if you only use Apple devices.
• Maccy: best small clipboard manager, $9.99 once on the Mac App Store or free to build from source.
• Soulver 4: best notepad calculator, $59 once with a 60-day trial.
• MacWhisper: best for transcribing audio and video files on your Mac, with a free tier and a one-time Pro upgrade.
• Gubb: best for one window that holds notes, clipboard history, timers and break reminders, $59 once, with no sync.

We make Gubb, so weigh our view accordingly. We've tried to describe every app here the same way, including where the free option is enough.

What you give up without a subscription

Subscriptions usually pay for ongoing services, so dropping them costs you those services.

• Sync between devices. Some one-time apps sync through your own iCloud account (Tot, Soulver). Some keep the app free and sell sync separately (Obsidian). Some have no sync at all (Gubb).
• Cloud AI. AI features are where subscriptions cluster. Raycast puts AI, dictation and sync in its paid plans, and Wispr Flow has no lifetime plan, as of November 2026. The no-subscription route is local processing: Apple Dictation on Apple silicon, or Whisper models in MacWhisper, Superwhisper or Gubb.
• Free major upgrades, sometimes. "One-time" can mean one version. Alfred's Single License covers the current major version only, and Soulver's makers describe a paid major update roughly every 7 years.
• Unlimited devices. One-time licenses often cap activations. Alfred's Single License covers two of your own Macs, and a Gubb license activates on up to 3 devices.

If you need notes and tasks on a Mac, a Windows PC and a phone, free cloud apps such as OneNote and Microsoft To Do already sync across all of them. If you want AI writing help, a subscription is usually part of the deal. Everything below assumes you'd rather own the app.

How we chose

• Usable without a recurring payment. The app is free, or a one-time purchase covers the core job. We left out apps that put all their useful features behind a subscription.
• Runs on current macOS. Minimum versions are noted where the vendor states them.
• Maintained. Each app has a release or update in the sources we checked.
• Clear about what's paid. Where price sources disagree, we say so instead of picking one.
• Grouped by task: notes, to-dos, clipboard, timers and breaks, math, dictation.

Mac apps without a subscription at a glance

Notes apps you pay for once, or never

Apple Notes

Apple Notes is free, syncs through iCloud and covers more than most people expect: checklists, attachments, a document scanner, locked notes, and audio recordings that get transcribed. In recent versions, typing something like 5 * 3 = shows the answer inline.

It runs only on Apple devices, and it has no Kanban boards, clipboard history or timers. If you have an iPhone and want your notes on it, start here and only look further when something specific is missing. Our Apple Notes alternatives page covers the next step.

Obsidian

Obsidian is free and keeps Markdown notes in local folders called vaults. It suits you if you want a large, linked note collection that you fully control.

The paid parts are optional subscriptions: Obsidian Sync (with end-to-end encryption and version history) and Obsidian Publish. You don't need either to use the app. Price sources disagree about whether a commercial license is still sold, but they agree you don't need one to use Obsidian for work.

Tot

Tot, from The Iconfactory, is a scratchpad with exactly seven pages for short bits of text. It's free to download. Premium features are a $19.99 in-app purchase on the Mac, and iPhone and iPad are a separate $19.99 purchase. Neither is listed as a subscription. Text syncs between Mac and iPhone through iCloud.

The seven-page limit is deliberate. If you want a place for quick, short-lived notes rather than an archive, the limit helps. Tot needs macOS 14 or later.

To-do apps without a subscription

Things 3

Things 3 is a one-time purchase: $49.99 for the Mac on the Mac App Store, with a 15-day free trial from Cultured Code's website. The iPhone and iPad apps are bought separately. Optional sync runs through Things Cloud. The Mac app needs macOS 13.3 or later.

Pick it if you want a dedicated task manager and never want a subscription. It does tasks only: no notes, clipboard or timers.

Apple Reminders

Reminders is free and supports subtasks, sections, tags, flags, repeating reminders, location-based reminders and natural-language entry. It syncs through iCloud. If your to-dos need to alert you at a set time, Reminders is the simplest free answer. See how to make a to-do list on Mac for the options side by side.

Clipboard managers without a subscription

Our guide to clipboard history on Mac covers the basics if you're not sure you need a separate app.

Maccy

Maccy is a lightweight clipboard manager that opens from the menu bar or a hotkey and lets you search what you've copied. It costs $9.99 once on the Mac App Store, sold to support development. It's open source under the MIT license, so you can also build it from the GitHub source for free. It supports Shortcuts actions.

It does clipboard history and nothing else. The project's README warns about fake websites posing as Maccy, so download it from maccy.app, the App Store or the official GitHub page.

Alfred Powerpack

Alfred is free as a launcher, but clipboard history, Snippets and workflows need the Powerpack. The Powerpack is a one-time purchase: £34 for a Single License (one user, two Macs, current major version only) or £59 for Mega Supporter (free lifetime upgrades). Licenses are for personal use only.

Pick it if you also want a launcher and text snippets. If you only want clipboard history, Maccy costs less.

Raycast (free plan)

Raycast's free plan includes clipboard history, kept for 3 months, along with the launcher and extensions. You pay nothing unless you want Pro, a subscription ($10 a month, as of November 2026) that adds unlimited history, AI, dictation and sync. For many people the free plan is enough. It's a launcher, not a notes window, so it fits keyboard-heavy users best.

For more choices, see Paste alternatives without a subscription and best clipboard managers for Mac.

Timers, Pomodoro and break reminders

The Clock app

On macOS Ventura and later, the built-in Clock app has timers and a stopwatch. For "remind me in 25 minutes" it's enough, but it doesn't schedule breaks for you. Our guide on setting a timer on Mac walks through it.

Be Focused Pro

Be Focused Pro is a one-time Mac App Store purchase. The listed price differs between storefronts and snapshots ($11.99 and $19.99 have both appeared in the US store), so check before you buy. The Mac listing says it needs macOS 12 or later.

Be Focused blocks distracting apps and websites during work sessions (with a whitelist), has global hotkeys and a menu bar icon, and works with Shortcuts. The free version shows ads and sells extras as in-app purchases, including subscription options. Get the Pro listing if you want a single payment.

Stretchly

Stretchly is free and open source. It sits in the menu bar and every so often shows a short or long break reminder with an idea for the break. It also runs on Windows, Linux and FreeBSD. Some preferences, including preference sync, are reserved for people who contribute code, translations or money. It's built on Electron, so the downloads are large for a break timer.

Time Out

Time Out from Dejal is free to use, with optional supporter purchases on Dejal's site: 3, 6 or 12 months, or Lifetime at $59.99. The site says these are one-time payments that don't auto-renew. The Mac App Store listing also shows monthly and yearly options, so buy from Dejal directly if you want to avoid recurring charges.

Version 4.0 adds new break schedules, but the manual, one-time and random schedules are rewards for recent supporters. It needs macOS 26 or later.

For more on breaks and focus, see break reminder apps for Mac, what is the Pomodoro technique and how many Pomodoros a day.

Notepad calculators

Soulver 4

Soulver is a notepad calculator. You write math in plain lines like "20% of $1,480" or "$100 in EUR" and see the answers beside them. It also handles multi-word variables, references to earlier answers, subtotals and Wolfram|Alpha lookups.

Soulver 4 costs $59 once with a 60-day free trial, and one purchase covers Mac, iPad and iPhone. The App Store also lists a separate iPhone-only purchase, so check which one you're buying. It syncs through iCloud and needs macOS 14.6 or later. The trade-off is paid major upgrades: the App Store lists the upgrade from Soulver 3 at $29.

Numi

Numi is a text calculator for Mac, Windows and Linux that handles currency, units, time zones and variables. It's free to download, and a paid license adds unlimited notes and iCloud sync. Third-party listings disagree on the price, so check numi.app before you buy. Our Soulver vs Numi comparison covers the differences.

Dictation and transcription

Apple Dictation

Apple Dictation is free and works in any text field. To turn it on, open System Settings and search for "Dictation". On an Apple silicon Mac, supported languages are processed on the device with no internet needed. On an Intel Mac, or in a language without on-device support, your speech is sent to Apple. Our guide to dictation on Mac has the setup steps.

MacWhisper

MacWhisper transcribes audio and video files on your Mac using Whisper and other models. The free tier includes file transcription with local models, TXT/SRT/VTT export and basic dictation. Pro is a one-time €64 when bought directly, according to several reviews from October and November 2026, and adds batch transcription, speaker recognition and the AI-service integrations. Older pages show different prices, so check the site.

Two things to watch: the App Store version ("Whisper Transcription") is a separate product with its own pricing, including optional subscriptions, and recent versions need macOS 15 or later.

Superwhisper

If you want AI dictation that types into any app without a subscription, Superwhisper offers a lifetime license at $249.99, according to several third-party pricing pages (Pro is otherwise $8.49 a month). Its free plan includes small local Whisper models. It needs macOS 14 or later, and its offline models run best on Apple silicon. See Superwhisper pricing explained for the full breakdown.

Gubb: several small tools for $59 once

Gubb is our app. It puts a notes scratchpad and several utilities in one small window, for a one-time $59 lifetime license bought on gubb.net, as of November 2026. A license activates on up to 3 devices, the direct download has a 7-day free trial with no account, and the site offers a 30-day money-back guarantee (see the refund policy).

What's in it:

• Notes with Markdown-style typing (# for headings, - for bullets, [ ] for checkboxes, each followed by Space), stored locally on your Mac.
• To-dos and Kanban boards inside notes: type gubb@todo on a line of its own for a task list with due dates, priorities and subtasks, or gubb@board for a board with draggable cards.
• Clipboard history for text you copy, with search and favorites. Up to 1,000 unpinned items are kept, and pinned items are never removed automatically.
• Timer with Countdown, Stopwatch and Pomodoro modes. Pomodoro is a single 25-minute countdown by default.
• Break reminders (off until you turn them on): a 20-second eye break and a longer 5-minute break by default, shown full screen in the Gubb window.
• Quick math and conversions with gubb@math, gubb@currency and gubb@conversions.
• Voice to text into the current note, using Whisper models you download once and run on your Mac.
• Keyboard sounds, themes, fonts, pin-on-top and a menu bar icon.

What it lacks:

• No sync, no account, no iPhone or iPad app. Your notes stay on the Mac they were written on.
• Dictation goes only into Gubb notes, not other apps. Local transcription is English only and covers the first 30 seconds of each recording. For dictating anywhere, Apple Dictation or Superwhisper fit better.
• Clipboard history is text only and starts recording once you open the Clipboard History panel in a session. It doesn't filter passwords, so clear it if you copy secrets.
• Pomodoro doesn't cycle automatically between work and breaks, and there are no global hotkeys.
• Math is basic arithmetic (no functions or percentages), and currency conversion needs an internet connection.
• Markdown export isn't a clean way out yet. The Markdown and Plain Text exports currently contain raw editor data rather than readable text.
• The direct-download license is checked online about once a week. After 30 days without a successful check, Gubb asks you to reconnect before you can keep using it.

Gubb is also on the Mac App Store as a separate build without the trial, and on the Microsoft Store for Windows. Those store prices aren't covered here.

Pick Gubb if you'd otherwise buy or juggle a scratchpad, a clipboard manager and a break timer separately, and you don't need them synced between devices. If you want a deeper app for any single job, the specialists above do more. Our all-in-one productivity app page compares Gubb with other combined tools, and you can download the 7-day trial.

How to choose

• You have an iPhone and want everything synced for free: use Apple Notes, Reminders and Dictation, and add apps only for gaps.
• You copy and paste all day: Maccy if you want only that, Alfred Powerpack if you also want a launcher and snippets, Raycast's free plan if 3 months of history is enough.
• You do math in text every day: Soulver 4.
• You transcribe recordings, interviews or videos: MacWhisper.
• You want regular break reminders: Stretchly for free, Time Out for more scheduling control.
• You want one window for quick notes, lists, clipboard and breaks, without sync: Gubb.
• You need sync across Mac, Windows and phone: free cloud apps like OneNote or Microsoft To Do. If you also want AI writing help, expect a subscription.

FAQ

Does "lifetime" mean free upgrades forever?

Not always. Alfred's Mega Supporter license includes lifetime upgrades, but its Single License covers the current major version only. Soulver charges for major versions. Read the license terms before you buy.

Are App Store and direct versions the same deal?

Often not. MacWhisper's App Store version is a separate product with its own pricing and optional subscriptions. Time Out's App Store listing shows subscription options next to the one-time ones. Gubb's App Store build has no trial and doesn't use a gubb.net license key.

Can I use one purchase on more than one Mac?

It depends on the app. A Gubb license activates on up to 3 devices, Alfred's Single License covers two of your own Macs, and Soulver 4's $59 purchase covers Mac, iPad and iPhone.

Do one-time apps work completely offline?

Most core features do, but some still go online. The direct-download Gubb checks its license about weekly and uses the internet for currency rates and model downloads. Apple Dictation on an Intel Mac sends speech to Apple.