One of the first alternative app stores in the EU is shutting down

One of the more prominent alternative app stores that emerged in the EU as a result of the region’s Digital Markets Act is shutting down. The store, Setapp Mobile, from the Ukrainian-based developer MacPaw, first launched in September 2024, offering dozens of apps across categories like productivity, finance, video, photo, creativity, and more.

Its model offered consumers access to all of Setapp’s mobile apps through a $9.99 monthly subscription, provided the user’s Apple ID was associated with an EU member state.

Now, the company says all applications will be removed from Setapp Mobile by the end of the sunset date, February 16, 2026. Applications that are available on Setapp Desktop will not be affected, the company told TechCrunch.

The news of the shutdown, announced on Setapp’s support site, was first spotted by MacRumors.

MacPaw stated that “still-evolving and complex business terms that don’t fit Setapp’s current business model” are the reason for its decision.

The “complex business terms” being referenced here are Apple’s complicated set of fees for apps operating under its new business terms in the EU, which include a controversial Core Technology Fee that charges developers €0.50 for each first annual install over one million in the past 12 months.

The tech giant revised its fee structure last year to avoid further penalties for noncompliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), but instead of simplifying the fees, it made them more complex.

One result of these constant changes is that developers can’t properly plan how to grow and monetize their business. It also suggests the fees, as they stand, don’t make running an alternative app store in the EU a viable option.

In a statement shared with TechCrunch, Setapp said it found its business model was not “viable,” as the commercial conditions continued to change. The statement reads:

“Setapp Mobile was a bold, breakthrough project that aimed to provide EU iOS users with access to alternative app marketplaces – creating a new app ecosystem where both developers and users could thrive. We are proud of what we have accomplished with it over the past two years and still believe passionately in this vision. As a result of still-evolving commercial conditions, we have determined that it is not viable to continue development or support for Setapp Mobile within Setapp’s current business model. While we are disappointed to discontinue Setapp Mobile and let down our user base and developer community in the EU, we are looking forward to pursuing the development of other innovations.”

There are still other alternative app stores operating in the EU, including, most notably, the Epic Games Store from the maker of Fortnite, and the open source AltStore.