Apps.Deals Explained: Mac App Deals, Promo Codes, and Featured Listings
Mac apps go on sale all the time, but the discounts are scattered across developer newsletters, social posts, and App Store price drops that nobody announces. Apps.Deals collects them in one place: Mac apps that are free for a limited time, discounted, or giving away promo codes.
This guide explains how the site works for both sides: Mac users looking for a deal, and developers who want to list one.
Quick Takeaway
- For Mac users: browse current deals, filter by category and pricing model, claim promo codes, and get new deals by newsletter, RSS, or X.
- For developers: submitting an app and deal is free. Paid options speed up review ($5) or feature your app ($49 a month, or $169 for a Premium run that adds a carousel banner and a permanent do-follow backlink).
- Year-round, not just Black Friday: the site lists offers all year, with a dedicated Black Friday page each November.
What Apps.Deals Lists
The site's FAQ describes it as a place for "macOS apps that are free or on offer for a limited time", plus promo codes you redeem on the Mac App Store or the developer's website. Every app is reviewed before it appears on the main page.
When you submit a deal, you pick one of four offer types:
- Free: a paid app that is free for a limited time. Apps that are always free don't qualify unless they're about to become paid.
- Discount: a price cut on the app or its subscription. The submission form asks for at least 15% off the original price.
- Black Friday Deal: seasonal offers, which the form requires to be at least 25% off.
- Promo Codes: a batch of unique, one-time-use codes.
The site lists only Mac apps, but the FAQ notes that a developer can still use the promo code system to hand out codes for iOS, Android, or web apps, because the direct link to a submitted deal is always public.
For Mac Users
Finding deals
The home page shows featured deals first, then current deals, with a Past Deals tab for offers that have ended. You can search (⌘K), filter by category and by pricing model (one-time purchase or subscription), and sort the list. Each app has its own deal page with the offer details and a link to buy.
In November, the Black Friday page collects the seasonal offers in one list.
How promo codes work
Promo code deals follow a few rules, set out in the FAQ:
- Each code is unique. Once someone claims it, nobody else can.
- You can claim one code per deal.
- You see the code only once, when you claim it, so copy it before closing the popup.
- All codes for a deal are made public 12 hours after the last one is claimed.
Mac App Store codes are redeemed in the App Store app: click your name in the bottom-left corner, then Redeem Gift Card in the top-right corner (Apple's steps). For codes that work on the developer's site, follow the instructions on the deal page.
Getting alerts
There are three ways to hear about new deals:
- The newsletter (signup at the bottom of every page). The site lists 1,200+ subscribers.
- The RSS feed, for any RSS reader.
- Apps.Deals on X.
A deal alert is only useful if you were going to buy the app anyway. Our guide to buying Mac apps on sale without wasting money covers how to keep a buy list and check renewal terms before you click.
For Developers
Submitting a deal
- Go to Submit App.
- Sign in with Google if you want to track the deal later. The login page says you can "submit your app and track its deals from your dashboard". If you submitted apps before, sign in with a Google account that uses the same email address to see them.
- Enter the app details, the offer type, the original and offer prices (or your promo codes), and the start and end dates.
- After you submit, you get the direct link to your deal page right away, so you can share it before review finishes.
- The deal appears on the main page once it's approved.
Submitting is free. Free submissions are reviewed in due course, with no guaranteed timeline.
Feature tiers
If you want more visibility, the feature page lists four tiers. Paid plans check out through Polar.
| Free | Expedited Review | Standard feature | Premium feature | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $0 | $5 one-time | $49 per featured month | $169 per premium run |
| Review time | In due course | Within a day (approval not guaranteed) | Within a day | Within a day |
| Featured section and highlight | No | No | Yes, on the main page, Black Friday page, and app pages | Yes |
| Newsletter exposure (1,200+ subscribers) | No | No | Yes | Yes |
| How long it's featured | n/a | n/a | 1 month or until the deal ends | 3 months or until the deal ends |
| Carousel banner | No | No | No | Yes (16 spots) |
| Permanent do-follow backlink | No | No | No | Yes |
Only the Premium tier lists a permanent do-follow backlink. A free listing still gets its own public deal page that you can share, but don't expect an SEO backlink from it. The feature page also warns that prices go up as Black Friday gets closer, so check the current price before you plan a launch.
According to the feature page, Apps.Deals had 20k+ unique visitors and 50k+ page views during last year's Black Friday period, and apps including CleanShot X, Paste, Tower, TextSniper, and BoltAI have bought a Premium feature.
Why run a deal at all
A limited-time discount or free period brings attention to an app: more visits to its App Store page, more chances of reviews, and a bigger user base. The Apps.Deals FAQ adds that in the owner's experience, the bump in downloads tends to last for a while after the offer ends, and links to a YouTube video on the same tactic. Treat that as one developer's experience, not a guarantee.
A few practical tips:
- Pick an honest original price. Use the price buyers actually pay outside the sale.
- Use promo codes for launches. Codes are capped and one per user, which suits beta testers, reviewers, or a "first 50 users" launch.
- Match the dates to the real offer. An expired deal that's still listed frustrates buyers and hurts your reviews.
- Feature only when the deal is strong. A featured spot on a weak discount rarely pays for itself.
Where Apps.Deals Fits
Most deal sites cover iPhone apps, SaaS, or a mix of everything. Apps.Deals focuses on Mac apps only, which keeps the list short enough to scan. If you want to compare it with other places to promote an app deal, see our app deal platforms comparison. For November shopping, our list of websites to find Black Friday deals on Mac apps covers the other trackers worth checking.
Final Verdict
For Mac users, Apps.Deals is a quick way to see which Mac apps are free or discounted right now, with promo codes that can't be grabbed twice. For developers, the free listing is a low-effort way to put a deal in front of Mac buyers, and the paid tiers are there if you need faster review or a featured spot. Start at www.apps.deals.
Note: First published in February 2025 and updated in October 2026. Features and prices are current as of October 2026 and can change; check the Apps.Deals feature page and FAQ for the latest details.
Disclosure: Apps.Deals is made by Softal, the same company behind this blog.
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