One of the first alternative app stores in the EU has closed down

One of the more prominent alternative app stores that emerged in the EU as a result of the region’s Digital Markets Act has been shut down. Store, Mobile Setupfrom Ukraine-based developer MacPaw, first launched in September 2024, offers dozens of applications in various categories such as productivity, finance, video, photo, creativity, and more.

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

Now, the company says that all apps will be removed from Setapp Mobile by the end of the day, February 16, 2026. Apps available on Setapp Desktop will not be affected, the company told TechCrunch.

Notice of the shutdown, announced in Setapp support sitefirst discovered by MacRumors.

MacPaw stated that “the terms of the business are still evolving and complex which do not fit Setapp’s current business model” as the reason for their decision.

The “complicated business terms” referred to here are Apple’s complex fees for the applications used below. new business requirements in the EU, which is controversial Core Technology Fee which charges developers €0.50 for each first annual installation of more than one million in the past 12 months.

The tech giant changed its fee structure last year to avoid more penalties for non-compliance with the Digital Markets Act (DMA), but it did not simplify the fees, it made people more complex.

One of the consequences of this constant change is that developers cannot properly plan how to grow and monetize their business. It also suggests that costs, while they still exist, do not make alternative app stores in the EU a viable option.

In a statement shared with TechCrunch, Setapp said its business model is not “viable”, as commercial conditions are constantly changing. The statement read:

“Setapp Mobile is a bold breakthrough project to provide EU iOS users with access to an alternative application market – creating a new application ecosystem where developers and users can thrive. We are proud of what we have done in the last two years and still strongly believe in this vision. As a result of the commercial situation that is still developing, we have decided that the model will remain in Setapp. disappointed to stop Setapp Mobile and release the user base and developer community in the EU, we hope to work on the development of other innovations.

Abide still another alternative app store operating in the EUincluding, especially, the Epic Games Store from the makers of Fortniteand on open source AltStore.