MacUpdater Is Discontinued: What to Use Instead
MacUpdater reached the end of its life on January 1, 2026, and its developer says there will be no version 4. The final 3.5 release is free for everyone and keeps working for now, but it gets less useful over time. For a replacement, Latest is the simple free choice, Updatest covers more update sources, and Homebrew plus the App Store is enough if most of your apps come from those two.
What happens to MacUpdater now
The details come from MacUpdater's own FAQ:
- Version 3.5 is free for everyone, including features that used to need a Pro license, and it is unsupported.
- Daily maintenance has stopped. The number of apps it can update has dropped from about 7,000 to about 3,500 and will keep shrinking.
- Beta versions are no longer filtered out, so expect more false positives.
- Its database server is due to be turned off, so update checks for apps it cannot update are only expected to work during 2026.
So you do not need to delete it today. The FAQ itself calls 3.5 your best bet during 2026 and suggests running the free Latest alongside it. Just stop trusting it as your only source, and check any surprising "new version" on the vendor's site.
The replacements
| Tool | Sees | Installs updates | Cost | Needs |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latest | App Store, Sparkle | From inside the app | Free, GPL-3.0 | brew install --cask latest or a download |
| Updatest | Homebrew, App Store, Sparkle, Electron, GitHub Releases | One-click updates | Free | macOS 15 or later, App Management permission |
| Homebrew | Casks and formulae you installed with it | brew upgrade |
Free, open source | Terminal |
| App Store | App Store purchases | Built in | Included | Nothing |
| Mole | Homebrew, App Store, Sparkle, Electron, website downloads | Update All, with fallbacks | One-time purchase | macOS 14 or later |
No tool sees everything. Some apps update through their own updaters, some have no public feed at all, and a version number in a database is not always what the vendor is actually shipping. Why updating Mac apps is harder than it looks explains why.
Which to choose
Most apps from the App Store and Sparkle-based vendors: Latest. It is the alternative MacUpdater's FAQ names, and it stays small.
A lot of Electron apps and GitHub downloads, on macOS 15 or later: Updatest reads each app's metadata to find its update source, and you can add a source by hand when it finds none. It has an optional network for sharing versions, which you can opt out of.
You already live in Homebrew: you may need no new app at all. These two commands show what is behind and update it:
brew outdated --cask --greedy
brew upgrade --cask --greedy
--greedy includes casks that update themselves, so read the list first. Homebrew only knows about apps it installed, unless you adopt them.
Give it App Management permission
On current macOS, an app that replaces another app needs App Management under System Settings › Privacy & Security. Without it, updates fail or macOS tells you the app was prevented from modifying others. This applies to tools that replace apps themselves, and it is the first thing to check when an update appears to do nothing.
Where Mole fits
The Updates segment under Mole's Apps tab checks Homebrew, App Store, Sparkle and Electron feeds, and falls back to a website download where it can verify one. Update All runs what can be updated in place. Where that is not possible, the row says so: Updates itself, Open in App Store or Install manually, and the app opens or the download starts for you. Ignore Updates hides an app you want to keep on an old version. Beta filtering and a catalog as wide as MacUpdater's once were are not what it promises, and it is a paid app with cleaning and uninstalling in the same window, so pay for it only if you want those too. For the manual way, see how to update Mac apps.
FAQ
Is MacUpdater shut down?
It is discontinued: development ended on January 1, 2026. Version 3.5 still runs and is free, but it is unsupported, and checks for apps it cannot update are only expected to work during 2026.
Can I keep using MacUpdater 3.5?
Yes. Its FAQ recommends keeping it during 2026 and adding Latest beside it. Expect more false positives as the data ages.
Is there a free MacUpdater alternative?
Latest and Updatest are both free. Latest covers the App Store and Sparkle, and Updatest also covers Homebrew, Electron and GitHub Releases on macOS 15 or later.
Why does an updater say an update failed?
The most common cause on current macOS is missing App Management permission. After that, check whether the app is open, was installed by an administrator on another account, or updates only through its own updater.