Switching to the Mac App Store for my BBEdit 16 upgrade?

[Ward]

I’ve been a BBEdit user since 1993.  Now that it’s time to upgrade to BBEdit 16, I see it's available from the Mac App Store.  I purchased my BBEdit 15 upgrade via FastSpring.  I’m inclined to switch to the simplicity of the Mac App Store.  But I have a few questions:

1.  If I “Get” BBEdit 16 from the Mac App Store, will the in-app purchase be the same price as purchasing an upgrade directly from Bare Bones Software?

2.  If I do an in-app purchase, will it recognize that my licensed copy of BBEdit 15 is not in the official Applications folder?  I prefer to install 3rd party purchases in a separate user folder.

3.  Does Apple take a cut of Bare Bones' profits if I purchase via the Mac App Store?  If so, I’ll stick with purchasing BBEdit from the Bare Bones website.

[Rich Siegel]

On 25 May 2026, at 13:24, Ward wrote:

> 1. If I “Get” BBEdit 16 from the Mac App Store, will the in-app purchase
> be the same price as purchasing an upgrade directly from Bare Bones
> Software?

The App Store has a separate pricing structure (based on monthly or annual subscriptions).

> 2. If I do an in-app purchase, will it recognize that my licensed copy of
> BBEdit 15 is not in the official Applications folder? I prefer to install
> 3rd party purchases in a separate user folder.

That is entirely up to the OS infrastructure. The application doesn't care, as long as the APIs work.

> 3. Does Apple take a cut of Bare Bones' profits if I purchase via the Mac
> App Store? If so, I’ll stick with purchasing BBEdit from the Bare Bones
> website.

Yes, Apple takes a percentage of every sale made in the app store.

R.

--
Rich Siegel Bare Bones Software, Inc.
<sie...@barebones.com> <https://www.barebones.com/>

Someday I'll look back on all this and laugh... until they sedate me.

[Ward]

I just purchased the BBEdit 16 upgrade from the Bare Bones/FastSpring store.

[Tom Robinson]

I went down the rabbit hole:

https://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/appstore/faq.html

Also

https://www.barebones.com/products/bbedit/appstore/comparison.html

I prefer owning software rather than renting, and a single financial hit rather than a regular expense, plus BB is very responsive with any issues, upgrade pricing etc., so personally I’ll stick with purchasing directly.

Cheers

[Darren Duncan]

On 2026-05-25 10:24 a.m., Ward wrote:
> 3.  Does Apple take a cut of Bare Bones' profits if I purchase via the Mac App
> Store?  If so, I’ll stick with purchasing BBEdit from the Bare Bones website.

It has been widely reported for years that Apple takes a large 30% cut of
everything sold through any of their app stores (not always but typically). If
you have the ability to buy directly from the app creator they get a lot more
money for the same sale price. -- Darren Duncan