AlDente pricing: what the free tier covers

AlDente has a free version and three ways to pay for Pro. On 18 October 2026, the official AlDente pricing page listed AlDente Free at no cost, an AlDente Pro subscription at 11,49 € billed annually, a Lifetime License at 23,99 €, and AlDente Pro through Setapp at 9,99 € a month. The page showed prices in euros when checked, and the currency may differ by region. The free version covers exactly two features, Charge Limiter and Discharge. Everything else on the comparison list is Pro only. The rest of this guide covers what that split means in practice, when lifetime is cheaper than annual, and the license rules that change the real cost.

What AlDente Free actually covers

The pricing page lists thirteen rows for each plan. In the Free column, two are ticked and eleven are crossed out.

Included in Free:

• Charge Limiter, which holds the battery at a chosen level while plugged in
• Discharge, which runs the Mac from the battery down to the limit while still connected

Not included in Free:

• Automatic Discharge
• Discharge in Clamshell Mode
• Heat Protection
• Sailing Mode
• Control MagSafe LED
• Top Up
• Calibration Mode
• Apple Shortcuts Support
• Customizable Menu Bar Icons
• Customizable Pop-up Window
• Email Support

The Free plan is a full license, not a trial. It does not expire.

The gap that matters most is not on that list, though. The AlDente FAQ states that AlDente Free cannot control charging while the MacBook is asleep or shut down, so it continues to charge to 100% when the lid is closed. Pro has "Stop Charging when Sleeping" and "Stop Charging when App Closed" to address this. For anyone who closes the lid at the end of the day with the charger connected, the free version holds the limit during working hours and then lets the battery fill overnight.

What the Pro features do

The feature names on the pricing page are short, so here is what the main ones do according to the features page.

• Automatic Discharge discharges the Mac on its own whenever the charge limit is lower than the current percentage, so Discharge no longer has to be started by hand.
• Sailing Mode lets the adapter power the Mac at the limit and waits until the level drops by a set interval, for example 5%, before charging again.
• Heat Protection stops charging when the battery temperature rises past a threshold.
• Calibration Mode runs a full cycle automatically, which the FAQ recommends about once a month to keep the battery percentage accurate.
• Disable Sleep until Charge Limit keeps the Mac awake until it reaches the limit, then lets it sleep.

That sleep behavior usually decides the purchase. A Mac that stays awake and plugged in all day on a desk gets most of the benefit from Free. A Mac that sleeps on the charger every night does not.

The three paid routes, side by side

All three paid routes unlock the same feature list. They differ in how long the license lasts and what else comes with it.

Plan	Price shown on 18 October 2026	Billing	License length	Other apps included
AlDente Free	Free	None	No expiry	No
AlDente Pro subscription	11,49 €	Billed annually, cancel anytime, renews automatically	1 year	No
Lifetime License	23,99 €	One payment	Lifetime	No
AlDente Pro via Setapp	9,99 €	Billed monthly	1 month	Yes, the Setapp catalogue

Two details from the pricing page are worth noting. Every plan is marked "Notarized by Apple", so the paid builds do not need any extra trust step compared with Free. The page also lists compatibility as macOS 12 Monterey through macOS 27 Golden Gate.

Purchases made directly go through Paddle, which the FAQ names as the merchant of record. That affects how support works: invoices, license keys, payment method changes and cancellation are all handled through paddle.net with the email address used at checkout, rather than inside the app.

There is also a student discount. The FAQ says it is available through Student App Centre.

Annual or lifetime: where the line falls

The arithmetic is short. Two years of the subscription at 11,49 € comes to 22,98 €. The Lifetime License is 23,99 €. The difference is 1,01 €.

Years of use	Subscription total	Lifetime total
1	11,49 €	23,99 €
2	22,98 €	23,99 €
3	34,47 €	23,99 €
4	45,96 €	23,99 €

So the subscription is cheaper only if AlDente Pro will be used for less than about two years. That can be true in a few cases:

• The MacBook is due to be replaced soon and the next one may rely on the macOS built-in charge limit instead.
• The only reason for Pro is to try Heat Protection or Calibration Mode before deciding.
• The purchase is being expensed and recurring costs are easier to approve than one-off ones.

In most other cases, lifetime is the lower total. Keep in mind that the license follows the person, not the machine. The FAQ explains that a license can be moved to a new MacBook by opening AlDente Settings, General, clicking "Manage License", saving the key, and clicking "Deactivate" on the old one. A Lifetime License therefore carries across hardware upgrades, which makes the two-year break-even point even easier to reach.

One more point the comparison tables on review sites tend to skip: the subscription renews automatically. Cancelling is done through paddle.net, by finding the AlDente transaction, opening "Get help", and typing "cancel subscription" in the chat. The pricing page also mentions that an email to support works.

When Setapp is the better buy

Setapp is a subscription service for Mac and iOS apps. The AlDente pricing page describes it as $9.99 a month for AlDente Pro plus more than 240 other apps, with no extra fees and no ads. The page also lists the Setapp route at 9,99 € a month.

On AlDente alone, Setapp is the most expensive route by a wide margin. Twelve months at 9,99 € comes to 119,88 €, roughly ten times the annual subscription and five times the Lifetime License.

It only makes sense when other apps in the catalogue are already being paid for, or would be. A simple test:

1. List the Mac utilities currently paid for separately.
2. Check which of them are in the Setapp catalogue.
3. Add up their yearly cost.
4. Compare that total plus AlDente Pro against 119,88 €.

If Setapp already replaces two or three paid subscriptions, AlDente Pro comes along at no additional cost. If it would be bought for AlDente alone, the direct Lifetime License is cheaper from the first month.

AppHouseKitchen offers a separate Setapp listing for AlDente Pro, which is where the Setapp version is installed from.

License rules that change the real cost

The sticker price is only part of the cost. Three rules from the FAQ decide how far one purchase goes.

Three user accounts per key

Each purchase includes one license key that can be activated on up to three macOS user accounts at the same time, either on one Mac or across up to three Macs. A household with two MacBooks and one shared user on each fits in one license. A family with four MacBooks needs two.

Online check every 30 days

AlDente Pro must validate its license online at least once every 30 days. If a Mac is offline for more than 30 days, the license becomes inactive and the app switches to the free version until it is reactivated online. This matters for a Mac used on an isolated network or stored for long periods. It does not affect the free version.

Lost keys and receipts

Keys and receipts can take up to 30 minutes to arrive by email and sometimes land in spam. They can be resent from paddle.net by asking for "Resend Licence Code" or "Resend Invoice" in the chat. If a license was not deactivated before an old MacBook was sold, Paddle is the contact for releasing it.

None of these rules are unusual. When Pro features seem to disappear after payment, check the 30-day rule before assuming a billing problem.

Does the macOS charge limit make paying unnecessary?

Since macOS Tahoe 26.4, Apple silicon MacBooks have a built-in Charge Limit. Apple's support page on Optimized Battery Charging and Charge Limit says it requires macOS Tahoe 26.4 or later and a Mac with Apple silicon, and accepts a value between 80% and 100%. It is set in System Settings, Battery, then the info button next to Charging. Apple also notes the Mac will occasionally charge to 100% to keep battery estimates accurate.

That covers the same ground as AlDente Free for many people, at no cost. The cases where AlDente still earns its place:

• A target below 80%. The built-in control stops at 80%.
• Intel MacBooks. The built-in Charge Limit is for Apple silicon.
• Heat Protection, Sailing Mode, Calibration Mode, or the sleep features, all of which are Pro.

If the plan is to run both, the AlDente FAQ recommends setting the macOS charge limit to 100% and turning off Optimized Battery Charging so the two do not interfere. It also notes that the macOS limit does not stay in effect while the MacBook is turned off.

The practical order for a buyer on Apple silicon: try the built-in limit at 80% for a week. If that is enough, nothing needs to be bought. If a lower limit or overnight control is wanted, AlDente Free covers the first, and Pro covers the second.

Check compatibility before paying

The FAQ says AlDente supports all MacBooks with Apple silicon, including MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and MacBook Neo, and most Intel MacBooks from 2013 onward, including the 12-inch MacBook. Version 1.38 and later supports macOS 12 Monterey through macOS 27 Golden Gate. macOS 11 Big Sur is supported only up to AlDente 1.37.3, and beta versions of macOS are not officially supported.

The FAQ also mentions that some third-party Thunderbolt docks, mainly but not only OWC models, are incompatible with some features, with some causing disconnects during Discharge. Anyone who runs a MacBook through such a dock all day should test Free on that setup before paying for Pro.

What to change first

Install AlDente Free, set a limit, and watch whether the Mac charges to 100% overnight. If it does and that matters, the Lifetime License is the cheaper paid route after two years. If the AlDente icon is one of many in a crowded menu bar, Koffret can keep it hidden and show it only when the battery falls below a set level. Its one-time price is on the pricing page.