Rules

MacBid is a public leaderboard of Mac apps. There is no algorithm, no voting and no editorial judgement. Position is bought. That is the entire mechanism, and these are the rules it runs on.

How ranking works

  • Bids are whole US dollars, from $5 to $999,999, in $1 steps.
  • The board sorts by amount. Where two listings have paid the same, the one that got there first stays higher.
  • Taking #1 costs at least $5 more than the current leader. Taking any other position costs at least $1 more than the listing holding it.
  • Bidding less than the top price is allowed. Your listing simply lands wherever the money reaches.
  • A bid never expires or decays. It holds its position until someone pays more.

Raising a listing you already hold

  • Submit the same app again with a higher number. Checkout charges only the difference.
  • Because what you already paid still counts, a rival has to beat your total — not the amount you just topped up by.

Today

  • The Today board ranks money spent in the last 24 hours.
  • Each payment counts there for a day from the moment it lands, then drops off — while continuing to count on the all-time board permanently.

What can be listed

  • Software that runs on macOS. Mac App Store listings, direct downloads, Setapp and Homebrew casks are all fine.
  • One app is one listing. An App Store link, a Homebrew cask and the app’s own website all resolve to the same entry, so bids never get split across duplicates.
  • Query strings are stripped from submitted links. Affiliate, referral and tracking URLs will not survive.
  • Link shorteners, chat and group-invite links, and adult content are not accepted.

Categories

Every category has its own board. We suggest one from the app’s own description, but you choose it at checkout, and it can be corrected later.

After you pay

  • A completed payment is what claims the rank. Until the payment confirms, nothing moves.
  • Clicks go to the link you submitted, with attribution added so you can see the traffic in your own analytics.
  • Payments are not refundable. You are buying a position on a board that anyone can outbid at any moment.
  • Payments are processed by Creem, which acts as the merchant of record and appears on your statement.

Support

Questions, corrections, or a problem with a payment — write to hey@macbid.app. We answer within three business days.