Fluid: what the free tier covers
Fluid, the Mac app that turns a website into its own app, is free to download and use, with no limit on how many apps it creates. A one time $5 license adds three features: pinning an app to the menu bar, userscripts and userstyles, and full screen mode. There is no subscription. That is the whole price list, as stated on the official site when checked on October 18, 2026.
The name is shared with several unrelated products, including a compute pricing model from a cloud hosting company, a project management platform and a crypto token. This guide is only about Fluid for macOS, made by Todd Ditchendorf and sold through Celestial Teapot. It covers what the free tier includes, what the $5 license adds, how buying and recovering a license works, and a detail the official pages do not mention: the current build is made for Intel Macs, which sets a horizon on how long it will run on Apple silicon. This site is run by the developer of a site to app tool for macOS, so competing tools appear later with prices taken from their own pages.
What the free version includes
The Fluid home page says it plainly: Fluid is free, it can be downloaded for free, and as many Fluid Apps as needed can be created. The about page repeats it in its FAQ, describing the basic version as totally free.
The free tier is not a trial and has no app count. The core flow is the same for everyone:
- Enter the website's URL.
- Give the app a name.
- Optionally choose an icon.
- Click Create.
Within seconds the site gets a permanent place on the Mac as its own application with a Dock icon. Each app is a separate program that can be opened, quit and placed in Command Tab like any other.
No account is needed and no sign up screen appears. The download is listed at 6.3 MB, with the site naming version 2.1 and a requirement of Mac OS 10.12 Sierra or later. The archive served from the download link at the time of checking was version 2.1.2.
One request comes with the free tier, though it is not enforced. The about page asks users not to hand generated apps to friends or coworkers and to point them at Fluid instead. For a team, that means each person downloads Fluid and builds their own copies.
For the common case, which is giving one or two sites their own window and Dock icon, the free tier is the complete product.
What the $5 license adds
Three features sit behind the license, and the official pages name the menu each lives in.
| Feature | Where it is in the app | Free | Licensed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Create unlimited apps | Fluid main window | Yes | Yes |
| Custom icon per app | Fluid main window | Yes | Yes |
| Pin an app to the menu bar | Fluid App menu, Pin to Status Bar | No | Yes |
| Userscripts and userstyles | Window, Userscripts | No | Yes |
| Full screen mode | View, Enter Full Screen | No | Yes |
The line is drawn around how the window appears and how the page can be modified. Displaying a site and using it normally sits entirely on the free side.
Whether the three extras are worth $5 depends on how the app is used rather than on taste.
Menu bar pinning suits a tool that is opened and dismissed many times a day, such as a chat window, a timer, or a quick note page. The app drops down from the menu bar instead of taking a Dock slot and a window.
Userscripts and userstyles let custom JavaScript and CSS run on the page. They pay off when a site has a specific irritation to fix: a sidebar that takes too much width, text that is too small, or a banner that keeps coming back. The changelog shows that these support URL patterns and regular expressions, so a script can be limited to certain pages.
Full screen matters for anyone who works with apps in their own Space.
If none of these apply, staying on the free tier is not a compromise.
How buying and recovering a license works
Fluid licenses are sold through PayPal. The Celestial Teapot license recovery page states that the developer's apps have always been sold via PayPal, and that entering the PayPal email address used for the purchase generates a fresh copy of every license bought from the developer and sends it to that address. The page covers licenses for Fluid, Fake and Shapes.
That has two practical consequences.
- Keep the PayPal email address on record. It is the key to getting the license back after moving to a new Mac or reinstalling.
- There is no account dashboard. There is nothing to log in to, no seat management and no invoice portal, which keeps things simple for one person and limits what a company purchasing department can do.
There is also no subscription to cancel. The $5 is paid once.
The home page links to the recovery form under the label Lost your License, and to a bug report address for support.
The detail the pricing page does not mention
Before paying anything, it is worth knowing which processor the app is built for. The official pages do not say. To find out, the 2.1.2 archive from the official download link was unpacked and its executables inspected on October 18, 2026. The results:
| What was checked | Result |
|---|---|
| Fluid.app main executable | Mach-O 64-bit, x86_64 only |
| FluidApp.app, the template inside Fluid that generated apps are built from | x86_64 only |
| Bundled Sparkle update framework | x86_64 only |
| Version in Info.plist | 2.1.2 |
| Code signature | Developer ID, notarized, signing timestamp October 20, 2018 |
In other words, Fluid and the apps it builds are Intel apps. On an Intel Mac they run natively. On a Mac with Apple silicon they run through Rosetta, the translation layer Apple provides.
Apple's support page on using Intel-based apps on a Mac with Apple silicon sets out what happens next. Rosetta is available on any Mac with Apple silicon running macOS 27 or earlier. Starting with macOS 28, the next major release, Rosetta will only be available for certain older, unmaintained games that rely on Intel based frameworks. The same page says Macs may show a notice when an Intel based app is opened, warning that it will not work with a future release of macOS.
The Fluid changelog lists 2.1.2 as the latest entry, and the site's copyright line reads 2019. Nothing on the official pages announces an Apple silicon build.
Any Mac can confirm this locally. Select Fluid in Finder, choose File, then Get Info, and read the Kind line. Application (Intel) means the app is made for Intel processors. Apple's page also describes a list in System Settings, General, About, under Intel-based Apps, on macOS 27 or later.
What this means for the $5
On an Intel Mac, the license buys the three extras for as long as that Mac stays on a macOS version that runs Fluid.
On Apple silicon, the useful life of both the free app and the license is tied to Rosetta. Up to macOS 27 it works through translation. On macOS 28, based on Apple's statement and unless an Apple silicon build appears, Fluid and the apps it created are expected to stop opening. The $5 is small, so the real cost is not the money. It is the work of rebuilding every wrapped site in a different tool when the Mac upgrades.
A sensible approach depends on the setup:
- Intel Mac, staying put. Fluid's free tier and the $5 extras do what they say.
- Apple silicon Mac on macOS 27 or earlier. Fluid works, but a plan for moving the wrapped sites is worth having before upgrading to macOS 28.
- New setup on Apple silicon. Starting with a tool that ships a native build avoids doing the work twice.
Before relying on any wrapper, it also helps to keep a short list of every site that has been turned into an app, with its URL and any userscripts used. Rebuilding from a list takes minutes. Rebuilding from memory takes much longer.
A move away from Fluid, whenever it happens, follows the same short order:
- Open each Fluid app and copy its start URL into the list.
- Copy any userscripts and userstyles from Window, Userscripts into plain text files.
- Recreate each app in the new tool, starting with the one opened most often.
- Sign in again inside each new app, since logins do not carry over between tools.
- Move the old Fluid apps to the Trash only after the new ones have been used for a few days.
Other ways to get the same result, and what they cost
Several routes give a site its own window. These are the prices and limits shown on each official page on October 18, 2026.
| Route | Price | Free tier | Platform notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fluid | Free, $5 one time license | Unlimited apps | Intel build, Mac OS 10.12 or later |
| Safari, Add to Dock | Free, built in | Unlimited | macOS Sonoma 14 or later |
| Unite Pro | From $39.99 one time | First app free | Apple silicon and Intel, macOS 15 or later |
| WebCatalog | Pro $5 per month, billed annually | 2 desktop apps | macOS, Windows and Linux |
Safari's Add to Dock is the closest free equivalent. Apple's page on Safari web apps on Mac says it creates a web app from any page through File, then Add to Dock, and that the web app shares no cookies or history with Safari. It has no menu bar pinning, but it has per app settings for name, icon and Safari extensions.
The Unite page lists Unite Pro as a one time purchase starting at $39.99, valid for Unite Pro 1.x, with the first app free and a requirement of macOS 15 or later. The WebCatalog pricing page lists a free Basic plan with 2 desktop apps, Pro at $5 per month billed annually with unlimited apps, and Business at $8 per user per month billed annually.
The developer of this site also makes a site to app tool for macOS, built on a Chromium based browser already installed on the Mac, with a separate browser profile and Chrome extensions per app. Its pricing lists free use for up to 3 apps and $24.99 one time for unlimited apps, and the supported services page shows which sites have prepared names and icons.
What to change first
Open Get Info on Fluid and check the Kind line. If it reads Application (Intel) on an Apple silicon Mac, list the sites currently wrapped and move them before upgrading past macOS 27, either to Safari's Add to Dock or to another site to app tool such as Kagemusha.
Frequently asked questions
Is Fluid really free?
Yes. The official site states that Fluid is free to download and that any number of apps can be created without paying. The free version is not a trial and has no time limit. Only menu bar pinning, userscripts and userstyles, and full screen mode require the $5 license.
Is the Fluid license a subscription?
No. The license is a one time $5 payment made through PayPal. There is no monthly fee and no account to manage. A lost license can be regenerated from the developer's recovery form by entering the PayPal email address used at purchase.
Does Fluid run on Apple silicon Macs?
The 2.1.2 build from the official download is an Intel app, so on Apple silicon it runs through Rosetta. Apple says Rosetta remains available through macOS 27, and that from macOS 28 it will be limited to certain older games. Checking Get Info in Finder shows the app's Kind.
Can generated Fluid apps be shared with coworkers?
Nothing technically prevents it, but the developer's FAQ asks users not to redistribute generated apps and to recommend Fluid instead. For a team, each person installs Fluid and builds their own apps, which also keeps each person's logins on their own Mac.
What is the closest free alternative to Fluid on a recent Mac?
Safari's Add to Dock, available on macOS Sonoma 14 or later, creates a web app from any page with its own Dock icon and separate cookies. It does not pin apps to the menu bar, but it lets each app have its own name, icon and Safari extension settings.