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Support What’s the difference between the Mac App Store and the version from the Sketch website?

What’s the difference between the Mac App Store and the version from the Sketch website?

Last updated on 04 Jul 2025
1 min read

When choosing which version of Sketch is best for you, it’s important to know the differences between the Mac App Store version and the version you can download from sketch.com.

Functionality

The Mac App Store version of Sketch has a few limitations due to Apple’s guidelines:

  1. Plugins. You won’t be able to extend Sketch’s functionality through third-party plugins or tools. The plugins menu won’t be available in the Mac App Store version.
  2. Importing .fig files. The Mac App Store version doesn’t include the Figma file converter, so importing .fig files isn’t possible.
  3. sketchtool. Because there are restrictions in place that prevent adding extra binaries to apps on the Mac App Store, we can’t provide sketchtool in the Mac App Store version. This is the tool we use from the command line to automate different tasks. Tools like Zeplin or Abstract need this tool to check Sketch documents and make previews.
  4. License keys. You can sign in to the Mac App Store version using a subscription. If you have a Mac-only license, you’ll need to download Sketch directly from our website.

Worry not! If you need any of the features above, download Sketch from sketch.com, and sign in using the same credentials you use for the Mac App Store version.

Billing

When you download Sketch through the Mac App Store and start a subscription within the app, Apple will handle all billing and payment details. Please see Apple’s support article for more information on how to manage your billing and subscription details.

Workspaces

If you start a subscription via the Mac App Store version of the app, there can only be one Editor per Workspace and you won’t be able to add more Editor seats.

Collaboration

Even with a single editor in a Workspace, you can still use real-time collaboration. Invite other people as ‘Guests’ (referred to as ‘Guest Editors’) to join your Workspace’s projects or documents using the email address associated with their active Sketch subscription.

Take these limitations into account before deciding whether to download Sketch directly from sketch.com or via the Mac App Store. If you have any questions, please contact us.