Back to School 2026: Student Discounts on Top Mac Apps

Back-to-school season is a good time to revisit the software you rely on for studying, writing, designing, managing files, and keeping your Mac organized. And unlike hardware, software often comes with surprisingly generous educational pricing.

We checked the latest offers from developers we know and use, focusing less on generic “back-to-school” sales and more on Mac apps that offer meaningful student or education discounts.

Here are the deals worth checking before you pay full price.

Editor’s Note: Updated August 20, 2026. We refreshed this guide with the latest student and education discounts, removed expired offers, and focused on software we think is genuinely useful for school and college workflows.

Back-to-School Software Deals in 2026

Please note not all of these are traditional student discounts. Some are special back-to-school promotions available to everyone, while others require proof of student or educator status.

# CleanShot X — 30% Off for Students

A good screenshot tool sounds like a small thing until you start using it every day.

CleanShot X is one of our favorite Mac screenshot utilities for capturing tutorials, documenting problems, recording your screen, and quickly annotating images. It’s especially useful for students who regularly need to explain something visually or submit screenshots with assignments.

CleanShot currently offers a 30% educational discount. You can claim it using a university-issued email address. The developer also says students can contact them about discounts for Cloud Pro subscriptions or update renewals.

The deal: 30% off
Who qualifies: Students with a university-issued email
Best for: Screenshots, annotations, screen recording, and visual documentation

Our take: This is one of those discounts that’s easy to overlook but worthwhile if screenshots are part of your daily schoolwork. Read our full CleanShot X review here.

# Sketch — Free for Students and Educators

This one isn’t really a discount. It’s better: eligible students and educators can use Sketch for free.

Sketch is a professional UI/UX design and prototyping platform with a Mac app, web app, and iPhone app. Its Education plan currently includes a free Workspace with 50 GB of storage and one Editor seat for eligible students and teachers, with access to the Mac app.

Students generally need to be at least 16 and enrolled at an eligible school, college, university, or qualifying online course. You’ll need to provide proof of enrollment or another acceptable document during verification.

Once approved, students and teachers can use Sketch for free as long as the software is being used for their studies or teaching. The education access can also be renewed while you remain eligible.

The deal: Free
Who qualifies: Eligible students, teachers, and academic institutions
Best for: UI/UX design, prototyping, and digital product design

Our take: If you’re studying design, don’t buy Sketch before checking the Education program. There’s little reason to pay when you may qualify for free access.

# EaseUS — Up to 75% Off Until September 30

EaseUS is running one of the bigger general-purpose software promotions of the back-to-school season.

From August 5 through September 30, 2026, you can use promo code BTS2026 to get up to 75% off participating EaseUS products.

The sale covers several tools that can make sense for a student’s Mac or PC, including PDF editing, disk management, and drive migration.

EaseUS PDF Editor — Save $25

If you regularly deal with research papers, lecture notes, forms, or academic documents,  EaseUS PDF Editor is the most directly relevant product in this promotion.

The back-to-school offer saves $25 on the PDF solution, which is designed for editing and managing academic and professional documents.

EaseUS Partition Master for Mac — Save 30%

If you’re the person who likes keeping your Mac’s storage organized, Partition Master for Mac is the more technical option.

The current promotion saves 30% and positions the tool around disk diagnostics and partition management — useful when you’re trying to keep an older school Mac organized and running smoothly.

EaseUS Disk Copy for Windows — Save 30%

For Windows users, Disk Copy is aimed at drive migration, backups, file sharing, and setting up a school PC after a drive upgrade.

The current back-to-school offer takes 30% off.

Promo code: BTS2026
Sale period: August 5–September 30, 2026
Maximum discount: Up to 75% off

Our take: EaseUS is less about one must-have student app and more about filling practical gaps. If you specifically need a PDF editor, disk utility, or drive migration tool, this sale is worth checking before it expires.

# Parallels Desktop — 45% Off for Students and Educators

One of the biggest problems for Mac-owning students is simple: sometimes the software you need only runs on Windows.

That’s where Parallels Desktop comes in. It lets you run Windows and Windows applications alongside macOS without rebooting into another operating system.

The current Parallels pricing page lists 45% off for current students and educators, bringing the Standard Edition to $54.99/year, compared with $99.99. Pro is also discounted to $65.99/year for eligible students and educators.

For students working with specialized Windows-only applications, engineering tools, business software, or coursework that requires Windows, this can be much more practical than buying or carrying a second computer.

The deal: 45% off
Standard Edition: $54.99/year
Pro Edition: $65.99/year
Who qualifies: Current students and educators
Best for: Running Windows apps on a Mac

Our take: If your Mac is otherwise perfectly capable but one or two required apps force you into Windows, this is probably the most useful deal on the list.

# VideoProc Converter AI — 60% Off

Working with video for a class project? VideoProc Converter AI offers a particularly strong educational discount.

The current education offer gives 60% off VideoProc Converter AI, with the listed price dropping from $59.95 to $19.95 for the applicable license. The software combines video conversion, compression, recording, and AI-powered enhancement.

You’ll need to verify your status with an active educational email address. If your school domain isn’t automatically recognized, VideoProc says you can contact its media team with other proof of educational status.

The deal: 60% off
Current listed price: $19.95
Who qualifies: Students and teaching staff
Best for: Video conversion, compression, enhancement, and recording

Our take: A good pick if video isn’t your main subject but keeps showing up in presentations, assignments, or side projects.

# Softorino Universal License — 85% Off

Softorino is offering an unusually aggressive back-to-school deal on its Universal License.

The current offer brings the 1-year Universal License down from $39.96 to $5.99 — an 85% discount.

Softorino’s collection is aimed at moving and managing media between computers and Apple devices, so it can be useful if your school workflow involves an iPhone, iPad, Mac, or lots of media files.

The deal: 85% off
1-year price: $5.99
Regular price: $39.96
Best for: Apple device and media management

Our take: At $5.99, this is one of the easiest deals on this list to consider if you need the tools included in the Universal License.

# iMazing — 30% Off for Students and Educators

If you use an iPhone or iPad alongside your Mac, iMazing is one of the educational discounts we’d take seriously.

iMazing is designed for managing Apple devices beyond what Finder provides. You can use it to create and browse backups, transfer photos and files, manage messages, and move data between devices.

For students, that can be particularly useful when an iPhone or iPad is part of your everyday school workflow.

The current education program gives students, professors, and members of educational institutions 30% off iMazing 3. You can verify your eligibility with an educational email address such as a .edu, .ac, or other recognized educational domain.

The deal: 30% off iMazing 3
Who qualifies: Students, professors, and educational institution members
Best for: iPhone/iPad backups, transfers, and device management

Our take: If you’re already using iMazing or have been looking for a better way to manage an iPhone from a Mac, the education discount makes the purchase considerably easier to justify.

Start the School Year With Better Software, Not More Software

Back-to-school season doesn’t have to mean filling your Mac with another dozen apps.

In fact, we’d recommend the opposite.

Start with the few tools that solve problems you actually encounter: Parallels Desktop if you need Windows, CleanShot X if you constantly work with screenshots, iMazing if you manage an iPhone or iPad, Sketch if you’re studying design, or VideoProc Converter AI if video is part of your coursework.

And if you already know you need a PDF, disk, or migration utility, check the EaseUS Back-to-School Sale before September 30.

The best student discount isn’t the one with the biggest percentage. It’s the one that makes a tool you’ll use every week significantly cheaper.

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