Sip review (2026): is it worth paying for?
Mac color picker with palettes, formats and a contrast checker
Black Friday: is there a Sip sale?
Sip report card
Fair · out of 4.0 · graded Nov 13, 2026
Best for picking and organising colors on a Mac
Sip picks colors from the screen on a Mac, keeps them in palettes, converts formats and checks contrast. It is $29.99 per seat with one year of updates, then 70% of the price to keep getting them, and it runs on Mac only.
Who Sip is for
- Fits if you collect colors from screens into palettes on a Mac
- Works for designers who check contrast and copy values in the format an app needs
Who Sip is not for
- Not for you if you use Windows, as there is no version for it
- Skip it if you want updates forever: after the first year they cost 70% of the price
- Tight if you want a free tool, as only a 15-day trial exists
- Watch out: sync and sharing are listed as features but plan limits are not described
Why Sip gets a 2.4
Five grades, each with its reason. The GPA is their average: an A is 4 points, an F is none.
- BValue for money$29.99 per seat with a year of updates, then a 70% extension. Over two years it is about $51, under two years of this category's middle subscription.
- CFree plan and trialA 15-day trial with no credit card, and no free plan.
- BFeaturesScreen picker, palettes and sub-palettes, format conversion, contrast checker, color vision simulation and a dock. The listing names no gap in the core job.
- BEase of useNo store rating is on record, but you install it and click a pixel with nothing to set up.
- DPlatforms and integrationsmacOS only. There is no Windows version.
What these grades rest on. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Sip's own pages on 13 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. How we review and grade.
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<a href="https://toolgpa.com/tools/sip#review"><img src="https://toolgpa.com/badge/sip.svg" alt="Sip: 2.4 GPA on ToolGPA" width="196" height="56"></a>Where Sip stands among desktop utilities
Sip's GPA of 2.4 is higher than 35 of the 186 other desktop utilities we grade, and level with 33.
It stands best on features (B, above 113 of 186) and worst on platforms and integrations (D, above 0).
Each grade against the category
Every bar is all 187 desktop utilities we grade, cut by the letter each got. Sip’s own letter is outlined.
- BValue for moneyAbove 28 of 186, level with 26
- CFree plan and trialAbove 8 of 186, level with 66
- BFeaturesAbove 113 of 186, level with 72
- BEase of useAbove 78 of 186, level with 108
- DPlatforms and integrationsAbove 0 of 186, level with 110
Keep Sip, or make your own?
Your call
It depends on the utility: a converter or a calculator is an afternoon.
Sip sits between: not beyond making, and not a weekend's work either. What you would give up is listed below. Whether that is worth the price is your call.
What you could not
- A native app living in the menu bar.
- A real app for macOS. Something home-made would be a web page.
- The depth: we grade its features B, which means it covers the whole job.
What this rests on. Sip’s listing: what it does, where it runs, what it plugs into and what it costs. It is a judgement about the kind of software this is. We have not built a replacement for it, and making your own means looking after it too. How we decide, and every tool’s verdict.
What is Sip?
Sip is a Mac color picker that lives in the menu bar and a full window. It picks colors from the screen, organizes them into palettes and sub-palettes, converts them to the format your app needs and checks contrast. It is sold as a per-seat license with a year of updates.
Worth knowing
- Runs on macOS only; there is no Windows version.
- The license includes one year of updates; after that, updates need a paid extension at 70% of the original price.
- Also available through Setapp.
- Sync and sharing between devices are listed as features, but the pages do not describe plan limits for them.
Key features
- Screen picker
- Pick one or several colors from anywhere on screen with keyboard shortcuts and send them to other tools.
- Palettes and sub-palettes
- Organize colors with descriptions and nested palettes, and share them with a team.
- Smart formats and profiles
- Detects the frontmost app to choose a color format and applies the matching color profile.
- Contrast checker
- Flags low-contrast text and background pairs and can save corrected colors as a new palette.
- Color vision simulation
- Previews palettes as seen with protanopia, deuteranopia, tritanopia and achromatopsia.
- Color dock
- Keeps favorite colors on any screen edge.
Sip pricing
As of Nov 13, 2026, Sip is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $29.99 per seat.
- Starts at
- $29.99 per seat
- Free plan
- None
- Free trial
- 15-day free trial, no credit card required.
| Plan | Price | What you get |
|---|---|---|
| Sip license | $29.99per seat, includes 1 year of updates | Keep using the version you downloaded after the year, or extend the license for 70% of the original price. 30-day money-back guarantee. |
Read from sipapp.io on Nov 13, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Sip before you buy.
Ways to pay less
- Education50% education discount
Sip's pricing page offers 50% off to people in education; send proof of enrollment by email, and the page says review can take up to 2 business days.
Stated on sipapp.io
Works with
Sip alternatives
- Sip vs ColorSnapper
Free trial
- Sip vs Raycast
Free plan · from $96/yr
Common questions
Does Sip have an Android app?
No Android app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Sip is listed for macOS.
Does Sip have an iPhone app?
No iPhone app was listed when its pages were read on Nov 13, 2026. Sip is listed for macOS.
Is Sip open source?
Sip is not described as open source on its own site, as read on Nov 13, 2026.
Sources for this page
The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 13, 2026.