It's quite the dark-pattern to allow you to download it and scan for free, without any clear indication that it's a paid product, and then ambush you with a purchase dangling the space savings in front of your face.
What are we even doing here. The knee-jerk conspiratorial foolishness on this site is completely off the deep end.
We both know it does so intentionally, and we also know exactly what the intent is.
Here, the first mention of any kind of cost to this software is ~1/8th of the way down the page when you're met with Q: How do I pay for Hyperspace? which litteraly states that it's a free download that doesn't do anything unless you pay them, meaning that it is not free in any sense of the term.
Yes, it is.
It is also, very obviously, placed in such a way to reduce the bounce rate off the landing page and increase conversions.
When was the last time you were on a site that had meaningful content below its "releases" section?
Why is the answer to the "How do I pay?" FAQ question bend over backwards to first say >Hyperspace is a free download in the Mac App Store. Once downloaded, it’s free to scan an unlimited number of files. Scanning will let you know how much space is eligible to be reclaimed.
Why doesn't the app store description say which capabilities are free and which are paid?
One or two of these are innocuous, but there are are a dozen small choices like this that have been made here, all aligned to increase the likelihood of one thing: Put the user in the position where they've already installed the app, sunk some time into it, and are anticipating the benefit before making it clear that they have to pay money.
That the page technically contains the words "you will need to pay for Hyperspace" does not mean this isn't a dark pattern.
What am I missing?
Q: How do I pay for Hyperspace? Hyperspace is a free download in the Mac App Store. Once downloaded, it’s free to scan an unlimited number of files. Scanning will let you know how much space is eligible to be reclaimed.
If you decide you want to reclaim that space, you will need to pay for Hyperspace using the purchase button that appears after a successful scan or by selecting “Purchase Hyperspace…” from the “Hyperspace” menu in the menu bar.
The fact that the payment is buried under 10k characters of text is deliberate. That it is not in the 'pricing' or 'buy' link in the menu where everyone has it is clearly a choice.