There are even fewer app packaging solutions left!

Application packaging solution PACE Suite, developed by Infopulse, which is now part of Tietoevry Create, has suspended new product license sales from June 30, 2025.

In July, 2025, I can point organizations to only four professional app packaging solutions that you can buy licenses of and that will do great job solving main application packaging challenges. However, public release notes and industry feedback indicate that two of these solutions have a significant slowdown in development and innovation in recent years.

That means that only two vendors are left that continue to regularly improve the software, innovate with features that actually help with real problems (not only mandatory maintenance), show up in conferences, give sessions and write blog posts to help others.

One of these two packaging solutions who haven’t slow down in 2025 but only expands, of course, is Master Packager. And initial business instinct would tell: “Great, fewer competitors mean more customers will find out about Master Packager!“. While somewhere that’s true, it hides more complex issues underneath the surface - the trend is that soon there will be even fewer app packaging solutions left.

Competition is good. For companies like Master Packager and consumers. It forces companies to push forward. To think. To execute. To innovate. To keep the price down. And that leads to better products and ultimately a better life for consumers. In Latvia, for example, we have access to unlimited lightning fast (average 300-1000 Mbps) internet and unlimited calls for less than €30 per month. All thanks to competition in the internet provider space.

Over the years, many app packaging tools have been discontinued, like Wise Package Studio by Symantec in 2013 and MSI Studio by Dell in 2013. Many have been just left for slow death, like the brilliant MSI editing tool InstEd It, which has inspired us a lot. Microsoft ORCA has remained untouched for almost two decades. Even the Microsoft MSIX Packaging Tool, hasn’t been updated for more than a year, although lacking a ton of features to be useful with modern packaging format MSIX adaption.

Demand for app repackaging has decreased due to better support for silent installations from software vendors and fewer OS compatibility issues compared to the migration times from XP and Windows 7. There are also more apps available in Microsoft Store, WinGet, and multiple third-party patching catalog providers help reduce the need for popular app packaging.

The new generation of IT admins who play the role of deployment specialists, but who have never seen what impact streamlined app packaging can bring to organizations’ efficiency, often choose an easier way to deploy apps and be done with it. That comes with a price tag in long run in terms of standardization, troubleshooting and more important - security.

All these reasons makes app packaging look less needed. But enterprise needs haven’t disappeared. No single third-party catalog can update and configure all applications in a medium to large environment. People are rotating and IT pros new to app management do not have experience how to handle low quality application installers. Standardization, predictability, security, and efficiency are key cornerstones for a mature, efficient, and stable organization. That’s where tools like Master Packager provide value, giving organizations full control to package any app to meet their requirements.

We started developing Master Packager in 2014, with public appearance in 2018. Entering an already mature market dominated by well-known tools was challenging. Yet, as professional packagers ourselves, we saw that multiple problems existed: tools stopped improving, were expensive, overly complex, and often lacked features we considered essential. We knew the market and we understood the customer and the tools. Knowing that made us strong to continue fulfill our vision - making app management affordable and easier.

We have been profitable from day one while offering professional application packaging solution for affordable price. We love building products, we love application packaging, and we love helping organization become more efficient and save money.

There is no doubt that app packaging is still needed and will be for many years. But not on the same scale as before. For vendors with large teams and complex packaging solutions full of features no longer needed in the Windows 11 era, it will be hard and we can already see that happening.

For us on other hand with our decade of app packaging knowledge, small team, focus on problem solving not maximizing profits and fully owning the solution ourselves we strive to be the number one choice for many organizations understanding how important application management is. For so many organizations we already are. But we know there are more organizations out there discovering us every day - and once they do, they never look back.

• If you are a PACE Suite existing customer and are now looking for a new professional app packaging software, consider choosing Master Packager.

• If you’re using a software packaging software with slow release cadence, do not see new features that bring value to you and cost a fortune - consider looking into Master Packager.

• If you are only using PSAppDeployToolkit (PSADT) to package apps, consider learning more about what a comprehensive app packaging solution like Master Packager can provide to you and your organization. To package any Win32 custom app with highest standards in reasonable time , then PSADT is not enough.

• If you do not have a packaging tool and you do not know why it is needed and where to start, consider reaching out to us and let us help you and your organization learn and get better.

Have an easy package, or hard, because you are a Master Packager!