After reading about all the applictions to the monome i see alot of
references to max/msp 4,6.

Is max/msp needed to run those applications ? At 499 USD i would have to
look at all the non max/msp applications.

Cycling '74 offers a free Max/MSP runtime. You won't be able to edit or 
write your own apps with it, but it will run all of the monome apps that 
have been released for Max. They also offer a 30-day full trial version, 
so that you can get a feel for how the program works.