Live CPU, memory, temperature and battery stats in your menu bar.
The most complete menu bar system monitor
Shows CPU, GPU, memory, disk, network, sensor, battery and weather information in the menu bar, with detailed drop-downs, notifications and fan control. A combined mode packs several readouts into one item.
Our take The polished, deeply configurable choice for people who want everything in one place. Paid upgrades come with major versions; free Stats covers the basics.
$11.99 one-time; Family $14.99 as of Oct 2026by Bjango Pty Ltd
Free, open-source system monitor for the menu bar
Adds menu bar widgets for CPU, GPU, RAM, disk, sensors, network, battery, Bluetooth device batteries and a clock, each configurable in several display styles.
Our take The best free option and enough for most people who want menu bar stats. Less polished than iStat Menus and without its fan control or weather.
FreeMIT licenceby Serhiy Mytrovtsiy
Temperature monitoring and fan control
Monitors temperatures of the CPU, GPU, drives and battery, shows fan speeds and lets you control fans manually or with automatic boost rules. It also offers hardware diagnostics, notifications and CSV logging.
Our take Worth it if heat or fan noise is your concern rather than general stats. Narrower in scope than iStat Menus.
$10 one-time as of Oct 2026by Tunabelly Software
Battery charge limiter with extra battery-care tools
Caps how far your MacBook charges and can discharge it while plugged in. Pro adds heat protection, sailing mode, calibration, automatic discharge and Shortcuts support.
Our take On Apple silicon Macs running macOS 26.4 or later, the built-in Charge Limit covers the main reason people install this. AlDente still makes sense on Intel Macs, older macOS, or if you want Pro extras like heat protection.
Free; Pro €11.49/year or €23.99 lifetime as of Oct 2026by AppHouseKitchen
Battery health details for your Mac, iPhone and iPad
Shows live battery health information such as capacity and charge cycles for your Mac and connected iPhone or iPad. The Plus upgrade adds Wi-Fi device readings, a battery lifetime analyzer, SSD stats and notifications.
Our take A quick, long-standing way to check how worn a battery is, useful when buying a used MacBook. The free version is enough for occasional checks.
Price not confirmed here, see the vendor site (checked Oct 2026)by coconut-flavour.com
No app in this category matches that filter.
| App | Price | Model | Open source | App Store |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| iStat Menus |
$11.99 | Paid | – | Yes |
| Stats |
Free | Free | MIT | – |
| TG Pro |
$10 | Paid | – | – |
| AlDente |
Free tier | Free tier | – | – |
| coconutBattery |
Free tier | Free tier | – | – |
Paste this into ChatGPT, Claude or any AI assistant that can open links. It reads the list, asks about your Mac and budget, and suggests a short list.
Help me choose the right system monitor for my Mac. Read https://dockpicks.com/system-monitors/ and its plain-text version, https://dockpicks.com/system-monitors.md. Ask me which Mac I have, what I use it for and my budget, then recommend a short list from that page with the free and paid trade-offs, and say if the tool built into macOS is enough.