Guide
The 9 best iStat Menus alternatives for Mac
Quick answer
If you want what iStat Menus does, for free, Stats is the closest match: the same kind of menu bar modules, open source, updated most weeks. If you left because the figures never said which app was responsible, Vitals is the better replacement: menu bar readouts of its own, and a window behind them that lists every app with its helpers counted in, 30 days of history and alerts.
iStat Menus is the menu bar monitor most people start with, and it is still the most complete one. People look for an alternative for a few reasons: they want the figure to say which app is responsible, they want history that goes back further than a dropdown, or they want it free. The apps below are ranked for someone leaving iStat Menus, and each is labeled with the job it does best.
| # | App | Best for | Price | Runs in |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vitals Best overall | The menu bar figures, plus the window behind them | $5 during the launch | A window and the menu bar |
| 2 | Stats | The closest free match in the menu bar | Free (MIT license) | The menu bar |
| 3 | MacPulse | History and plain-English insights, with a menu bar item | €14.99 once | A window and the menu bar |
| 4 | iStatistica Pro | A Mac App Store menu bar monitor with widgets | $5.99 on the Mac App Store | A window, widgets and the menu bar |
| 5 | Sensei | A menu bar monitor inside a maintenance suite | $29 a year or $59 lifetime | A window and the menu bar |
| 6 | CleanMyMac Menu | People who already have CleanMyMac | Part of CleanMyMac | The menu bar |
| 7 | TK-mac | A Task Manager window with a menu bar dropdown | $7.99 once during its launch offer | A window and the menu bar |
| 8 | ProcXray | Taking one process apart, with no menu bar | Free basic tier | A window |
| 9 | ProcessSpy | A process explorer with a menu bar dashboard | Free version; $34.99 once for everything | A window and the menu bar |
- 01
Vitals
Best for: The menu bar figures, plus the window behind them
- Price
- $5 during the launch, then $29, once
- Runs in
- A window and the menu bar
Vitals is the best Activity Monitor alternative for Mac. Activity Monitor shows about 1,000 processes. Vitals shows the 60 apps they belong to, with every helper process counted under the app that launched it, so Chrome is one row with one figure for memory, CPU, energy, disk and network. It keeps 30 days of history for every app, tells you when an app keeps the CPU busy or keeps growing in memory, finds dev servers left running and the ports they hold, and puts every metric in the menu bar. It is the only app on this list built around apps instead of processes, which is the question people open Activity Monitor to answer: which app is doing this?
Good
- One row and one figure per app, helpers included
- 30 days of history for every metric, per app
- Alerts when an app misbehaves
- Dev servers and open ports, by project
- Every metric in the menu bar too
- One payment, every update for life
Good to know
- Needs macOS 15 or later
- Sold direct, not on the Mac App Store, because its sandbox blocks reading other apps' processes
- 02
Stats
by exelban (open source)Best for: The closest free match in the menu bar
- Price
- Free (MIT license), also
brew install stats - Runs in
- The menu bar
The most popular free option, with over 42,000 stars on GitHub and releases most weeks (the latest on September 20, 2026). It adds menu bar modules for CPU, GPU, memory, disk, network, battery, sensors (temperature, voltage, power), Bluetooth devices and a clock. Its README does not describe a process list, history length or alerts, and its fan control is marked as legacy and unmaintained. If you want menu bar figures and do not want to pay, start here.
Good
- Free and open source
- Very actively maintained
- Broad sensor coverage
Not so good
- Fan control no longer maintained
- Open source, but not open to contributions
- 03
MacPulse
by MacPulseBest for: History and plain-English insights, with a menu bar item
- Price
- €14.99 once, €49.99 for 5 Macs, 14-day trial
- Runs in
- A window and the menu bar
The other app here built around history: 30 days of it, downsampled, with plain-English insights about what happened, temperatures and fan curves, menu bar sparklines and CSV export. Its FAQ notes that the Mac App Store version leaves out sensors, fan control and top processes, so buy it direct if you want those.
Good
- 30 days of history
- Session recording and CSV export
Not so good
- The App Store version leaves out sensors, fan control and top processes
- Top processes only, no full list
- 04
iStatistica Pro
by ImagetasksBest for: A Mac App Store menu bar monitor with widgets
- Price
- $5.99 on the Mac App Store, $9.99 for Pro
- Runs in
- A window, widgets and the menu bar
A system monitor sold on the Mac App Store, with menu bar monitors, widgets and alerts for CPU, memory, disk, network, GPU and sensors. The Pro version adds app activity with CPU history, force quit, a web dashboard, a REST API and CSV export. Temperatures and fans need a separate Sensors plug-in.
Good
- Low price, on the Mac App Store
- Alerts, a REST API and a web dashboard
Not so good
- Temperatures need a separate plug-in
- Force quit needs the plug-in too
- 05
Sensei
by CindoriBest for: A menu bar monitor inside a maintenance suite
- Price
- $29 a year or $59 lifetime, 3 Macs
- Runs in
- A window and the menu bar
A performance suite: a menu bar monitor for CPU, GPU, battery and storage and a thermal dashboard, alongside battery and drive health, a cleaner, an uninstaller and a disk benchmark. Its site does not describe a list of running apps. Monitoring is one part of a larger toolbox, which suits you if you want the toolbox.
Good
- Many tools in one
- A lifetime option
Not so good
- A yearly price, or $59 for lifetime
- Monitoring is not the main job
- 06
CleanMyMac Menu
by MacPawBest for: People who already have CleanMyMac
- Price
- Part of CleanMyMac, from $29.95 a year or $79.95 once
- Runs in
- The menu bar
CleanMyMac's menu shows CPU and memory with the apps using the most, memory pressure and swap, disk, battery and network, with a button to free up memory. It is simple and already there if you pay for CleanMyMac, but on its own it is not a reason to buy.
Good
- Simple
- Included with CleanMyMac
Not so good
- Subscription-first pricing
- Shallow compared with the rest
- 07
TK-mac
by TK-macBest for: A Task Manager window with a menu bar dropdown
- Price
- $7.99 once during its launch offer, $13.99 after; two Macs $13.99; 7-day trial (checked September 27, 2026)
- Runs in
- A window and the menu bar
A Task Manager for people who came from Windows, laid out the way they remember it. It splits your apps from background tasks, shows live CPU, memory and disk dashboards, tracks upload and download speed per process, and puts the top ten consumers in a menu bar dropdown with pause, restart and force quit, plus a one-click quit-all for a frozen Mac. It also reads system, app and security logs with search, timelines and CSV export, and can sample one app for up to 60 seconds. Its site does not describe counting helper processes under their app, alerts, or any history beyond that sample. Version 1.5; the site counts 100+ downloads.
Good
- The Windows Task Manager layout, on a Mac
- Upload and download speed per process
- A log viewer with search, timelines and CSV export
- Low price, with a 7-day trial
Not so good
- No history beyond a 60-second sample of one app
- Helper processes not counted under their app, as far as its site says
- No alerts stated
- 08
ProcXray
by ProcXrayBest for: Taking one process apart, with no menu bar
- Price
- Free basic tier, $15 once for everything, 3 Macs
- Runs in
- A window
A process explorer for developers: a process tree with each process's open ports, connections, files, environment variables and code signature, the ability to suspend, terminate or signal a process, and capture of processes that only live for a moment. It answers "what exactly is this process doing" better than anything else here.
Good
- Open ports, files and environment per process
- Catches short-lived processes
Not so good
- A tree of processes, not a list of apps
- No temperatures or fans
- 09
ProcessSpy
by Robert (@rob3rth)Best for: A process explorer with a menu bar dashboard
- Price
- Free version; $34.99 once for everything, unlimited Macs; also on Setapp (checked September 27, 2026)
- Runs in
- A window and the menu bar
The Mac answer to Windows Process Explorer, built by a developer who could not tell his Java processes apart in Activity Monitor. It shows the full command line, path, version, environment and code signature of every process, tells same-named processes apart, and remembers processes after they finish. Its tree view groups helpers under the process that launched them, with rolled-up totals for CPU, memory and threads. Filters take regular expressions and JavaScript. The paid version adds CPU and memory history with timelines and CSV export, a menu bar dashboard, and Shortcuts that run on process events. Version 1.15.2, macOS 14 or later.
Good
- Full command line, path, environment and signature per process
- Remembers finished processes
- Regular-expression and JavaScript filters
- A free version, and unlimited Macs on the paid one
Not so good
- A tree of processes, not a list of apps
- History, the menu bar and process recall are paid features
- No temperatures or fans
Tools that do one job well
These do not replace iStat Menus, so they are not ranked against the list above. Each is the best pick for its one job.
Temperatures and fan control
Per-core temperatures on Apple silicon through M5 Max, fan control with rules, and email alerts. No process list.
Which app talks to which server
Its Network Monitor keeps up to 12 months of per-app traffic, with every connection, port and domain, and blocks with one click. Network only.
Slowing down CPU hogs automatically
Slows or pauses background apps that use too much CPU. Its site lists macOS up to 26.5.
When iStat Menus is enough
Keep iStat Menus if what you want is figures in the menu bar and nothing more. Nothing here shows more of them in less space, its alert rules work on any figure you choose, and it controls fans, which Vitals does not.
It falls short when the question is which app is behind the figure, or what happened while you were not looking. Its dropdowns show the top apps for the moment; they do not list every app, count helpers under their app, or keep 30 days. That is the gap the top of the list fills.
Checked, but not ranked
Still in most roundups, but no longer maintained:
- MenuMeters: last release in November 2021; its own README now points people elsewhere.
- eul: last release in August 2021.
- Hot: last release in July 2024.
- iGlance: last release in October 2020.
- XRG: last release in October 2023.
How we checked
Every price and feature comes from the maker's own site on September 22, 2026: the pricing page, product page or App Store listing, and for open-source tools the README and the release history on GitHub. Where a maker does not say whether their app does something, the entry does not claim it either way. Prices change; check the maker's site before you buy.
Vitals is first because it keeps everything iStat Menus puts in the menu bar and adds the window behind it. Stats is second because it is the closest free match. Every other tool is ranked for how well it replaces iStat Menus, and where one does a job better, the entry says so. If something here is out of date, email us and we will fix it.
Questions people ask
What is the best free alternative to iStat Menus?
Stats. It is open source, adds the same kind of menu bar modules for CPU, GPU, memory, disk, network, battery and sensors, and is updated most weeks. Its README describes no window, no history and no alerts.
Is there an iStat Menus alternative that shows which app is using the CPU?
Vitals. Its menu bar item shows the figure, and the window behind it lists every app with its helper processes counted in, so the 80% has a name. It keeps 30 days of that for every app.
Does any iStat Menus alternative control fans?
MacPulse does, in its direct version, and TG Pro is built for it. Vitals shows fan speed and temperatures but does not set fan curves.
Can I run iStat Menus and Vitals together?
Yes. The Vitals menu bar item can be reduced to a single icon, so the two do not compete for space, and the Vitals window works the same either way.