Activity Monitor alternatives/Vitals vs iStat Menus
Vitals vs iStat Menus
Quick answer
Vitals is the better choice if you want to replace Activity Monitor. It lists your apps with their helper processes counted in, keeps 30 days of history per app, alerts you when an app misbehaves, and has a menu bar item on top. iStat Menus is a menu bar monitor: it puts figures in the menu bar, but has no window that shows which app is responsible.
Vitals Choose iStat Menus if
- You want figures in the menu bar more than a window
- You want fan control or weather
- You want alert rules on any figure you choose
- You are on a macOS older than 15
Choose Vitals if
- You want to know which app is using memory, CPU or battery, helpers included
- You want to look back over 30 days, not just the last few minutes
- You run dev servers and lose track of what is holding a port
- You want a full Activity Monitor replacement, with the menu bar as well
How we compared
The iStat Menus column comes from its maker's own site on September 22, 2026. Where the site does not say whether it does something, the cell says "Not stated". If a cell is out of date, email us and we will fix it.
See all 10 Activity Monitor alternatives, Vitals vs Stats, or read why apps show so many helper processes.