Guides/Vitals vs iStatistica Pro
Vitals vs iStatistica Pro
Quick answer
iStatistica Pro and Vitals overlap on the menu bar and split on the window. iStatistica Pro is a low-cost Mac App Store monitor with widgets, a web dashboard and a REST API, and it runs back to macOS 10.11. Vitals lists every app with its helper processes counted in, keeps 30 days of history per app, and has temperatures and force quit built in rather than in a plug-in. Choose iStatistica for widgets, the App Store or an old Mac; choose Vitals to replace Activity Monitor.
VitalsiStatistica Pro Choose Vitals if
- You want each app's helper processes counted in, so Chrome is one row
- You want 30 days of history for every app
- You want temperatures and quit without installing a plug-in
- You run dev servers and want to see which ports they hold
Choose iStatistica Pro if
- You want widgets, a web dashboard or a REST API
- You prefer to buy through the Mac App Store
- You are on a macOS older than 15
Where Vitals pulls ahead
Nothing to bolt on
In iStatistica Pro, temperatures and force quit need the separate Sensors plug-in. In Vitals they are built in, along with fan speed, fan control and the battery level of your AirPods, mouse and keyboard.
Chrome is one row
iStatistica's site does not say what it does with helper processes. Vitals adds every helper to the app that launched it, so Chrome is one row with one figure for memory, CPU, energy, disk and network.
30 days, and it says so
iStatistica Pro keeps CPU and memory history per app for a length its site does not state. Vitals keeps every metric for every app for 30 days, and shows it as 12 hours, 24 hours, 7 days and 30 days.
See it for yourself
The same Mac, listed the way Activity Monitor lists it and the way Vitals does. Tap Vitals to watch about 900 processes become eight apps.
Everything Vitals does
One app, one payment, every update for life.
- Processes grouped by app. Every helper process is added to the app that launched it, so a working Mac shows about 60 apps instead of about 1,000 processes, each with one figure for memory, CPU, energy, disk and network.
- A tab per subsystem. Overview, CPU, Memory, Disk, Network, GPU, Battery, Sound, Bluetooth and Projects, plus Containers while Docker runs, each with its live figures and the apps behind them.
- Inside your browser. Click Chrome, Safari, Firefox, Edge, Brave, Arc or Dia to see its memory and CPU split into tabs, extensions, graphics and the browser itself. Slack, VS Code and similar apps are split by window.
- 30 days of history. CPU, memory, energy, disk and network for the last hour, 12 hours, 24 hours, 7 days and 30 days, with the apps that used the most, ranked hour by hour for the last two days.
- What keeps the Mac awake, and the fans on. The Battery tab lists the apps holding sleep off, what each said it is doing and for how long. When the Mac runs hot, Vitals names the apps behind it, with Quit beside each.
- Alerts for misbehaving apps. A notification when an app keeps the CPU busy, keeps growing in memory, or hammers the disk or network.
- Dev servers and open ports, by project. Processes grouped by the project folder they run in, with their listening ports, and dev servers left idle for days pointed out and offered to stop.
- A menu bar you arrange. Every readout can be its own menu bar item: CPU, memory, GPU, network, disk, temperature or battery, as a value, a graph or both, ⌘-dragged into any order. Behind it, a dropdown with every metric, the busiest apps, and a tab for each metric.
- Arrange the window and the dropdown. Choose the window’s tabs and their order, and show, hide or reorder the sections, cards and lists on every tab. The dropdown has its own tiles and a List layout with one line per metric. Reset puts everything back.
- Docker containers. A Containers tab with every Docker container’s memory, CPU, network and ports, in the window and the dropdown, and Stop on each, after a confirmation.
- Sound and Bluetooth tabs. The Mac’s output device and level with a slider for every app playing sound, the microphone and the apps using it, and every connected Bluetooth device with its battery, lowest first.
- Units you choose. Celsius or Fahrenheit, bytes or bits for network speed, and CPU per core or per Mac, each with a live example in Settings.
- Temperatures and fans. CPU and GPU temperature on Intel and Apple silicon, M5 included, and fan speed. Hold any fan at a speed you choose, and hand it back to the Mac in one click. The menu bar temperature can follow the CPU, the GPU or the hottest sensor.
- Quit and force quit. Quit an app or a single process, always after a confirmation.
- Keyboard shortcuts and Shortcuts actions. Open the dropdown or the window from any app, and get a reading or the busiest app from the Shortcuts app.
- Export as an image. Save or copy a snapshot of the Mac as a 1200 × 630 share card or a dashboard image.
- In the Dock, if you like. Show in Dock keeps Vitals in the Dock like Activity Monitor. Opened by hand it shows its window; at login it stays in the menu bar.
What Mac users say
Now I find myself stealing quick glances at the menu bar, instead of taking another sip of coffee.
Ed Wiseman Emmy-winning director and producer macOS Activity Monitor is horrible when I’m juggling dev projects and local AI. Vitals is so much better.
Knowix Developer and AI builder cant keep vibecoding everything for $5, i get a finished product, clean ui, and bug fixes
Sai Krishna Founder of Superblog Common questions
Why is Vitals not on the Mac App Store?
The App Store sandbox stops an app from reading other apps' processes, which is the whole job. Vitals is sold direct, signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple.
Does Vitals have widgets or a REST API?
No. Vitals is a window and a menu bar item. If you want a web dashboard or an API, iStatistica Pro has both.
Does Vitals run on older Macs, like iStatistica?
No. Vitals needs macOS 15 or later, on Apple silicon and Intel. iStatistica runs back to macOS 10.11, so on an older Mac it is the one that works.
Get Vitals for $9 while the launch price lasts
One-time paymentLifetime updates14-day refund
Get Vitals for $9How we compared
The iStatistica Pro 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.
More comparisons
- Vitals vs Activity Monitor
- Vitals vs iStat Menus
- Vitals vs Stats
- Vitals vs MacPulse
- Vitals vs ProcXray
- Vitals vs Sensei
- Vitals vs CleanMyMac Menu
- Vitals vs TK-mac
- Vitals vs ProcessSpy
- All 12 Activity Monitor alternatives
- iStat Menus alternatives
- Stats alternatives
- Task Manager for Mac
- Best system monitors for Mac
- Best menu bar monitors for Mac
- Best volume mixers for Mac
Wondering why apps show so many rows in Activity Monitor? Read about helper processes.