Files, backup and storage4 picks
The best system monitor and tune-up apps for Mac
iStat Menus is the system monitor most Mac users should buy, and Stats is the best free one.
iStat MenusPick it if you want to know at a glance what spun up your fans or filled your memory.$11.99 onceiStat Menus puts live CPU, memory, temperature, network and AirPods battery stats in your menu bar for $11.99 once. Stats is the free, open source alternative, with menu bar graphs for the same basics. For tuning rather than watching, Supercharge adds small fixes to Finder and the Dock for $20, and OnyX runs maintenance jobs for free.
How we chose
- 1Stats visible in the menu bar
- 2Temperatures and fan activity
- 3Small fixes to Finder and the Dock
Compare at a glance
Tap a name to jump to its write-up.
| App | Price | How you pay | Mac | App Store | Developer | Setapp | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| iStat Menus | $11.99 once | Pay once | Too few ratings | ||||
 Stats | Free, open source | Free | Too few ratings | ||||
 Supercharge | $20 once | Pay once | Too few ratings | ||||
 OnyX | Free | Free | Too few ratings |
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The picks, in order
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Pick it if you want to know at a glance what spun up your fans or filled your memory.
For $11.99 once, or $14.99 for a 5-person family license, iStat Menus puts live CPU, GPU, memory, disk, network, temperature and battery readings in your menu bar with a detailed drop-down behind each. It also shows AirPods battery and weather, and alerts you when disk space runs low. Buy it direct, because the Mac App Store version can't control fan speeds, and the free Stats app already covers basic graphs.
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Pick this if CPU, memory and temperature graphs in the menu bar are all you need, for free.
Put your Mac's CPU, GPU, memory, disk, network, battery and sensor readings in the menu bar as small graphs or numbers, each opening a drop-down with more detail. It even shows battery levels for Bluetooth devices. This free, open source app covers most of what people buy iStat Menus for, though iStat Menus at $11.99 adds weather, alerts and a more polished design.
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Pick it if you want to fix small Finder, Dock and Mission Control annoyances rather than watch stats.
Cut and paste files in Finder with Command-X, open them with Return, and close windows straight from Mission Control. This $20 utility from Sindre Sorhus adds dozens of opt-in fixes like those, plus copying text out of anything on screen and hiding an app by clicking its Dock icon. It skips the Mac App Store because the sandbox would break most of it, and the current version needs macOS 26.
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Pick this if you like tinkering and want maintenance jobs and extra settings without opening Terminal.
Terminal can do most of what OnyX does, but OnyX puts it behind plain checkboxes: verifying system files, clearing caches, rebuilding system databases and indexes, plus extra Finder, Dock and Safari settings. It is free and Titanium Software has made it since 2003. The catch is that you need the exact build for your macOS version, and a Mac that already runs fine gains nothing from clearing caches.
Head to head
Stuck between 2 of these? Each comparison lines up price, devices and who should pick which.
