What is iStat Menus?
iStat Menus puts the state of your Mac in the menu bar. It monitors CPU and GPU usage, memory pressure, disk space and activity, network throughput, battery, and the machine's own sensors — temperatures, voltages, current, power and fan speeds. The menus go deeper than the menu bar items: per-core CPU history, the applications using the most CPU or memory, bandwidth broken down by app, public and private IP addresses, and S.M.A.R.T. status for your disks. Rules can notify you about almost anything, from a changed public IP to sustained high CPU or low disk space, and fan speeds can be controlled or ramped automatically. It requires macOS 11 or later and has a 14-day free trial. It suits people who want to know what their Mac is doing without opening a separate application.
Verified product facts
- Type
- system monitorEditorially reviewed
- Platform
- macOS
- Apple Silicon
- YesDerived
- Pricing
- One-time purchaseDeveloper-stated
- Developer
- BjangoDeveloper-stated
- Relationship to Nuanyue
- Third-party product — not published by NuanyueEditorially reviewed
- Current version
- 7.50.1Developer-stated
- Official website
- bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/
Last updated . Facts marked developer-stated come from the developer and are not independently confirmed; editorially reviewed marks a Nuanyue judgement.
Key features
What iStat Menus does at a glance.
Menu bar items
For CPU, GPU, memory, disks, network, sensors, battery and weather
Per-core CPU usage, history graphs, load averages and CPU frequency
Efficiency and performance cores can be styled differently
GPU processor, memory, temperature and frequency
On supported Macs
Memory usage, pressure, compressed memory, swap and the apps using the most
Disk space, activity, S.M.A.R.T. status and per-app disk usage
Network bandwidth
With history graphs and a breakdown by application
Public and private IP addresses and an internet connectivity indicator
Battery state
Plus battery levels for AirPods, Magic Mouse and Magic Trackpad
Realtime sensor readings
Including temperatures, voltages, current and power
Fan speed control
Including gradual ramping based on temperature and battery state
Rule-based notifications
For CPU, GPU, memory, disks, network, sensors, battery, power and weather
Weather forecast
With hourly and weekly detail, based on your location or anywhere in the world
Menu bar clocks, a calendar
With upcoming events, and world clocks with sun and moon info
Combined mode
Merges several items into one menu bar item
What you can use iStat Menus for
- Seeing what is using CPU or memory without opening Activity Monitor
- Being alerted when your public IP changes or your internet connection drops
- Watching temperatures and fan speeds under sustained load
- Controlling fan speeds and ramping them automatically with temperature
- Keeping the time in several places, with sun and moon information
Who is iStat Menus for?
- People who want continuous visibility of their Mac's state in the menu bar
- Users who need notification rules for system events rather than just graphs
Who is iStat Menus not for?
- Anyone who wants an open-source monitoring tool they can inspect — iStat Menus is closed source
- Users on macOS 10.15 or earlier, since the current version requires macOS 11 or later
Limitations
- Closed source, so the application cannot be audited
- The vendor's own one-time price is not stated in the sources Nuanyue tracks; the published figure found was Setapp's US$9.99 per month subscription
- Some readings, such as GPU details and certain sensors, are only available on supported Macs
- Apple Silicon support is inferred from the mention of efficiency and performance cores rather than stated explicitly on the pages checked
Strengths and trade-offs
What iStat Menus does well, and what to weigh before choosing it. Points marked developer-stated come from the developer’s own material and have not been independently confirmed.
Strengths
- Covers CPU, GPU, memory, disks, network, sensors, battery and weather from the menu bar.Developer-stated
- Rules can notify on a wide range of events, including a changed public IP, a dropped connection, sustained high CPU or low disk space.Developer-stated
- Fan speeds can be controlled and ramped gradually based on temperature and battery state.Developer-stated
- Reports S.M.A.R.T. disk status and per-application disk usage.Developer-stated
- Combined mode merges several items into one menu bar item, which saves space on a laptop.Developer-stated
- The vendor states there are no ads, no analytics and no tracking, on the app or the website.Developer-stated
- A 14-day free trial allows evaluation before purchase.
Trade-offs
- Closed source, so the monitoring implementation cannot be independently verified.
- The vendor's own one-time price is not published in the sources Nuanyue tracks, so the cost has to be confirmed at purchase.Editorially reviewed
- Requires macOS 11 or later.
- Several readings, including GPU details, are only available on supported Macs rather than universally.Developer-stated
First-use experience
What the app asks of you when you set it up. Only established facts appear here; anything we could not confirm is left out rather than guessed at.
- Installation
- Downloaded from bjango.com, or installed through Setapp; no App Store listing is offered.
- First launch
- Runs as a 14-day trial without a licence key, and a registration number is entered to continue afterwards.
- System integration Developer-stated
- Lives in the menu bar, and some features such as fan control and certain sensors depend on what the specific Mac supports.
- Apple Silicon Derived
- Supported
What it does
iStat Menus places readings from your Mac into the menu bar, and then provides a deeper menu behind each one. The menu bar items are configurable in what they show and how they look; the menus underneath carry the detail, such as per-core CPU usage with history graphs, the applications consuming the most CPU or memory, memory pressure and swap, S.M.A.R.T. status for each disk, and bandwidth broken down by application.
The network item is worth singling out because it answers a question the system tools do not: which application is using the connection, and how much. It also shows public and private IP addresses and indicates whether the connection is up.
Combined mode merges several items into a single menu bar item, which is the practical way to use it on a laptop where menu bar space is scarce.
Rules, sensors and fan control
The sensor side is where it goes beyond reporting. It reads temperatures, voltages, current, power and fan speeds, and on Macs that support it, fan speeds can be controlled, switched between profiles, or ramped gradually according to temperature and battery state.
Rules turn readings into notifications, and the range is wide: a changed public IP, a dropped internet connection, CPU above a threshold for a given number of seconds, low disk space, or the day’s weather and daylight savings changes. This is what lets it run unattended rather than being watched.
Pricing
The vendor offers a 14-day free trial, which is enough to establish whether the readings available on your particular Mac are the ones you want. iStat Menus is also distributed through Setapp, where US$9.99 per month provides it alongside more than 250 other Mac applications.
The vendor’s own one-time price is not stated in the sources Nuanyue tracks, so this entry does not record a figure. It is worth checking at purchase, and worth comparing against the subscription route if you would use other Setapp apps.
Questions about iStat Menus
Is there a free trial of iStat Menus?
Yes. The vendor invites you to download it and use it for a couple of weeks before making up your mind, which is a 14-day trial.
What can iStat Menus monitor?
CPU, GPU, memory, disks, network, sensors, battery and power, plus weather and time. The menus add detail such as per-core CPU history, the apps using the most CPU or memory, bandwidth by application, S.M.A.R.T. disk status, and public and private IP addresses.Developer-stated
Can iStat Menus control my fans?
Yes, on Macs where that is supported. Fan speeds can be controlled, switched, or gradually ramped based on temperatures and battery state.Developer-stated
Does iStat Menus collect my data?
The vendor states that iStat Menus and all its products are privacy focused, with no ads, no analytics and no tracking, and that there is no tracking on its website either.Developer-stated
Similar apps
Related in purpose, but not a straight swap.
stats
free Mac system monitor for the menubar.
Both put system monitoring in the macOS menu bar, but Stats is free and open source while iStat Menus is a paid commercial application with fan control and notification rules.
Sniffnet
Free open-source traffic monitor with live charts and host identification.
Both show what the Mac is doing on the network, but iStat Menus reports bandwidth and connections as part of a general system monitor while Sniffnet is dedicated to traffic analysis.
Works well with
Not a replacement — apps commonly used alongside this one.
Little Snitch
Application firewall that approves or blocks every outgoing connection.
Little Snitch controls which connections the Mac may make, and iStat Menus shows the resulting load, temperatures and battery cost across the system.
Links
Sources
Facts on this page are checked against the sources below. Last updated .
