Mac Monitor Why Features Open source Settings Install FAQ
Sat 9:41
v1.0.0macOS 13+MIT0 dependencies

Free RAM lies.
Memory pressure doesn’t.

Mac Monitor is a tiny, open-source menu bar monitor for RAM, CPU, network and disk. One quiet number up top. An honest dashboard on click.

Download .dmg Star on GitHub—

universal · apple silicon + intel · ~1% cpu · ~50 mb ram · no network access

Mac Monitor dashboard popover: memory 79.8% with Normal pressure, composition bar, swap, CPU, network and storage
↗ the menu bar above is live, click the numbers

why

Low free RAM on a Mac is normal.

macOS fills idle memory with file cache, so “free” is almost always small. What actually tells you if you’re out of memory is memory pressure, the kernel’s own measure of how hard it is to find free pages. That’s the number Mac Monitor puts first.

● normal

Plenty of reclaimable cache. You have enough memory, whatever “Used” says.

● warning

Compressing harder. Check the top apps.

● critical

Swapping. The only time cleaning helps, so the only time it runs automatically.

features

Small on purpose.

Everything you need to understand your Mac at a glance, and nothing that runs when you’re not looking.

  1. One number in the menu bar

    Network speed, RAM % or CPU % in a narrow, fixed-width item that never makes neighbouring icons jitter. Updates every 1, 2 or 3 seconds.

  2. Dashboard on click

    Pressure, composition (App / Wired / Compressed / Cached), swap, per-core CPU, network, disk throughput and the five biggest memory users.

  3. 24 hours of history

    RAM and CPU charts with now / average / peak, plus minutes spent at critical pressure. Survives restarts.

  4. Pressure-aware cleaning

    Runs purge when you click Clean now, or at critical pressure if you opt in. Never on a blind timer.

  5. No network access

    No analytics, crash reports, update checks or telemetry. Not even one request.

  6. Full window when you want it

    Load average, threads, per-interface stats, disk IOPS, battery health and cycle count, power draw, GPU.

  7. English · Русский · Oʻzbek

    Switch languages live. Adding one is a single string table.

  8. Launch at login, notifications

    Both optional. Starts quietly in the menu bar without opening a window.

Mac Monitor full window with Dashboard, Insights and Settings sidebar
full window · dashboard / insights / settings

settings

A few switches. Sensible defaults.

Everything fits on one screen. Try it: these controls drive the menu bar item at the top of this page.

general

Language
Launch at loginStarts quietly, menu bar only

menu bar

Show
Update rate
Network unit

cards

MemoryAlways shown
Processor · Network · Storage · Top memoryShow or hide each one

memory

Auto-cleanOnly when pressure is critical, max once a minute
NotificationsAlert when pressure turns critical

Optional: a one-line sudoers rule lets auto-clean run /usr/sbin/purge without a password prompt. Nothing else gets root. How it works →

Mac Monitor settings window: language, launch at login, menu bar metric, update rate, network unit, card visibility, auto-clean and notifications
the real settings window

open source

Read every line.

Mac Monitor is MIT licensed and small enough to audit over a coffee. No Xcode project, no packages: one build script and the Command Line Tools.

~2klines of swift
0dependencies
0network requests
—github stars
View source Contribute 
MacMonitor/
├── Sources/
│   ├── main.swift        # menu bar, popover, timer
│   ├── Core.swift        # memory, pressure, disk
│   ├── Advanced.swift    # battery, GPU, load average
│   ├── History.swift     # 24 h of 1-min aggregates
│   ├── Insights.swift    # charts
│   ├── MainWindow.swift
│   ├── Welcome.swift
│   └── Localization.swift # en / ru / uz
├── Casks/              # homebrew tap
├── build.sh            # universal build
└── LICENSE             # MIT

compare

The small, focused one.

Mac MonitorStatsiStat Menus
PriceFree, MITFree, MITPaid
Menu barOne fixed-width numberMany modulesMany modules
FocusMemory pressureBroad hardware sensorsBroad hardware sensors
Network accessNoneUpdate checksUpdate checks

Want every sensor and fan speed? Use Stats or iStat Menus. Want one quiet number and a clear memory picture? Try Mac Monitor.

install

Pick your way in.

dmg

Download MacMonitor.dmg, drag it to Applications, open it.

xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine \
  "/Applications/Mac Monitor.app"

homebrew

The repo is also a tap.

brew tap ahmadjondev/macmonitor \
  https://github.com/Ahmadjondev/MacMonitor
brew install --cask mac-monitor

source

About a minute with the Command Line Tools.

git clone https://github.com/Ahmadjondev/MacMonitor
cd MacMonitor && ./build.sh

The release is ad-hoc signed but not notarized yet. On first launch, approve it once in System Settings → Privacy & Security → Open Anyway (macOS 15), or right-click the app → Open (macOS 13–14). The xattr command above does the same.

faq

Questions.

Is it free?

Yes. Free and open source under the MIT license. No paid tier, no ads, no account.

Does it collect any data?

No. It makes no network connections at all. Settings and history stay in your user account; network speed comes from your Mac’s own interface counters.

Why does my Mac show so little free memory?

Because macOS uses idle memory as file cache that it can reclaim instantly. Low free RAM is normal; watch memory pressure instead. Longer explanation →

Does it clean memory automatically?

Only if you turn auto-clean on, only at critical pressure, and at most once a minute. Purging on a timer just throws away useful cache, so Mac Monitor never does it.

Which Macs are supported?

macOS 13 Ventura or later, Apple Silicon and Intel (universal binary).

Why isn’t it on the Mac App Store?

The App Sandbox blocks running purge as administrator, listing every process and writing a LaunchAgent for launch at login. Most full-featured Mac monitors ship outside the store for the same reason.

How can I help?

Star the repo, report bugs, suggest features, or add a translation in Localization.swift.