MacPulse vs Stats
Stats is a popular free and open-source menu bar monitor. Here's what you gain when you step up to MacPulse.
The short version
Stats is a great free, open-source (MIT) option for basic menu bar monitoring. MacPulse goes much deeper: a rule-based Insights Engine that interprets your data in plain English, performance session recording, 30-day historical trends, fan control with custom curves, native widgets, and comprehensive notifications. If you need more than a quick glance at your CPU, MacPulse is worth the upgrade.
| Feature | MacPulse | Stats |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | €14.99 one-time | Free (open source) |
| Insights Engine (rule-based) | ✓ Plain-English analysis & recommendations | ✕ Not available |
| Performance Sessions | ✓ 1-second recording with FPS & CSV export | ✕ Not available |
| Historical Data | 30-day history with SQLite persistence | No historical data |
| Fan Control | ✓ Custom curves, 4 presets, per-fan | ✓ Basic fan speed control |
| CPU Monitoring | ✓ Per-core, throttle detection, insights | ✓ Per-core usage |
| Memory Monitoring | ✓ Pressure, compression, weekly trends | ✓ Usage breakdown |
| GPU Monitoring | ✓ Utilization, temp, CPU correlation | ✓ Basic GPU stats |
| Disk Monitoring | ✓ Usage, I/O, SMART, per-app, growth rate | ✓ Usage and I/O speed |
| Network Monitoring | ✓ Per-app breakdown, anomaly detection, IP | ✓ Speed and total traffic |
| Battery Health | ✓ Cycles, drain anomaly, temp, monthly trend | ✓ Level, cycles, health |
| Thermal Monitoring | ✓ All sensors, sustained heat alerts, insights | ✓ Sensor temperatures |
| Menu Bar | ✓ 4 modes: icon, text, sparkline, combo | ✓ Highly customizable widgets |
| Dashboard | Full dashboard with cards, charts, details | Menu bar popover only |
| Desktop Widgets | ✓ Native WidgetKit (S/M/L) | ✕ Not available |
| Bluetooth Batteries | ✓ AirPods L/R/Case, controllers, mice, iPhone & iPad with battery health | ✓ Bluetooth battery levels |
| Energy by App | ✓ Real watt-hours per app, 24h & 7-day history | No per-app energy history |
| Power Sensors | ✓ System, charger & component wattage (where the Mac exposes it) | ✓ Voltage, current & power |
| Top Processes | ✓ Delta-based CPU + memory | ✓ Top processes list |
| Notifications | CPU, GPU, thermal, battery, charger, fan, network, devices | Limited alerts |
| Per-App Breakdown | ✓ Network, disk I/O & energy per app | ✓ Per-app network & disk |
| Privacy | ✓ Zero telemetry | ✓ Open source, no telemetry |
Worth the upgrade
Insights Engine
Stats shows you numbers. MacPulse explains what they mean. Thermal throttling detected? You'll know how long it lasted and what caused it. Memory pressure rising week over week? You'll see the trend and get a recommendation. No other monitor does this.
Performance Sessions
Record every system metric at 1-second intervals during demanding tasks. Name, save, compare sessions, and export to CSV. Perfect for benchmarking builds, renders, or gaming. Stats has no recording capability.
Full Dashboard Experience
Stats lives entirely in the menu bar. MacPulse gives you a complete dashboard with interactive charts, detailed breakdowns, and a bird's-eye view of your entire system. Drill into any metric with a click.
30-Day Historical Trends
Every metric persisted to SQLite. View 24-hour, 7-day, and 30-day charts for CPU, memory, network, and disk. Stats only shows current values — once you close it, the data is gone.
Native Desktop Widgets
Real WidgetKit widgets in three sizes for your desktop. Glanceable system health without opening any app or checking the menu bar. Stats doesn't support macOS widgets.
Energy by App
Stats shows what's using the CPU right now. MacPulse measures how much energy each app actually used, in real watt-hours from macOS's own counters, over 24 hours or 7 days, and can filter to time on battery. When your battery drains faster than expected, you'll know which app did it.
Your devices too
Battery for AirPods (left, right and case), Bluetooth mice and keyboards, iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch. iPhone and iPad show battery health (maximum capacity and cycle count) too, and you can get an alert when any device runs low.
Stats Is Free
Stats is an excellent free tool — we respect the project. But if you need more than surface-level monitoring — insights, sessions, history, fan control curves — MacPulse delivers significantly more for a fair one-time price of €14.99.
See the difference
Download MacPulse free and experience what a full system monitor can do.