Better Resource Monitor

Better Resource Monitor

See what your Mac is doing from the menu bar.

English • Español • Português (Brasil) • 简体中文

Download on the Mac App Store Download macOS on GitHub Releases

Free, open source, and useful? Star the repo so other Mac users can find it.

Better Resource Monitor showing CPU, memory, GPU, and network usage in the macOS menu bar

CPU, memory pressure, storage, GPU, and network signals stay visible without opening Activity Monitor.

Why

Activity Monitor is great when you are already investigating a problem. Better Resource Monitor is for the earlier moment: when you just want to know what your Mac is doing without opening another window.

It keeps the common signals visible in the menu bar:

  • CPU load
  • Memory pressure
  • Storage usage
  • GPU usage
  • Network activity

Storage usage is calculated locally from OS-reported total and free capacity for your main storage volume. Better Resource Monitor does not read file names, file contents, external volumes, or per-volume details.

That makes it easier to spot unusual load while you are working, building, gaming, or testing apps.

It is built to stay light enough to leave running all day: under 0.1% CPU on Apple Silicon, around 15 MB of memory, and zero network requests.

The technical choices support that goal: it installs like a normal Mac app, stays sandboxed, ships on the Mac App Store with full features, uses public APIs, and avoids admin-password prompts or background root helpers.

If this is the kind of small Mac utility you want maintained, star the repo. It helps track interest and makes future updates easier to justify.

Comparison

Menu bar monitor comparison
Feature Better Resource Monitor Stats Eul iStat Menus
Mac App StoreYes (full features)NoLimitedLimited
Admin Password / PrivilegesNone (sandboxed)Requires root helperNoneRequires root helper
GPU API StabilityPublic APIPrivate APIPrivate APIProprietary
Memory Footprint~15 MB~50 MB~40 MB~100+ MB
CPU / Energy Impact< 0.1%~1%High (M-series)~1%
App Size< 7 MB~25 MB~5 MB~65 MB
Privacy/Telemetry100% offlineOfflineOfflineAnalytics
StatusActiveActiveUnmaintainedActive
LanguageRustSwift / C++SwiftObj-C / Swift
PriceFreeFreeFree$14.99
LicenseMITMITMITProprietary

Third-party numbers are rough estimates. Your mileage may vary.

For more detail, read the Stats comparison or the iStat Menus comparison.

Installation

Get it from the Mac App Store for the signed app and automatic updates.

GitHub Releases currently provide source releases. A direct-download .dmg is planned for users who prefer installing outside the Mac App Store.

Compatibility

Works on Intel Macs and Apple Silicon Macs running macOS Ventura 13 or newer.

Build from Source

You’ll need Tauri v2 prerequisites and pnpm.

git clone https://github.com/alexx855/better-resource-monitor.git
cd better-resource-monitor
pnpm install
pnpm tauri build

Development

# Run in development mode with hot reload
pnpm tauri dev

# Run tests
cd src-tauri && cargo test

# Run tests with coverage (requires cargo-llvm-cov)
cargo install cargo-llvm-cov
cd src-tauri && cargo llvm-cov --lib --html --output-dir coverage/

Credits

Common questions

What is Better Resource Monitor?
A free, open-source menu bar app that shows CPU, memory, storage, GPU, and network usage on macOS. Written in Rust. Under 0.1% CPU and about 15 MB of RAM.
Which macOS versions has it been tested on?
It works on Intel Macs and Apple Silicon Macs running macOS Ventura 13 or newer.
Is it free?
Yes. MIT-licensed and free. The Mac App Store and GitHub versions are the same app.
How much CPU and memory does it use?
Under 0.1% CPU and about 15 MB of RAM on an Apple M1. For comparison, Stats uses ~50 MB and iStat Menus uses 100+ MB. The app binary is under 7 MB.
How does GPU monitoring work?
On macOS, it reads device utilization from Apple Silicon GPUs through Apple's public IOAccelerator API. That keeps GPU monitoring available in both the App Store and GitHub versions without relying on private APIs or sudo.
Does it collect any data?
No. Zero network requests, no analytics, no telemetry. Everything stays on your machine. Storage usage is calculated locally from OS-reported total/free capacity for your main storage volume; no file names, contents, external volumes, or per-volume details are read. The source code is on GitHub if you want to verify that yourself.
Does it drain MacBook battery?
No. Monitors that poll fans and thermal sensors keep Apple Silicon from entering deep sleep. This app skips those readings entirely, which is why it sits under 0.1% CPU.
Why not just use Activity Monitor?
Activity Monitor is a full window you have to open. This lives in your menu bar and updates every second. You see the numbers without switching apps.