Performance Monitor for MAC
Free, open-source menu bar system monitor for Apple Silicon Macs: CPU, memory, network, disk, GPU, temperatures, battery and Bluetooth.
Performance Monitor Overview
Performance Monitor is a lightweight menu bar app that shows what your Mac is doing right now. A live readout sits in the menu bar, and one click opens a popover with cards for CPU, memory, disk, thermal, GPU, battery, network and Bluetooth. Each card opens a detail window with charts, per-core usage, top processes, listening ports, individual temperature sensors and fan speeds. A plain-language verdict at the top of the overview tells you what is happening and what you can do about it.
Performance Monitor is made by inequitas and is free and open source under the MIT license, with no paywalled features. It has no telemetry, analytics or account; its only network requests are an update check, an optional public IP lookup and a latency probe to a host you choose. Version 1.3.1 makes the menu bar readout follow a light or dark menu bar and removes the Shortcuts actions added in 1.3.0, which never worked. It needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later and runs on Apple Silicon Macs only. The app is ad-hoc signed, not notarized by Apple: the first time, right-click it and choose Open.
Key Features
Performance Monitor puts your Mac's vital signs one click away.
- Menu bar readout: CPU, memory, network or disk, as a sparkline or text.
- CPU detail: per-core usage and top processes, with an app and its helpers shown as one row.
- Process glossary: plain explanations for 231 known processes in seven languages.
- Thermal and fans: CPU, GPU and battery temperatures, individual sensors and fan speeds.
- Network: live throughput, Wi-Fi signal, local and public IP, listening ports and connections.
- Battery and Bluetooth: health, cycle count and the battery level of AirPods and other devices.
- History: graphs kept up to 90 days, with sleep, wake and throttling marked.
- Floating panel and JSON file: an always-on-top readout and live data for SwiftBar, xbar and SketchyBar.
What’s New in Version 1.3.1
Performance Monitor 1.3.1 fixes the menu bar readout and withdraws Shortcuts support.
- The menu bar readout is now drawn like system status items, so it stays readable on a light menu bar and follows theme changes
- The three Shortcuts actions listed in 1.3.0 were removed because they never ran
- The JSON file of current readings still works for other tools
Performance Monitor FAQ
Is Performance Monitor free?
Yes. It is free and open source under the MIT license, and the developer says it will stay free with no paywalled features. You can support it through GitHub Sponsors or Ko-fi.
Which Macs can run Performance Monitor?
Apple Silicon Macs (M1 or later) with macOS 14 Sonoma or later. The build is for Apple Silicon only and will not run on Intel Macs.
Why does macOS warn me when I open Performance Monitor?
The app is ad-hoc signed, without an Apple Developer ID, so it is not notarized. The first time, right-click the app in Applications, choose Open and confirm. This is only needed once.
What does Performance Monitor show?
CPU, memory, network, disk, GPU and displays, temperatures and fans, battery and Bluetooth devices, each with a card in the popover and a detail window.
Can it show the battery of my AirPods?
Yes. It lists connected and paired Bluetooth devices with their battery level, showing the left and right AirPods and the case separately. It asks for Bluetooth permission for this.
Does Performance Monitor keep a history?
Yes. It keeps readings at one-second, one-minute and one-hour resolution for up to 90 days, and marks sleep, wake and thermal throttling on the graphs.
Does Performance Monitor send my data anywhere?
No. There is no telemetry, analytics or account. It makes only three network requests: an update check against GitHub, an optional public IP lookup you can turn off, and a latency probe to a host you choose.
Can I use its readings in SwiftBar or SketchyBar?
Yes. Turn on the JSON snapshot and it writes the current readings to a file every five seconds for tools such as SwiftBar, xbar and SketchyBar. It is off by default.
Can I install Performance Monitor with Homebrew?
Yes. Run brew install --cask inequitas/tap/performance-monitor.
Where does the Performance Monitor download on performance-monitor.FULLMAC.app come from?
The download button leads to the official Performance Monitor releases on GitHub at https://github.com/inequitas/performancemonitor/releases/latest. performance-monitor.FULLMAC.app does not change or repackage the app.
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FULLMAC.app does not host this app. Download buttons lead to the developer’s own pages.