# Guides Canonical page: https://orcylo.app/guides Which Mac app to use for which job, what Activity Monitor's figures mean, and how to keep an eye on your Claude Code and Codex limits. Every price and feature comes from the maker's own site. ## Fix a problem What is wrong, and how to find the cause with the tools your Mac already has. - [Why is my Mac so slow? Seven causes, and how to spot each one](https://orcylo.app/why-is-my-mac-so-slow): Mac running slow? Find the cause in Activity Monitor and System Settings on macOS 26: a busy app, memory pressure, a full disk, heat, indexing or login items. - [Which app is using my CPU or memory? How to check on a Mac](https://orcylo.app/check-cpu-memory-usage-mac): Check CPU and memory usage on a Mac, app by app: Activity Monitor step by step, why % CPU passes 100%, what Memory Pressure means, and the Terminal commands. - [How to free up RAM on a Mac: what works, what doesn't, and when to leave it](https://orcylo.app/free-up-ram-mac): How to free up RAM on a Mac: find the app holding memory, quit or relaunch it, tame browser tabs, spot a memory leak, and why RAM cleaners and purge don't help. - [Why are my Mac's fans so loud?](https://orcylo.app/mac-fan-loud): Mac fan loud? Find the app heating your Mac in Activity Monitor, read temperatures, use Low Power Mode on macOS 26 and tell normal noise from a failing fan. - [What is using port 3000 on my Mac, and how do I stop it?](https://orcylo.app/find-process-using-port-mac): Find what is using port 3000, or any port, on your Mac with lsof, see which project started it, stop it safely and fix "address already in use" errors. - [How to check your Claude Code usage limits](https://orcylo.app/claude-code-usage-limits): Check your Claude Code 5-hour and weekly limits and when each one resets: /usage, claude.ai Settings > Usage, the status line, and what to do at the limit. - [How to check your Codex usage limits](https://orcylo.app/codex-usage-limits): Check your Codex 5-hour and weekly limits and when each one resets: /status in the CLI, the usage dashboard, the IDE extension, and what to do at the limit. ## Best apps, ranked Each app is labelled with the job it does best, with its pros and cons. - [The best Claude Code usage trackers for Mac](https://orcylo.app/best-claude-code-usage-trackers): The 8 best Claude usage trackers for Mac, from menu bar apps to Terminal tools: what each shows, where it gets the numbers, which track Codex, and the cost. - [The 11 best Activity Monitor alternatives for Mac](https://orcylo.app/best-activity-monitor-alternatives): The 11 best Activity Monitor alternatives for Mac, ranked by the job each does best: one row per app, 30-day history, menu bar figures or the terminal. - [The 10 best system monitors for Mac](https://orcylo.app/best-system-monitor-for-mac): The 10 best system monitors for Mac in 2026, ranked on how busy your Mac is, which app is behind it and what happened earlier. Prices checked October 1. - [The 8 best menu bar system monitors for Mac](https://orcylo.app/best-menu-bar-system-monitor-for-mac): The 8 best menu bar system monitors for Mac, judged on what each puts in the menu bar and what its dropdown explains, plus how to make room on macOS 26. - [Task Manager for Mac: the built-in one, and the best apps](https://orcylo.app/task-manager-for-mac): Activity Monitor is the Mac's Task Manager. How to open it on macOS 26, force quit with ⌥⌘Esc, end tasks in Terminal, and 7 apps compared for switchers. ## Orcylo compared Orcylo set against one app at a time, row by row, and when the other one is the better pick. - [Orcylo vs Activity Monitor](https://orcylo.app/vs/activity-monitor): Orcylo vs Activity Monitor on macOS 26: one row per app, 30 days of history and alerts, against Apple's free tool with sampling, spindumps and the Energy tab. - [Orcylo vs Vitals](https://orcylo.app/vs/vitals): Orcylo vs Vitals: both list apps instead of processes and keep 30 days of history. Compare price, fan control, AI limits and macOS support, row by row. - [Orcylo vs iStat Menus](https://orcylo.app/vs/istat-menus): Orcylo vs iStat Menus 7.5: one row per app, 30 days of history and AI limits against fan control, weather and custom rules. Prices, requirements, who wins. - [Orcylo vs Stats](https://orcylo.app/vs/stats): Orcylo vs Stats, the free open-source Mac menu bar monitor: nine modules and an MIT licence against per-app rows, 30 days of history and AI limits, compared. ## Activity Monitor glossary What the processes, columns and figures in Activity Monitor mean. - [Activity Monitor glossary](https://orcylo.app/glossary): Activity Monitor glossary for macOS 26: what % CPU, memory pressure, swap, Energy Impact, kernel_task, WindowServer and 40 more terms mean and when they matter. ## How we write these guides - **Sources first.** Every price, version and feature of another app comes from its maker's own website, documentation, App Store listing or code repository. Each guide lists those pages under Sources. - **Described, not benchmarked.** Unless a guide says otherwise, other apps are described from what their makers publish, not from our own tests. Where a maker does not say whether an app does something, the guide does not claim it either way. - **Dated.** Each guide shows when it was published and, if it changed later, when it was updated. Guides that rank or compare apps also show the day their prices and features were checked. - **We make Orcylo.** Every guide that ranks or compares Orcylo says so, and says where another app is the better pick. - **No affiliate links.** Links to other apps go to their makers' own pages, and we earn nothing from them. - **Written for macOS 26 Tahoe.** Menu paths and Terminal commands are written for macOS 26 Tahoe, the current macOS, and follow Apple's own guides. On macOS 15 the menu names and locations can differ a little. To report a mistake, contact support@orcylo.app.