# Orcylo vs iStat Menus Canonical page: https://orcylo.app/vs/istat-menus By [MerdoAI](https://x.com/merdoAI) (Maker of Orcylo). Published October 1, 2026. Prices and features checked October 1, 2026. Editorial policy: https://orcylo.app/guides#how-we-write **Short answer:** iStat Menus is the deeper menu bar monitor: more readings, rules on almost any figure, fan control, weather and clocks, for $11.99 once or through Setapp. Orcylo puts fewer readouts in the menu bar but adds a window that lists every app with its helper processes counted in, 30 days of per-minute history, alerts about misbehaving apps, and Claude Code and Codex limits. Choose iStat Menus for fan control, weather or a macOS older than 26; choose Orcylo to see which app is behind a figure. | | Orcylo | iStat Menus | |---|---|---| | What it is | A menu bar monitor with a full window that lists every app | A menu bar monitor with detailed dropdown menus | | Menu bar | One item per metric (CPU, memory, GPU, network, disk, thermals, power, Claude, Codex) as a value, graph, both or ring | Items for CPU and GPU, memory, disks, network, sensors, battery, time and weather, or one Combined item | | Apps | Every app in a window, about 25 rows, with its processes counted in | Top apps in its CPU, memory, disk and network menus; child processes combined for memory | | History | 30 days, one point per minute, for every metric and the busiest apps | Graphs for each reading, from 10 minutes up to 28 days | | Alerts | About apps: CPU burned for minutes, memory that keeps growing, heavy disk writes; plus critical memory pressure and a filling disk | Rules on almost any reading: CPU above a level, low disk space, a lost connection, a new IP, the weather | | Sensors and fans | 38 temperature sensors grouped by component; fan speed shown, not controlled | Temperatures, fans, voltages and power; fan control in the direct version | | Weather and time | None | Weather (6 months included, then data packs from $2.49 a year), clocks, calendar, world clocks | | Quit and force quit | Quit or Force Quit an app, always after a confirmation | Not described on its site | | Developer extras | Dev servers grouped by project with their ports; Claude Code and Codex limits | Not described on its site | | Price | €5 launch price for the first 20 licences, then €7.50 for the next 30, then €9.99, once, for one Mac | $11.99 once, $14.99 for a family of up to 5, or Setapp at $9.99 a month | | Free trial | None: one-time purchase | 14 days | | Requirements | macOS 15 Sequoia or later | macOS 11 or later (Mac App Store version: macOS 15 or later) | iStat Menus by Bjango: $11.99 once ($14.99 family), or Setapp (https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/). Orcylo: €5 for the first 20 licences, then €7.50 for the next 30, then €9.99, for one Mac. One payment, every update for life. No account, no subscription. iStat Menus is one of the longest-running menu bar monitors on the Mac, now at version 7.5, so it is a fair test for Orcylo. The table has the row-by-row answer; the sections below explain where each app is genuinely ahead and how to run both. ## Who should pick which Both apps live in the menu bar, but they are built for different questions. **iStat Menus** is Bjango's long-running menu bar monitor; **Orcylo** is a newer one built around apps. iStat Menus answers "what is every part of my Mac doing?" with a very wide range of readings, from CPU cores to the weather. Orcylo answers "which app is doing this, and since when?" with a window behind its menu bar items. ### Pick iStat Menus if - You want to control fan speeds, manually or with a curve that follows temperature. - You want weather, world clocks, a calendar or the new astronomy forecast in the menu bar. - You like writing your own alert rules for any reading. - You are on macOS 11 to 14, or you already pay for Setapp. ### Pick Orcylo if - You want to see every app with its helper processes counted in, not only the top few. - You want history for each app, not only for each reading. - You want alerts about apps that misbehave, with no rules to write. - You run dev servers, Claude Code or Codex and want their state in the menu bar. See [Orcylo's pricing](https://orcylo.app/#pricing). ## Where iStat Menus is ahead iStat Menus has a long head start, and version 7.5 shipped on 14 September 2026 with Liquid Glass menus for macOS 27 and a new Astronomy item ([Bjango version history](https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/versionhistory/)). Four things stand out. ### Fan control The version sold on Bjango's site can raise fan speeds by hand or ramp them along a custom curve as temperatures rise ([Bjango help: Fans](https://bjango.com/help/istatmenus7/fans/)). It never takes them below the speed macOS would choose. Orcylo only reads fan speed. If a loud or hot Mac is the problem, read our [guide to a loud Mac fan](https://orcylo.app/mac-fan-loud) first; if you then want control, iStat Menus or TG Pro is the answer. The Mac App Store edition of iStat Menus cannot control fans. ### More readings in more places Weather with hourly and weekly forecasts, menu bar clocks, a calendar, world clocks, S.M.A.R.T. disk status, public and private IP addresses, and battery levels for AirPods and other Bluetooth devices all fit in its menus. **Combined mode** is a single menu bar item that folds several of them into one slot, which helps on a laptop. Weather comes with 6 months of data; after that, data packs start at $2.49 for 12 months, with no subscription ([Bjango help: Weather](https://bjango.com/help/istatmenus7/weather/)). ### Rules you write yourself Its Rules tab can notify you about almost anything it measures. Bjango's own examples include CPU above 60% for more than 10 seconds, low disk space, a dropped internet connection, a changed public IP and the day's weather ([Bjango: iStat Menus](https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/)). Orcylo's alerts are fixed to app behaviour and system strain; you can tune thresholds and cooldowns, but you cannot alert on an arbitrary reading. ### More ways to buy and older Macs You can buy it direct, through the Mac App Store or as part of Setapp, and the direct version runs on macOS 11 Big Sur and later. Orcylo needs macOS 15 Sequoia. ## Where Orcylo is ahead ### A window behind the menu bar iStat Menus shows the top apps inside each dropdown, and it already combines child processes for per-app memory ([Bjango help: Memory](https://bjango.com/help/istatmenus7/memory/)). Orcylo goes further with a full window that lists every app, about 25 rows on our Mac in place of about 700 processes, each with CPU, memory, GPU, power, disk and network. For example, Chrome and all of its helper processes become a single row. Expand an app to see its processes, and quit or force quit it after a confirmation. ### History for every app iStat Menus graphs each reading over ranges from 10 minutes to 28 days, added in version 7.0 according to the same version history, so it can show that memory was tight yesterday. Its app lists show who is busy now. Orcylo keeps one point per minute for every metric and for the busiest apps for 30 days, stored on your Mac. The app that drained the battery yesterday still has a name today. ### Alerts about behaviour, not thresholds Orcylo does not wait for a figure to cross a line you set. It watches each app and names it: the one that burns CPU for minutes, the one whose memory keeps growing, or the one writing heavily to disk. ### Built for developers Dev servers are grouped by project folder with their ports and how long they have been idle, and Claude Code and Codex limits sit in the menu bar with reset countdowns. iStat Menus does not describe either. ## Using both Nothing stops you from keeping both. iStat Menus is strong in the menu bar itself; Orcylo's strength is the window and the history behind it. If you keep both, turn off the Orcylo items that duplicate iStat's and keep the ones it does not have, such as the Claude and Codex limits. The cost is two licences: $11.99 for iStat Menus and €9.99 for Orcylo, for one Mac, after its launch price. Orcylo's limits are worth saying plainly: it is new (version 1.0), needs macOS 15 Sequoia or later, has no fan control and no per-app volume, and shows nothing about weather or time. For the wider field, see our [best menu bar system monitors for Mac](https://orcylo.app/best-menu-bar-system-monitor-for-mac). ## How we compared We make Orcylo. The iStat Menus column comes from Bjango's product page, help pages, version history and live prices for iStat Menus 7, and from its Mac App Store listing. All of it was fact-checked on October 1, 2026. Where Bjango's site does not say whether iStat Menus does something, the cell says "Not described on its site". Orcylo cells describe version 1.0. For a free option, read [Orcylo vs Stats](https://orcylo.app/vs/stats). ## Questions people ask ### Is there a free alternative to iStat Menus? Stats is the best-known free one: open source under the MIT licence, with CPU, GPU, memory, disk, network, battery, sensor, Bluetooth and clock modules in the menu bar. It has no weather and its fan control is no longer maintained. Our Orcylo vs Stats page compares it in detail. ### Does Orcylo control fans like iStat Menus? No. Orcylo reads 38 temperature sensors and shows fan speed, but it cannot set it. The direct version of iStat Menus can, with a custom fan curve or a manual speed; the Mac App Store version cannot. TG Pro is the other app built for fan control. ### Can I run Orcylo and iStat Menus together? Yes. They are separate apps and read the same system counters. One sensible split is to keep iStat Menus for weather and fan control and use Orcylo's window for the apps and the 30-day history; drop the menu bar items you already get from the other app. ### How much does iStat Menus cost? $11.99 once for one person, $14.99 for a family pack of up to 5 people, and $9.99 to upgrade from iStat Menus 6, plus local taxes. It is also in Setapp at $9.99 a month and on the Mac App Store at $11.99. Weather is included for 6 months, then data packs start at $2.49 for 12 months. ### Does iStat Menus show which app is using memory? Yes, its memory menu lists the apps using the most memory and combines each app's child processes by default. What it does not have is a full window of every app with a history for each app, which is the part Orcylo adds. ## Sources - [Bjango: iStat Menus](https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/) - [Bjango: iStat Menus version history](https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/versionhistory/) - [Bjango help: Fans](https://bjango.com/help/istatmenus7/fans/) - [Bjango help: Weather](https://bjango.com/help/istatmenus7/weather/) - [Bjango help: Memory (combined processes)](https://bjango.com/help/istatmenus7/memory/) - [Bjango help: History graphs](https://bjango.com/help/istatmenus7/historygraphs/) - [Bjango help: Mac App Store version differences](https://bjango.com/help/istatmenus7/macappstore/) - [iStat Menus 7 on the Mac App Store](https://apps.apple.com/us/app/istat-menus-7/id6499559693) More guides: [Orcylo vs Stats](https://orcylo.app/vs/stats), [Orcylo vs Activity Monitor](https://orcylo.app/vs/activity-monitor), [Best menu bar monitors for Mac](https://orcylo.app/best-menu-bar-system-monitor-for-mac), [Best system monitors for Mac](https://orcylo.app/best-system-monitor-for-mac), [Why are my Mac's fans so loud](https://orcylo.app/mac-fan-loud), [Task Manager for Mac](https://orcylo.app/task-manager-for-mac), [Orcylo vs Vitals](https://orcylo.app/vs/vitals). --- Orcylo: Claude Code and Codex limits in the Mac menu bar, plus an Activity Monitor alternative. €5 for the first 20 licences, then €7.50 for the next 30, then €9.99, for one Mac. One payment, every update for life. No account, no subscription. https://orcylo.app/