Bartender alternatives · Utilities
Free alternatives to Bartender
Bartender has no free plan. 65 of the 96 other desktop utilities in this directory are free or have a free plan.
Bartender is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $19.99 / year (Bartender Pro) or $24.99 one-time (Bartender 7). 35 of them have no paid plan at all; the rest pair a free plan with paid ones.
65 tools · Listings checked up to Nov 12, 2026 · Where the facts come from
The 12 closest to Bartender
- Free
Thaw
Free, open-source menu bar manager for macOS
What is free: Everything. There is no paid plan.
- Thaw is free. Bartender starts at $19.99 / year (Bartender Pro) or $24.99 one-time (Bartender 7).
- Thaw has a free plan. Bartender does not, though it has a free trial.
- Thaw is open source, according to its own site.
- Bartender can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Free
SwiftBar
Open-source tool that puts script output in the Mac menu bar
What is free: Everything. There is no paid plan.
- SwiftBar is free. Bartender starts at $19.99 / year (Bartender Pro) or $24.99 one-time (Bartender 7).
- SwiftBar has a free plan. Bartender does not, though it has a free trial.
- SwiftBar is open source, according to its own site.
- Bartender can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Free
boring.notch
Turns the MacBook notch into a music player and file shelf
What is free: Everything. There is no paid plan.
- boring.notch is free. Bartender starts at $19.99 / year (Bartender Pro) or $24.99 one-time (Bartender 7).
- boring.notch has a free plan. Bartender does not, though it has a free trial.
- boring.notch is open source, according to its own site.
- Bartender can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Free
Ice
Menu bar manager for hiding and arranging Mac menu items
What is free: Everything. There is no paid plan.
- Ice is free. Bartender starts at $19.99 / year (Bartender Pro) or $24.99 one-time (Bartender 7).
- Ice has a free plan. Bartender does not, though it has a free trial.
- Ice is open source, according to its own site.
- Bartender can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Free plan · from $7.99 one-time
CopyClip
Text-only clipboard manager for the Mac menu bar
What is free: The original CopyClip is free on the Mac App Store: a text-only clipboard history in the menu bar. Search, pinned clips, direct pasting and themes are only in the paid CopyClip 2, a separate app.
- CopyClip starts at $7.99 one-time purchase (CopyClip 2, US Mac App Store). Bartender starts at $19.99 / year (Bartender Pro) or $24.99 one-time (Bartender 7).
- CopyClip has a free plan. Bartender does not, though it has a free trial.
- Bartender also covers workflow automation.
- Free plan · from $4.99
Maccy
Lightweight, open-source clipboard manager for macOS
What is free: The full app is free from the GitHub releases page or Homebrew. The paid website and Mac App Store downloads are the same app, sold to support development.
- Maccy starts at $4.99 or more, pay what you want (website download via Gumroad). Bartender starts at $19.99 / year (Bartender Pro) or $24.99 one-time (Bartender 7).
- Maccy has a free plan. Bartender does not, though it has a free trial.
- Maccy is open source, according to its own site.
- Bartender can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Free plan · from $23 one-time
Lunar
Mac app that sets external monitor brightness over DDC
What is free: DDC brightness control, sub-zero dimming, brightness and volume keys, input switching and multi-monitor support, with 100 adjustments and 100 action calls per day.
- Lunar starts at $23 one-time. Bartender starts at $19.99 / year (Bartender Pro) or $24.99 one-time (Bartender 7).
- Lunar has a free plan. Bartender does not, though it has a free trial.
- Lunar also covers display control.
- Bartender also covers workflow automation and clipboard manager.
- Free
AutoHotkey
Free, open-source scripting language for Windows automation
What is free: Everything. There is no paid plan.
- AutoHotkey is free. Bartender starts at $19.99 / year (Bartender Pro) or $24.99 one-time (Bartender 7).
- AutoHotkey has a free plan. Bartender does not, though it has a free trial.
- Only AutoHotkey lists a Windows app.
- Only Bartender lists a macOS app.
- Free
Karabiner-Elements
Free, open-source keyboard customizer for macOS
What is free: Everything. There is no paid plan.
- Karabiner-Elements is free. Bartender starts at $19.99 / year (Bartender Pro) or $24.99 one-time (Bartender 7).
- Karabiner-Elements has a free plan. Bartender does not, though it has a free trial.
- Karabiner-Elements is open source, according to its own site.
- Bartender can be bought with a one-time purchase.
- Free plan · from $21.99 one-time
BetterDisplay
Display scaling, brightness and DDC control for Mac
What is free: Non-business users keep the free features after the trial: DDC brightness, volume and input control, software dimming, the resolution slider and basic virtual screens. The terms say there are no purchase pop-ups or ads.
- BetterDisplay starts at $21.99 one-time purchase (Pro license, tax may apply). Bartender starts at $19.99 / year (Bartender Pro) or $24.99 one-time (Bartender 7).
- BetterDisplay has a free plan. Bartender does not, though it has a free trial.
- BetterDisplay also covers display control.
- Bartender also covers workflow automation and clipboard manager.
- Free plan · from $13.99/yr
AlDente
Charge limiter and battery care app for MacBooks
What is free: AlDente Free includes the Charge Limiter and manual Discharge. It cannot control charging while the MacBook is asleep or shut down.
- AlDente starts at $13.99 / year, or $24.99 one-time for a lifetime license. Bartender starts at $19.99 / year (Bartender Pro) or $24.99 one-time (Bartender 7).
- AlDente has a free plan. Bartender does not, though it has a free trial.
- AlDente also covers system monitor.
- Bartender also covers workflow automation and clipboard manager.
53 more that are free or have a free plan
- PhraseExpress
- ClipClip
- Dropzone
- Macs Fan Control
- Process Lasso
- Stats
- Ditto
- Hammerspoon
- Shottr
- f.lux
- MonitorControl
- Text Blaze
- aText
- CopyQ
- WizTree
- EarTrumpet
- Twinkle Tray
- KeepingYouAwake
- Numi
- Ninite
- UniGetUI
- TeraCopy
- Disk Drill
- Revo Uninstaller
- Logi Options+
- Commander One
- TextExpander
- Everything
- 7-Zip
- ShareX
- CCleaner
- Espanso
- LocalSend
- AppCleaner
- The Unarchiver
- Keka
- Greenshot
- WinDirStat
- Files
- LinearMouse
- OnyX
- Pearcleaner
- BleachBit
- Flameshot
- WebCatalog
- Rainmeter
- Bulk Rename Utility
- Cyberduck
- PeaZip
- Lightshot
- TreeSize
- Latest
- LuLu
Common questions
Is there a free alternative to Bartender?
Yes. Hidden Bar, Thaw, SwiftBar, boring.notch, Ice, CopyClip, Maccy, Lunar and 57 more are free or have a free plan.
Does Bartender have a free plan?
Bartender has no free plan. Bartender is a paid product with a free trial, starting at $19.99 / year (Bartender Pro) or $24.99 one-time (Bartender 7).
When was this checked?
Each listing shows its own date. On this page they run from Oct 4, 2026 to Nov 12, 2026. Vendors change prices and plans without notice, so confirm on their site before you buy.
This page is built from the listings. A tool is here because its listing says so, and the order is how close each is to Bartender: the alternatives its listing names first, then the tools that share the most features with it.