Hidden Bar vs SwiftBar

Hidden Bar

• Mac users who only want to tuck away rarely used menu bar icons
• People who want a free, open-source menu bar hider
• Those who prefer one arrow to click over a larger menu bar manager

SwiftBar

• Mac users comfortable writing shell, Python or other scripts
• People who already have BitBar or xbar plugins
• Showing custom status readouts or quick actions in the menu bar

Hidden Bar

• macOS only. Current GitHub releases need macOS 13 or later, while the Mac App Store listing shows version 1.8 from June 2021.
• The manual says always-hidden icons can still appear after expanding unless the separators are hidden too, a known limitation.
• A newly installed app's icon can start out in the hidden zone and has to be Command-dragged out once.
• On macOS 27 the direct-download build needs Accessibility permission, and the manual lists a hiding failure on a macOS 27 beta as a known issue.

SwiftBar

• macOS only; it runs on macOS Monterey (12) and later.
• It shows nothing by itself: every menu bar item needs a plugin script, taken from the plugin repository or written by the user.
• Every file in the plugin folder is imported as a plugin and made executable unless a .swiftbarignore file excludes it.
• Several preferences, such as hiding SwiftBar's own item, are not in the settings window and are set with Terminal commands.

Hidden Bar

Collapsible hidden section

Command-drag icons to the left of the separator, then click the arrow to collapse or expand that part of the menu bar.

Auto collapse

Hidden icons are tucked away again after a chosen delay. The countdown pauses while the pointer is in the menu bar.

Global shortcut

A system-wide hotkey set in Preferences expands or collapses the hidden section from any app.

Always-hidden section

An optional second zone holds icons that stay hidden even when the bar is expanded. Option-clicking the arrow reveals it.

Full menu bar on expanding

A preference lets the expanded icons use the whole menu bar for a moment, which the manual says helps when the menu bar is tight on space.

Terminal-only options

Settings with no interface, changed with the defaults command, include expanding on hover and a custom auto-collapse delay.

SwiftBar

Plugins are plain scripts

Any executable script in the language of your choice becomes a menu bar item: the lines it prints before the first separator form the title, and the rest fill the drop-down menu.

Refresh intervals and cron schedules

A refresh interval goes in the file name, as in date.1m.sh, from milliseconds up to days. A metadata tag accepts cron syntax for one or several schedules instead.

BitBar and xbar compatibility

The plugin format is adopted from BitBar and xbar, so existing plugins for those run unchanged, and a Get Plugins menu item opens a bundled plugin repository.

Formatting and click actions

Per-line parameters set colors, fonts, SF Symbols, images, badges and tooltips, and make an item open a URL, run a script, show a web view or respond to a hotkey.

Shortcuts and streaming plugins

Beyond standard scripts, an Apple Shortcut can supply the menu content, ephemeral plugins create temporary items on demand, and streamable plugins stay running to push updates.

URL scheme

swiftbar:// links refresh, enable, disable or add plugins, post notifications and create temporary menu bar items, so other apps and scripts can drive it.

Hidden Bar

• Hidden Bar$0

  Collapsible hidden section, auto collapse, global shortcut, always-hidden section and launch at login. Listed as Free on the US Mac App Store.

SwiftBar

• SwiftBar$0

  The complete app with every plugin type and the bundled plugin repository. MIT licensed, with no license key or account.