# Ice review (2026): is it any good? > Menu bar manager for hiding and arranging Mac menu items Checked Nov 12, 2026 ยท graded Nov 12, 2026 by ToolGPA. Ice is a menu bar manager for macOS. It hides and shows menu bar items, lets you reveal hidden items below the menu bar, and offers drag-and-drop arranging. It can also change the menu bar's appearance, search menu bar items and adjust item spacing. The app is free; the site links to GitHub and a donate page. - **Category:** Desktop Utilities - **Made by:** Jordan Baird - **Website:** https://icemenubar.app - **Runs on:** macOS - **Who should skip it:** Skip it if you are on Windows or Linux, as it is Mac only. - **Facts last checked:** Nov 12, 2026 ## Pricing As of Nov 12, 2026, Ice is free to use. - **Pricing model:** Free - **Free plan:** None. - **Free trial:** None listed. | Plan | Price | What you get | | --- | --- | --- | | Ice | $0 | Free to download. The site links to a donate page and the GitHub source (GPL-3.0). | Read from https://icemenubar.app on Nov 12, 2026. Prices change, so confirm with Ice before buying. ## Key features - **Hide and show items:** Hides menu bar items and shows them on hover or click. - **Items below the bar:** Shows hidden menu bar items in a bar below the menu bar. - **Drag-and-drop arranging:** Arrange menu bar items by dragging them. - **Appearance options:** Customize how the menu bar looks. - **Item search:** Search menu bar items to find one quickly. - **Custom spacing:** Change the spacing between menu bar items. ## Good for - Mac users with a crowded menu bar - People looking for a no-cost menu bar manager ## Worth knowing - Mac only; the site does not state which macOS versions it needs. - A volunteer open-source project; no paid support is listed. ## ToolGPA grades **GPA: 2.8 out of 4**, graded Nov 12, 2026. Ice hides and rearranges menu bar items on a Mac, shows hidden ones in a bar under the menu bar, and costs nothing. It does that one job and no more, runs on Macs only, and the site doesn't say which macOS versions it needs. - **Value for money: A.** Free to download, and the source is public under GPL-3.0. That is under 60% of the category's cheaper quarter. - **Free plan and trial: A.** Free outright with no cap. The site has a donate page, but nothing is locked. - **Features: C.** Hides and shows items, drag-and-drop arranging, appearance options, search and custom spacing. It does that job fully, but it is a smaller job than most utilities. - **Ease of use: B.** No rating on record. It is a menu bar app you install and use, with nothing to set up. - **Platforms and integrations: D.** Mac only. No Windows, phone or web version, and no integrations. These are ToolGPA's own grades. Graded from this listing, whose facts were read from Ice's own pages on 12 November 2026. Not based on using the product, and shorter than our full reviews. ## Where it stands among desktop utilities - Ice's GPA of 2.8 is higher than 116 of the 186 other desktop utilities we grade, and level with 37. - It stands best on free plan and trial (A, above 107 of 186) and worst on platforms and integrations (D, above 0). - Ice has no paid plan. - On features, ease of use and platforms it scores 2.0 out of 4. Nothing scores higher for less, though at least one tool matches that score at a lower price. The category's chart of price against score: https://toolgpa.com/charts/utilities ## Keep it, or make your own? **Keep it.** Ice is free, so making your own would save you nothing. - You could not: A native app living in the menu bar. - You could not: A real app for macOS. Something home-made would be a web page. A judgement by ToolGPA from this listing, by rules that are the same for every tool. Nothing was built to test it. **Tags:** Menu bar app, Open source ## Alternatives - [Bartender](https://toolgpa.com/tools/bartender): Menu bar manager for macOS that hides and organizes items. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/bartender-vs-ice-menubar) - [Hidden Bar](https://toolgpa.com/tools/hidden-bar): Free, open-source utility that hides macOS menu bar icons. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/hidden-bar-vs-ice-menubar) - [Thaw](https://toolgpa.com/tools/thaw): Free, open-source menu bar manager for macOS. [Compare](https://toolgpa.com/compare/ice-menubar-vs-thaw) ## Sources The prices, plans, platforms and features above were read from these pages on Nov 12, 2026: - https://icemenubar.app - https://github.com/jordanbaird/Ice Page: https://toolgpa.com/tools/ice-menubar Listed by ToolGPA (toolgpa.com).