Bartender vs Ice 2

Bartender manages macOS menu bar items, controlling which ones appear and when. It can reveal items quickly, search them, and use custom hotkeys and triggers. Users can hide, rearrange, and group items, create custom items from built-in data sources or scripts without coding, and switch profiles by hotkey, trigger, or display setup. Bartender 7’s Command Bar searches for and triggers menu bar items; clipboard history is included for Pro users. Automation options include built-in triggers, Shortcuts, AppleScript, hotkeys, and Siri. The app works without Screen Recording permission, showing app icons rather than snapshots when permission is disabled. The maker says captures remain cached locally on the device and app data is not transmitted to its servers. Bartender 7 is built for macOS 27 Golden Gate; users on macOS 26 Tahoe are directed to Bartender 6 while Bartender 7 support is pending. Bartender 7 costs 24.99 USD as a one-time purchase, and Pro costs $19.99 a year. A license covers all Macs owned and personally used by its holder.

Ice 2 is a free macOS app for hiding, arranging, and revealing menu bar items. It can tuck rarely used icons behind a divider; hidden items can be brought back with a click, hotkey, or by hovering over the edge. Its Ice Bar places hidden items in a separate bar that appears when needed. On macOS 27, a layout editor lets users drag apps into Visible, Hidden, or Always-Hidden sections, saving changes as they are made. Some functions are unavailable on that system: the separate Ice Bar, searching for one menu bar icon, and temporarily showing one icon. Ice 2 requires macOS 26 or later, and Accessibility permission may be needed on macOS 27 to find and hide menu bar apps. The app is open source under GPLv3 and is available through GitHub releases and Homebrew; the Mac App Store is listed as coming soon. The plan is free. Its maintainer is Teddy Chan, and the maker directs questions, bug reports, and feature requests to GitHub or email.