ChocolateBar vs xbar
ChocolateBar
chocolatebar.appxbar
xbarapp.comSide by side
| Figure | ChocolateBar | xbar |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 1 | 1 |
| Spec score · Menu Bar Customization Software | 8.0 (#4) | 6.9 (#24) |
| Purpose | ChocolateBar manages a crowded Mac menu bar by hiding third-party icons or displaying them in a second row with open app windows. | xbar puts output from scripts or programs into the macOS menu bar. |
Plans
In their own words
ChocolateBar
ChocolateBar has no write-up on Specifiction yet; its figures are above.
xbar
xbar puts output from scripts and programs in the macOS menu bar, where selected information can be checked at a glance. Its library offers hundreds of ready-made plugins across areas such as AWS, finance, email, music, network, system, and weather. Examples include network status, YubiKey OATH TOTP codes, an OKX price ticker, Bluetooth trackpad battery status, miner statistics, and an RSS reader. Users can also write plugins in any language. The app's Preferences > Plugins view is where users can discover and manage plugins; the plugin directory is ~/Library/Application Support/xbar/plugins. xbar is free at free and open source under the MIT License. The project says Mat Ryer and Leah Anthony rewrote it in Go using Wails. The latest release requires macOS Catalina or newer (10.15 or later). Grouped and custom menu items and keyboard shortcuts are supported, but hiding or rearranging menu items is not. The v2.1.7-beta notes say the plugin timeout increased from one minute to two minutes.