Foldaway vs Thaw
Foldaway
foldaway.appThaw
github.comSide by side
| Figure | Foldaway | Thaw |
|---|---|---|
| Price from | — | Free |
| Free plan | — | Yes |
| Free trial | Yes | — |
| Open source | — | — |
| macOS | Yes | Yes |
| Plans published | 2 | 1 |
| Spec score · Menu Bar Customization Software | 7.9 (#5) | 7.1 (#23) |
| Permissions | Accessibility permission is required to find and fold menu bar items; Screen Recording permission is optional for displaying real menu bar glyphs. | Accessibility is requested on first launch; Screen Recording is optional for live item previews and wallpaper-derived tinting. |
| Privacy | The app says it has no analytics, telemetry, crash reporting service, or advertising SDK, and its only outbound network request is a periodic update check. | Thaw says it requires no account and has no tracking, analytics, or telemetry. |
| Purpose | Foldaway hides menu bar icons and keeps them in a panel one click below the bar. | Thaw is an open-source macOS menu bar manager that hides, reveals, and arranges menu bar items. |
Plans
In their own words
Thaw
Thaw is a free, open-source macOS utility for hiding, revealing, and arranging menu bar items. Users can save arrangements as profiles linked to a display, Space, or Focus filter. Conditions such as battery level, Wi-Fi network, active Focus, or a script result can trigger items to appear or disappear. Appearance options include tint, gradients, shadows, borders, custom shapes, and light and dark mode settings.
Thaw requires macOS 26 or later and supports macOS 26 and 27. It includes a Raycast extension and thaw:// deep links for tools such as Alfred, Shortcuts, Keyboard Maestro, and BetterTouchTool. The project says the app requires no account and has no tracking, analytics, or telemetry. Accessibility permission is requested on first launch; Screen Recording is optional for live previews and wallpaper-derived tinting. It is licensed under GPL-3.0 and can be installed with Homebrew or as a DMG from the latest GitHub release. Only the latest stable release receives security fixes.