RainbowTaskbar vs Taskbar Hide

RainbowTaskbar is a Windows app for changing the taskbar’s appearance with animations, colors, images, websites, and other effects. It supports web configurations as well as instruction-based configurations. Web configurations can respond to mouse input, use WebGL, canvas graphics, and video, and call the RainbowTaskbar API to adjust taskbar style and transparency. The app supports positioning and transparency controls, along with complex multi-monitor setups involving scaling and positioning. Through the RainbowTaskbar Workshop, users can download configurations without an account; uploading one requires signing in with Google or GitHub. The app is portable, but needs the.NET 8 runtime if that runtime is not already installed. The maker warns that RainbowTaskbar conflicts with TranslucentTB and says to close that app before running it. RainbowTaskbar is free and open-source, with a free plan listed at free. Its maker describes it as a passion project first released in 2021.

Taskbar Hide is a free application for Windows 10 and 11 that hides and shows the taskbar. It provides a system tray icon and menu, as well as a command-line interface with start, show, hide, toggle, stop, help, and autostart commands. The app prevents multiple instances from running. Its project describes the executable as approximately 600 KB, self-contained, and built with static CRT linking. Downloads are available for Windows x64 and ARM64 as an MSI installer or a portable ZIP. The ZIP can be extracted and run without installation; the MSI configures PATH for command-line access. Autostart commands add or remove an entry in the current user's Windows Run registry key. The project says it is compatible with YASB and other custom status bars using the Shell_TrayWnd class name. One operational detail: CLI commands to show, hide, or stop the app require its GUI to be running. The repository is published under the MIT license.