Bartender vs Hidden Bar

What is Bartender?

Bartender is the original and most full-featured menu bar management application for macOS, created by Australian developer Ben Surtees and now maintained by Applause App Resources after acquisition in 2024. Bartender has been the gold standard for taming macOS's crowded menu bar since 2013, and it remains the most capable tool for controlling which menu bar icons are visible, when they appear, and how they behave. The fundamental problem Bartender solves is ubiquitous among Mac power users: as you install more applications—each adding its own menu bar icon—the menu bar becomes an overwhelming, cluttered strip of tiny icons that makes finding anything difficult and wastes valuable screen real estate. Bartender addresses this by letting you hide menu bar items behind a secondary 'Bartender Bar' (accessible with a click or keyboard shortcut), completely hide items you never need to see, or set intelligent triggers that show hidden items only when they need your attention. For example, you can hide your VPN icon but configure it to appear when the VPN disconnects, hide your battery icon but show it when the charge drops below 20%, or hide your email app's icon but reveal it when new messages arrive. These trigger-based rules are Bartender's killer feature—they turn the menu bar from a static strip of icons into an intelligent notification surface that shows you exactly what matters and nothing else. Bartender 5 (the current version) introduces a redesigned interface, improved support for macOS Sonoma and Sequoia's menu bar changes, keyboard-only navigation for accessibility, a search function for finding specific menu bar items quickly, customizable spacing between icons, and support for the notch on newer MacBook Pros (arranging icons to avoid being obscured). The app also includes menu bar icon grouping, custom ordering (overriding the system default alphabetical arrangement), and the ability to show different configurations based on active application or display setup. Bartender requires a license ($16 for a single user, $26 for a family pack) and offers a free 4-week trial. The 2024 ownership change to Applause App Resources caused some community concern about privacy and continuity, though the app continues to be actively maintained and updated. For Mac power users with 15+ menu bar items who want intelligent, trigger-based control over their menu bar's appearance, Bartender remains the most capable and refined solution available.