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Which is the better system monitoring for Mac in 2026?
We compared Stats and eul across 5 key factors including price, open-source status, and community adoption. Both Stats and eul are excellent system monitoring. Read our full breakdown below.
System monitor for the menu bar
macOS status monitoring app
Both Stats and eul are excellent system monitoring. Stats is better for users who prefer open source solutions, while eul excels for those who value transparency.
| Feature | Stats | eul |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Open Source | Yes | Yes |
| Monthly Installs | N/A | N/A |
| GitHub Stars | N/A | N/A |
| Category | System Utilities | System Utilities |
brew install --cask statsbrew install --cask eulStats is a free, open-source macOS system monitor that displays key performance metrics directly in your menu bar, providing at-a-glance visibility into your Mac's health without opening a separate application. Created by Ukrainian developer Serhiy Mytrovtsiy, Stats has become the most popular menu bar system monitor on macOS with over 27,000 stars on GitHub and a thriving community of contributors. Stats monitors an impressively comprehensive range of system metrics: CPU usage with per-core breakdowns showing individual efficiency and performance core utilization on Apple Silicon, memory utilization with detailed active/wired/compressed/inactive breakdown, disk I/O rates and capacity across all mounted volumes, network throughput with real-time upload and download speeds and cumulative data transfer tracking, GPU utilization and temperature for both integrated and discrete graphics, battery health including charge cycles and degradation percentage and time remaining estimates, fan speeds and comprehensive temperature readings through SMC sensor access, and Bluetooth device battery levels for AirPods, Magic Mouse, Magic Keyboard, and other connected accessories. Each monitoring module can be displayed in the menu bar using multiple visualization formats: mini line charts showing historical trends, bar graphs for quick visual comparison, percentage numbers for precise readings, colored dot indicators for ambient awareness, or combinations thereof. You can independently configure which modules appear in your menu bar, set update intervals from 1 second to 60 seconds for each module, customize colors and display formats, and choose exactly which sub-metrics are visible. Clicking any menu bar widget opens a detailed popover panel with additional information, historical graphs, and expanded metrics. Stats is written in Swift and runs natively on macOS with full Apple Silicon optimization, supporting all M-series chips including M1, M2, M3, and M4 variants. Despite the extraordinary depth of monitoring it provides, Stats is remarkably lightweight—typically using less than 50MB of RAM and negligible CPU overhead. The app is actively maintained with frequent updates ensuring compatibility with the latest macOS releases, new hardware support, and feature additions driven by community feedback.
eul (pronounced like Euler, the mathematician it's named after) is a free, open-source macOS system monitor built entirely in SwiftUI, Apple's modern declarative UI framework. Created by developer Gao Sun, eul takes a deliberately minimalist approach to system monitoring, prioritizing clean visual design, simplicity of use, and extremely low resource consumption over the breadth of monitoring capabilities. eul monitors the essential system metrics most users care about: CPU usage with aggregate utilization percentage, memory pressure showing how stressed your system's RAM is, network throughput displaying current upload and download speeds, disk utilization and available space, battery status with charge percentage and power source, and fan speeds with temperature readings for thermal awareness. Its SwiftUI-based interface gives eul a distinctly modern, native macOS aesthetic that integrates beautifully with the menu bar—the status items are clean and typographically refined, and the dropdown popovers present information in a well-organized, visually harmonious layout with smooth animations and proper dark mode support. eul supports multiple display languages, customizable status item formats, and the ability to show or hide individual monitoring modules. Where eul intentionally differs from comprehensive monitors like Stats is in what it omits: there's no GPU monitoring, no Bluetooth device battery tracking, no per-core CPU breakdown, no SMC sensor detail, and significantly fewer display customization options. This isn't oversight—it's philosophy. eul is designed for users who want a quick, unobtrusive system health check without the complexity of configuring dozens of monitoring parameters. The project has accumulated over 9,000 GitHub stars but has seen notably less frequent updates in recent years compared to Stats. Despite the slower development pace, eul continues to work reliably on current macOS versions and remains a solid choice for users who appreciate SwiftUI's design refinement and don't need monitoring depth beyond the essentials. The app is also noticeably fast to launch at login and reaches full monitoring readiness within seconds, making it ideal for users who want instant system awareness without any startup delay or configuration workflow.
Stats monitors CPU, GPU, memory, disk, network, battery, Bluetooth, fans, and sensors. Each module provides detailed breakdowns (per-core CPU, memory type breakdown, disk I/O rates).
eul monitors CPU, memory, network, disk, battery, and fans/temperature. Coverage is solid for essentials but lacks GPU monitoring, Bluetooth battery tracking, and the depth of sensor data Stats provides.
Verdict: Stats monitors more system components with greater detail.
Stats offers multiple display formats for each module: mini graphs, bar charts, percentages, colored indicators, and more. Each module's appearance, colors, and update interval can be configured independently.
eul provides clean display options with text and icon formats. Customization is more limited—you can choose which modules to show but have fewer options for how they're displayed.
Verdict: Stats provides significantly more flexibility in how monitoring data is presented.
Stats uses approximately 30-50MB RAM and minimal CPU despite monitoring many metrics. It's well-optimized with configurable update intervals to further reduce overhead.
eul uses approximately 20-40MB RAM. Its SwiftUI architecture and simpler feature set contribute to a very light footprint.
Verdict: Both are remarkably lightweight. eul is marginally lighter due to fewer features, but the difference is negligible.
Stats monitors GPU utilization, temperature, and memory usage. On Apple Silicon Macs, it shows the GPU cores' activity and thermal state.
eul does not include GPU monitoring. Users interested in GPU performance need to use Activity Monitor or another tool.
Verdict: Stats includes GPU monitoring; eul does not.
Stats reads SMC sensors for CPU/GPU temperatures, fan speeds, SSD temperature, and other thermal data. On Apple Silicon Macs, it displays efficiency and performance core temperatures separately.
eul displays fan speeds and basic temperature readings. Sensor coverage is less comprehensive than Stats.
Verdict: Stats provides deeper sensor data including per-component temperatures.
Stats has a functional, information-dense interface. The menu bar widgets are configurable but can look busy if many modules are enabled. The popover panels are information-rich but utilitarian.
eul's SwiftUI interface is clean, modern, and aesthetically pleasing. The popovers are well-designed with a native macOS feel that some users prefer over Stats' more data-dense approach.
Verdict: eul's SwiftUI interface is more visually refined and feels more natively macOS.
Stats is actively maintained with frequent commits, regular releases, and quick macOS compatibility updates. The developer is responsive to issues and feature requests.
eul's development has slowed significantly. While the app works well on current macOS versions, updates are infrequent and the GitHub repository shows less activity.
Verdict: Stats' active development ensures ongoing compatibility and feature improvements.
Stats can display battery levels for connected Bluetooth devices (AirPods, Magic Mouse, Magic Keyboard, etc.) in the menu bar.
eul does not monitor Bluetooth device battery levels.
Verdict: Stats monitors Bluetooth device batteries; eul does not.
You want comprehensive monitoring with per-core CPU, GPU utilization, sensor temperatures, and Bluetooth battery levels—all configurable to your preferences.
You want a clean, simple system monitor that shows CPU, memory, and network without overwhelming configuration options.
Monitoring CPU per-core usage, memory pressure, and disk I/O during builds and deployments requires Stats' detailed breakdowns.
eul's SwiftUI interface is more visually refined and feels more at home in a carefully curated Mac setup.
Stats' active development and large community ensure it will continue working with future macOS releases and Apple hardware.
Install eul via Homebrew (brew install --cask eul) or download from GitHub. Enable the modules you want—CPU, memory, network, disk, battery. You'll immediately notice fewer display options and configuration parameters, which is either a relief or a limitation depending on your perspective. You'll lose GPU monitoring, Bluetooth battery tracking, per-core CPU breakdown, and detailed sensor data. Uninstall Stats (brew uninstall --cask stats) to avoid duplicate menu bar items.
Install Stats via Homebrew (brew install --cask stats) or download from GitHub. Enable the same basic modules you used in eul (CPU, memory, network, disk, battery), then explore the additional modules: GPU monitoring, Bluetooth batteries, SMC sensors, and fan speeds. Take time to configure display formats for each module—Stats offers far more visualization options. You may want to simplify the defaults first and gradually add complexity. Uninstall eul to avoid duplication.
Don't run both simultaneously—they'll create duplicate metrics in your menu bar and both access the same system APIs through IOKit and SMC. Choose one based on whether you prefer Stats' comprehensive depth and active development or eul's visual simplicity and SwiftUI elegance. If you're unsure, start with Stats since you can always simplify its display to match eul's minimalism while retaining access to deeper metrics when needed.
Winner
Runner-up
Stats wins convincingly as the superior free macOS system monitor. With comprehensive monitoring coverage spanning CPU (per-core), GPU, memory, disk, network, battery, Bluetooth, fans, and SMC sensors—all with extensive display customization—it provides depth that no other free Mac monitor matches. Its 27,000+ GitHub stars, active development, and responsive community ensure long-term reliability and compatibility. eul remains a genuinely appealing choice for users who prioritize visual design and simplicity above monitoring depth, but its slower development pace and narrower feature set make it the clear runner-up. Since both are free, the decision costs nothing—try Stats first for its comprehensiveness, or eul first for its elegance.
Bottom Line: Choose Stats for the most comprehensive, actively maintained free system monitor on macOS. Choose eul if you prioritize clean SwiftUI design and only need basic CPU, memory, and network metrics. Both are free—try each and keep the one that fits your style.
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Last verified: Feb 15, 2026
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
Accessed Feb 15, 2026
Research queries: Stats vs eul Mac system monitor 2026; Stats macOS GitHub stars; eul SwiftUI system monitor; best free Mac system monitor