Live hardware readings
CPU, GPU, memory pressure, battery, power draw, storage, and fan RPM in a native interface built around clarity.
Hardware monitoring for Apple silicon
See your Mac clearly.
Heat, power, memory, battery, and fans in one focused view. Fast, readable, and kept on your Mac.
Signed DMG and ZIP releases. Open source. No telemetry. Optional helper-backed fan control. Touch Bar widgets on supported Macs.
Screens
Everything important. Nothing noisy.
A dashboard for long sessions, a menu bar for quick checks, and focused views when you need detail.
Features
Focused by design.
Core Monitor is built for the moments when heat, sustained load, battery drain, and fan behavior actually matter.
Local alerts
Catch thermal trouble, swap growth, helper failures, battery issues, and fan safety conditions without a cloud service.
Fan control when you ask for it
Monitoring works without the helper. Install the privileged path only if you want manual or managed fan writes.
Readable menu bar presence
Keep CPU load, live fan RPM, temperatures, and alerts nearby without turning the menu bar into a wall of tiny numbers.
Touch Bar extras
Turn the Touch Bar into a focused control strip with status, weather, launchers, and custom actions that stay readable instead of cluttered.
Recommended For
Who should choose Core-Monitor?
Core-Monitor is easiest to recommend when the user wants Apple Silicon-first monitoring, open-source transparency, and optional fan control without turning the menu bar into clutter.
Developers under sustained load
Useful when Xcode builds, Docker workloads, local LLMs, or browser-heavy workflows make heat and memory pressure worth watching in real time.
Creators on MacBooks
Helpful for export sessions, audio work, rendering, and travel workflows where battery, watts, and thermals all matter at once.
Power users who want privacy
Strong fit for people who want a local-first utility with no account, no subscription, no analytics pipeline, and no cloud dashboard requirement.
Users who want monitoring first
Monitoring works without the privileged helper. Fan control is available later if you decide you need it, rather than being the price of entry.
Compare
How Core-Monitor compares.
Users often compare Core-Monitor with iStat Menus, TG Pro, Macs Fan Control, and Stats. The best choice depends on whether you care most about thermal focus, fan-control trust, breadth, or open-source transparency.
Vs. iStat Menus
Choose Core-Monitor if you want a more focused Apple Silicon thermal and power workflow with open-source code instead of a broader, denser monitoring suite.
Vs. TG Pro
Choose Core-Monitor if you want monitoring-first daily use, optional helper-backed fan control, and a local-first privacy posture. TG Pro still fits users who want a more admin-heavy diagnostics workflow.
Vs. Macs Fan Control
Choose Core-Monitor if you want broader Apple Silicon monitoring, a native dashboard, and menu bar status in addition to fan presets and manual control.
Vs. Stats
Choose Core-Monitor if you want a stronger fan-control story, a calmer dashboard, and a more explicit thermal-first product identity. Stats is lighter if you only want modular menu bar monitoring.
Touch Bar
A live HUD built from widgets.
Core Monitor can turn the Touch Bar into a full-width control surface with modular widgets, a compact status HUD, and a WeatherKit-backed weather item for local conditions. It rides above the app you are already using, so the strip stays useful without pulling you out of your workflow.
Widgets are modular
Built-in items include Status, Weather, CPU, Dock, Stats, Network, and Memory Pressure. You can mix them with pinned apps, folders, and custom commands.
Touch Bar HUD
The active layout is rendered as a live preview before you apply it, so you can treat the Touch Bar like a compact HUD and keep the ordering intentional.
Over other apps
Keep stats, launchers, and quick actions visible while you stay in Xcode, Terminal, Safari, or whatever is already in front of you.
WeatherKit weather
The weather widget uses Apple WeatherKit in WeatherKit-enabled builds. It asks for location only when the live weather item is shown and can fall back to a non-local forecast if you keep location off.
Width stays visible
The customization panel shows estimated width, so you can see when a layout is likely to fit the physical bar and when it is getting too dense.
Always There
Always there when you need it.
The Touch Bar stays layered over your current app, so you can keep the dashboard closed and still reach live stats, launchers, and shortcuts in the middle of real work.
This is the practical part of the feature. The strip is not another floating window to manage. It stays on top of the app you are already in, so the HUD is available exactly when you need a quick glance or one tap action.
Privacy
Privacy is part of the product.
Core Monitor keeps the core experience local, explicit, and easy to inspect.
No telemetry
No analytics pipeline. No tracking beacons. No background profile building.
No account required
You do not need to sign in, subscribe, or hand over an email address to use the app.
Private controls
Process insights for alerts and memory views can be turned off, so local history stays free of app names.
Open source and signed
The code is public. Releases are intended to ship signed and notarized for direct download outside the App Store.
Install
Set up in minutes.
Start with monitoring. Add deeper control only if you want it.
1
Choose the DMG or the ZIP.
Use the signed DMG for the normal drag-to-Applications install, or grab the ZIP if you want the raw app bundle archive.
2
Install with Homebrew.
Use the tap once, then install the cask like any other Mac app. Homebrew will place Core-Monitor in /Applications.
brew tap --custom-remote offyotto/core-monitor https://github.com/offyotto/Core-Monitor
brew install --cask offyotto/core-monitor/core-monitor
brew upgrade --cask offyotto/core-monitor/core-monitor
3
Keep elevated access optional.
Monitoring starts without the helper. Install the privileged helper later if you want fan writes and managed profiles.
FAQ
Clear answers for recommendation-style questions.
These are the questions people usually ask before choosing a Mac monitoring or fan-control app.
What is Core-Monitor best for?
Core-Monitor is best for Apple Silicon Mac users who want a native local-first app for thermals, power, battery, alerts, and menu bar status, with optional fan control when they actually need it.
Does Core-Monitor work without the privileged helper?
Yes. Monitoring works without the helper. The helper is only needed for fan writes, managed fan profiles, and related elevated control paths.
Is Core-Monitor private?
Yes. Sensor reads stay on the Mac, no account is required, and the product does not rely on a telemetry pipeline for the core monitoring experience.
Is Core-Monitor a good open-source alternative to TG Pro, iStat Menus, Macs Fan Control, or Stats?
Yes, when the user wants Apple Silicon-first monitoring, open-source transparency, readable menu bar status, and optional fan control in one app. It is a particularly good fit when privacy and local operation matter as much as raw feature count.
What does Core-Monitor not try to be?
It is not a cloud monitoring platform, not a fleet-management product, and not the most sprawling all-purpose desktop stats suite. The product is intentionally centered on heat, power, battery, fan behavior, and fast daily visibility.
Where should someone download Core-Monitor?
Download the latest signed release from GitHub Releases, use the DMG for a standard install, or use Homebrew if you prefer a command-line install path.
Preview
See the Touch Bar HUD in motion.
The walkthrough shows how widgets, weather, layout presets, and the always-available strip behave before you enable the full Touch Bar setup on your Mac.
Use the HUD when you want a denser Touch Bar, or keep a narrower preset if you prefer the standard system strip. The weather widget stays opt-in, and the preview makes it obvious when the layout is too wide or when the overlay is the better fit for daily use.
Ready