The indicator in the menu changes colour when CPU or memory usage exceeds the limit you set. The list shows only the apps over the limit
3 days free, then a $4.99 licence
“There is basically no feedback from the computer if something is eating all the resources”
“One has to sit staring at the Monitor’s CPU listing to figure out what the offending process is…”
“I had a local Next.js development server running in the background for an extended period without realizing it”
The standard Activity Monitor has all the answers, but you have to open it, sort the list, and figure out which of the 150 processes is the culprit – and once you find it, you can only quit it, not pause it
Aide only alerts you when the load is higher than normal. You can pause an app that’s putting a strain on the CPU and then resume it
The indicator is grey and doesn’t distract.
At a critical moment, you’ll notice the extra strain.
Open the list to see which apps are putting a strain on the CPU or memory.
The list contains only your apps, not hundreds of system processes
Meanwhile, Aide uses less than 1% of a core
Above 90°C and no app to blame – a CPU temp row appears in the list.
The bar shows how close the chip is to its ceiling.
When an app is the cause, you’ll see it in the list instead
An app used up about a gigabyte in half an hour and keeps climbing.
Aide will show it in the list
The rest show everything that’s happening on your Mac
Aide shows only what’s important
| Aide | Activity Monitor | Stats menus | Task managers | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Notification format | Menu bar indicator | A window with five tabs | Graphs in the menu | An app with its own window |
| How it reports a problem | The indicator changes colour on its own | Only while you’re watching | Only while you’re watching | You need to open it and check it |
| What you can see | Only apps that exceed your limit | Hundreds of processes | Numbers, always on the screen | Apps and background tasks |
| While everything is fine | A grey indicator and an empty list | A list of hundreds of rows | Graphs never go quiet | List of apps |
| Stop the culprit | Pause or Kill – one click | Find, select, confirm | No | From the app window |
| Price | $4.99 once | Built into macOS | From free to $12 | $5–8 once |
Hi, I’m Kirill – a product designer in finance and crypto. I build small tools for Mac
Sometimes you need to figure out quickly what’s slowing down your Mac. The standard Activity Monitor is a long list of names, with a real chance of quitting a system process by mistake. Apps that track usage stats show graphs all day long, but it’s up to you to figure out which app is slowing down your Mac
Aide does the opposite. It stays silent as long as the load stays within your limit. As soon as an app exceeds the limit, it notifies you, and you can either close the app or pause it
Each load has its own action:
Only when CPU or memory usage exceeds your limit. A single spike does not count: for CPU usage, the load must remain above the limit for about 10 seconds. Until then, the indicator is grey and the list is empty
The limit above which Aide displays apps. The CPU and memory each have their own limits, and you configure each one yourself
The list includes only the apps associated with your account; macOS system processes are not included. If an app is overloading the CPU, Pause is a safe first step
No. The only indication is the indicator in the menu bar, and it turns grey on its own when the load drops
The CPU and memory, each with its own limit. Disk and network may come later
On average, it takes up less than 1% of a single core
The standard Activity Monitor shows everything as long as you’re looking at it. Aide stays silent as long as the load is below your limit, and shows only what’s above it
Any Mac with macOS 13 Ventura or later
3 days free then a $4.99 licence