BINNACLE//DECK
Mac activity monitor · menu bar

Which app is making your Mac hot?

Binnacle lives in your menu bar and answers it in one glance: the app behind every number, folded together with its helpers. Then fix it right there. Quit it, free the port, cool the fans.

Download free trialBuy · $9
14-day free trial · $9 once, no subscription · macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple silicon
Binnacle's Command Deck: CPU, memory, per-core meters and a per-app CPU waterfall
The Command Deck, on a real Mac
Try it here

Drive the Command Deck

A working copy of Binnacle's ⌘K line, running on sample data in your browser. Type a command, tap a suggestion, or click an app.

BINNACLE//DECKDEMO · SAMPLE DATA--:--:--
CPU %
000
MEM GB
00.0
10 cores · 8P + 2E
⌘K
The real app
Every page, one keystroke away
Unretouched screenshots from Binnacle on an M1 Max. ⌘1 through ⌘0 jumps between them.
Binnacle's CPU page
Load, temperatures, both fans (with manual control) and the apps behind the CPU
What it does
Answers, not process lists
Activity Monitor shows you hundreds of processes. Binnacle tells you which app is doing it, and lets you deal with it in one step.
Per-app
Apps, not process soup
Helper processes fold into the app they belong to, so “Chrome” is one line with its real CPU, memory, disk, network, GPU and energy.
Menu bar
One readout per item
CPU, memory, network, disk, GPU, temperature and battery, each its own menu bar item with a dropdown of the apps behind it.
Command Deck
A full instrument panel
Overview, CPU, Memory, Disk, Network, GPU, Battery, Sound, Projects and History pages. ⌘1–⌘0 to jump between them.
History
30 days, per app
12h, 24h, 7d and 30d views, plus disk written and network totals for today and the last week or month. One small local file.
Alerts
Know before the fans do
A nudge when one app keeps the CPU busy, keeps growing its memory, or hammers the disk or network.
Light
Doesn't become the problem
Samples every 5 seconds with no window open, drawn as plain menu bar bitmaps. Around half a percent of one core at idle.
For developers
What's on port 3000?
The Projects page groups dev servers by project folder, with their ports, memory and idle time, and a Stop button. Or just ask the ⌘K line.
  • Ports without lsof: read straight from the kernel, per process.
  • Forgotten servers: idle time shows the one you left running yesterday.
  • Ask your assistant: an optional MCP server lets Claude, Codex or Cursor ask what's running. It's read-only, and quitting an app still asks you first.
Command Deck · ⌘Ktype help
› why chrome
Chrome · 14 processes · 38% CPU · 3.1 GB
› port 3000
node (~/Projects/shop) · idle 2d · 412 MB
› kill port 3000
stopped node (pid 48113)
› top 3
Xcode 22% · Docker 14% · Slack 6%
Versus the built-in tool
What Activity Monitor doesn't do
 
Binnacle
Activity Monitor
Apps with helpers folded in
Yes
Processes
Live readouts in the menu bar
One per metric
No
Per-app history
30 days
No
Alerts when an app misbehaves
Yes
No
What's on a port, and stop it
One command
No
Temperatures and fan control
Yes
No
Price
$9 once
Free, built in
One price
$9 once
  • Every feature free for 14 days, no account, no card
  • After the trial the menu bar readouts stay free forever
  • A license unlocks the Command Deck, ⌘K, alerts, history and the MCP server
  • Free updates; your key lives on your shafer.llc account and comes straight back to the app after checkout
Download free trialBuy · $9
macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple silicon
Questions
What happens when the trial ends?
The menu bar items and their dropdowns keep working, free. The Command Deck, ⌘K commands, alerts, history and the MCP server ask for a license.
Does Binnacle send my data anywhere?
No telemetry. It only goes online to check your license with shafer.llc and to check for updates. History stays in one file on your Mac.
Why does it ask to install a helper?
It's optional. The helper reads processes macOS hides from normal apps and sets fan speeds. It can't do anything else.
Can I use my license on another Mac?
Yes. On the new Mac, click Register in Settings › License and sign in; your key comes back without paying again. Your shafer.llc account lists every Mac using it, and you can remove one there.
Intel Macs?
Not at the moment. Binnacle is built for Apple silicon and macOS 14 or later.