TiidyA Bartender alternative for macOS 27.
If you want your menu bar tidy without building rules, Tiidy is the simpler choice. It costs US$9, once, needs only the Accessibility permission, and helps you set up in about a minute. If you want deep rules, custom triggers and profiles, Bartender does more, and you should pick it.
You want it done.
- You'd rather sort your bar in a minute than design it.
- You want it to stay tidy on its own, with tidy suggestions that need your yes.
- You want apps to show up when they matter, like during calls, with one tick per app.
- You want an app that never asks for Screen Recording.
- You want to pay once, and know who made it.
You want rules.
- You want to build your own triggers, like showing the battery when you unplug.
- You switch profiles for different displays or setups.
- You want to search and open menu bar items from the keyboard.
- You want one licence for all your Macs.
Side by side.
| Question | TiidyVersion 0.8.2 | Bartender 7By Applause Group |
|---|---|---|
| Price | US$9, once | US$24.99, once. Bartender Pro is US$19.99 a year. |
| Macs per licence | 3, with free 1.x updates | All your Macs, with Bartender 7 updates |
| Free trial | 7 days, no card | 4 weeks for new users of Bartender 7; Pro has a 14-day trial |
| Screen Recording | Never asked for | Optional since Bartender 7. Without it, you see app icons instead of images of your items. |
| macOS 27 | Built for it, and only for it | Supported by Bartender 7 |
| Setup | One card per app with a suggestion. About a minute. | Arrange items yourself, then add rules and triggers as you like |
| Rarely used apps | Can nap: they quit after hours unused and wake when you click them | |
| Keeps itself tidy | New icons start tucked and ask where to live. Suggestions at most weekly, with your approval. Tucked icons with news stay out until you click them, or until the news is over. Apps can show during calls, on a VPN, at a desk or while another app is in front. | Triggers you set up, based on conditions like battery or Wi-Fi |
| Profiles | Yes, including by display setup | |
| Keyboard search | Yes, the Command Bar | |
| Who makes it | Petar Ceklic, Perth, Australia | Applause Group, which bought it in 2024 |
Prices in US dollars, before any local tax. A line means the feature isn't offered or isn't listed in the app's own pages.
Trust
A menu bar manager sits close to everything you do, so it's worth knowing what it can see and who runs it.
Tiidy uses Accessibility only. It has never asked for Screen Recording, because it doesn't need to see your screen to tidy it. Bartender 7 also makes Screen Recording optional. With it off, Bartender shows app icons instead of live images of menu bar items.
Bartender was sold to a new owner in 2024, and users only found out later, from a changed signing certificate. Its original developer has since explained and apologised. Tiidy is made by one named person in Perth, and every email reaches him.
Your layout stays on your MacTiidy has no analytics and no accounts. The privacy page lists the two things it goes online for.
Price
Tiidy is US$9, once, for up to three Macs, with every 1.x update free. Bartender 7 is US$24.99 once, for all your Macs, and Bartender Pro adds more tools for US$19.99 a year. For up to three Macs, Tiidy’s listed one-off price is US$15.99 less than Bartender 7.
A minute, not a project
Bartender is a toolbox. That's its strength, and it's why people who like rules love it.
Tiidy starts from the other end. It shows you one card per app, each with a suggestion: Keep it in the bar, Tuck it behind the broom, or Bury it for Option-click. Press ← ↓ →, or accept the rest in one click. After that, new icons ask where they belong, and at most once a week Tiidy suggests changes: tuck what you stop using, bury what you never touch, and bring back what you use every day. Tidy suggestions need your yes.
Coming from Bartender?Setup reads your Bartender settings, if they're on your Mac, and fills in your first layout from them.
Where Tiidy is simpler, honestly
Tiidy has simple triggers: each app can show during calls, while a VPN is on, at a desk (with an external display) or while another app is in front. It has no custom rules, no profiles and no keyboard search. It uses the same layout on every display. Tiidy cannot hide Wi-Fi, Sound, Control Center or the clock, and apps with two icons hide both together. If you need profiles, your own triggers or keyboard search, Bartender is the better fit.
Try it for a week. It's free.Version 0.8.2. 7 days, no card, no account. macOS 27 and Apple silicon. Or buy it now for US$9.
SourcesChecked 28 Sep 2026. Tell me if something has changed: hello@tiidy.app
- macbartender.com: Bartender 7 features, optional Screen Recording
- macbartender.com/purchase: plans, Pro trial, all your Macs
- Meet Bartender 7: US$24.99 once, Pro US$19.99, four-week Bartender 7 trial
- TidBITS, 5 June 2024: the quiet sale, and the apology
- 9to5Mac, 6 June 2024: the developer confirms the acquisition