Comparing menu-bar meters

CodexBar alternative for people who use more than Codex

CodexBar is a free, open-source (MIT) menu-bar app that covers a wide set of providers, and plenty of people are already happy with it for exactly that reason. If CodexBar already shows you what you need, you do not need Usage HUD, and this page will not tell you otherwise. It exists for the narrower case where you want a couple of specific things CodexBar was not built around.

Usage HUD is a paid, native Mac app built around one idea: every number should say how much you can trust it, not just what the number is. In practice that means a confidence label — official, high, medium, or manual — with a one-line reason on every reading, so you can tell an official reading that has quietly stopped updating from one that is genuinely live right now.

How Usage HUD shows it

Alongside the confidence labels, Usage HUD includes a doctor command that checks each provider and tells you in plain language whether its number is reliable and why, a pace verdict so you can see whether you are on pace for the week without doing the math yourself, and exact Ollama token counts pulled from your local logs for today and the rolling seven days.

The panel covers Claude, Codex, Gemini, Grok, and Ollama, with one bar per provider, a reset time, and a freshness stamp for each. None of this makes Usage HUD better than CodexBar at what CodexBar already does well — free, open source, and more provider coverage than most people will ever use. Usage HUD’s case is narrower: the labels, the doctor command, the pace verdict, and the design are the reasons to pay for it instead. If you already know CodexBar covers everything you track, stop there; the rest of this page is for the moment you want a plain-language reason behind a number, not another opinion on which app is better.

Buy Usage HUD

$9 USD · one time · personal license through 1.x

Launch price through 30 Sep 2026, then $15. 14-day refund by email. If CodexBar already works for you, you do not need this.

Frequently asked questions

Should I switch from CodexBar to Usage HUD?

Only if you want the confidence labels, the doctor command, the pace verdict, or exact Ollama token counts. If CodexBar already covers what you need, keep using it.

Is CodexBar worse than Usage HUD?

No. CodexBar is free, open source, and covers many providers. Usage HUD is a separate, paid tool built around trust labels and pace, not a replacement claim.

What is the doctor command?

A command that checks each provider Usage HUD reads and tells you in plain language whether its number is reliable right now and why.

If Claude Code is part of your setup, see the Claude Code usage limit page. If you also run Gemini CLI or Grok, see Gemini CLI and Grok usage in one meter. Visit the Usage HUD home page to see every provider bar, or watch the demo video there.