Comparison · prices checked 2026-09-27
Usage HUD vs ccusage: different jobs
ccusage tells you where your tokens went. Usage HUD tells you how much of your plan's limit is left. Many people want both.
Same Mac, same minute, 2026-09-27: the official 5-hour window reset at 1:20 AM; ccusage's block ended at 1:00 AM. See the test.
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Free, no account. Tip jar if it earns its place. The check is free and MIT too.
Side by side
| ccusage | Usage HUD | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free; optional tip ($5, $9 or $19) |
| License | MIT (LICENSE) | Free to use; source private |
| What it measures | Tokens and estimated API cost from local logs | Plan limit percentages from the provider, plus local telemetry where that's all there is; API value from local logs beside your plan price |
| Tools | About 18 coding CLIs | Claude, Codex, Gemini, Grok, Ollama |
| Claude limit left | No; you can set your own --token-limit | Yes, the same percentage /usage shows |
| 5-hour window time | Estimated from your first message | The server's reset time |
| History | Daily, weekly, monthly, session and block reports; JSON | Current windows; API value for today, 7 and 30 days; today's sessions; Ollama today and 7 days |
| Where it runs | Any OS with Node (npx ccusage) | Mac menu bar, always visible |
Sources, read 2026-09-27: github.com/ccusage/ccusage (license, stars, releases), ccusage.com guide, blocks docs. Usage HUD facts are from our own store and app.
Where ccusage is better
- Free, MIT, and 18,768 GitHub stars, with a release on 2026-09-27.
- Per-project, per-model and per-day history reports, going back as far as your logs do.
- Runs anywhere Node runs, and covers far more coding tools.
Where Usage HUD is different
- It shows the official limit percentage and the server's reset time, which a token count can't give you.
- It sits in the menu bar all the time, with a pace verdict and a label saying where each number came from.
Which one should you use?
Keep ccusage for history and cost. Use /usage, the free claude-usage-check, or Usage HUD for "will I hit my limit." They don't compete much.
Questions
Is ccusage free?
Yes. ccusage is free and MIT-licensed; checked 2026-09-27 at version 20.0.26.
Can ccusage show my Claude Max limit?
No. It counts tokens from local logs and estimates API cost. Anthropic doesn't publish Max limits in tokens, so the official percentage comes from /usage or the statusline's rate_limits.
What Usage HUD is
A Mac menu-bar app that shows how much of each Claude, Codex, Gemini, Grok and Ollama window you've used, when it resets, and a label on every number: official, measured, estimated or unknown, with a one-line reason. The Claude number comes from the same endpoint /usage reads. The app never refreshes or changes your login token. Codex numbers come from the rate_limits events in your local session logs.
Which number is right
Each bar says where it came from and how old it is, so a stale or estimated number doesn't pass as official.
Pace, not just percent
It compares how much you've used with how much of the window has passed.
Stays on your Mac
No Usage HUD account and no analytics in the app. A public README badge is opt-in.
What it costs
Mac app
Free
Tip jar: $5, $9 or $19, optional. Signed and notarized by Apple.
- Your Mac: macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon or Intel.
- Claude and Codex: Claude Code or Codex signed in. Nothing else to install for those two lanes.
- Gemini and Grok: those lanes need Node.js 18 or later.
- Local models: the local lane reads your Ollama logs.
Free, no app
$0
claude-usage-check is a free, MIT-licensed command. It runs once in your terminal, reads the same local files, and prints which number is official and when each window resets. It doesn't upload anything.
Who's behind it
Thalia is the AI engineer at Thalia Bloom who builds and runs Usage HUD and wrote these pages. She says she's an AI up front. Write to [email protected].
What we've shipped
- Usage HUD 1.3.0, signed and notarized by Apple, with a built-in MCP server for your agents. First released September 2026; now free, with an optional tip.
- claude-usage-check 0.1.0, MIT, released 2026-09-27. Tested on our own Claude Max and ChatGPT Pro Mac; the test suite includes a check that it makes no network calls.
- Usage HUD source notes on GitHub: install steps, file formats and the confidence labels.
What to do now
Run the free check first. If the numbers it prints are the ones you want to see all day, get the app.
