Bartender
menu bar icons hidden behind a chevron, sold as a licence or a subscription
Paid upgrades
This is the clearest paid-major-version cadence in the category: the 6-to-7 upgrade was discounted rather than free, so expect Bartender 8 to cost again. The Pro features — widgets, clipboard, notch file storage, Top Shelf — are behind the $19.99/year subscription and are not in the one-time licence. The Mega Supporter lifetime tier is the only single payment covering every future version, but its price is rendered client-side by Paddle and is currently discounted, so any figure quoted second-hand (including the widely repeated $80) is unconfirmed until you open the purchase page. All prices are localised and tax-inclusive by country. Bartender is also on Setapp, where it stops working when you cancel.
Cost over five years
$25 once = 15 months of Bartender Pro. Over five years that is $100 rented against $24.99 owned — $75 kept, and you still have the app.
Bartender Pro priced at $20 a year — the developer's own yearly tier, which adds the Pro suite and Top Shelf. Checked 2026-09-22.
Bartender's job is narrow and it does it properly: you drag the icons you never look at into a hidden section, and the menu bar stops disappearing behind the notch. The parts you appreciate later are the Bartender Bar, a searchable second row you summon with a hotkey, and triggers that surface an icon only when it means something — the VPN icon when the tunnel is actually up.
The pricing is where to pay attention, because there are three doors. The $24.99 one-time licence is the one this site cares about: it buys Bartender 7 outright, includes every update within that version, and also activates the latest Bartender 6 if you are still on an older macOS. Bartender Pro, at $19.99 a year, adds widgets, a clipboard tool and notch file storage, and none of that reaches the one-time licence. The Mega Supporter tier is a single payment covering every version forever, but its price loads in your local currency and is currently marked as discounted, so read it on the purchase page rather than trusting a figure quoted anywhere else.
If you are on a Mac without a notch and have six menu bar icons, Ice does enough of this for nothing. Bartender earns the money when your menu bar is genuinely full and you want the triggers.
What it looks like
What it does
- Hide, reorder and reveal any menu bar icon, including on notched Macs
- Bartender Bar: a searchable second row for overflow icons
- Triggers so an icon only appears on a condition, such as low battery or VPN up
- Keyboard search across menu bar items
- One-time licence for Bartender 7 still sold alongside the subscription
Cancel instead
Also bought outright in windows
BetterDisplay
custom HiDPI modes and DDC control for external monitors
$21.99
Swish
two-finger trackpad gestures on the title bar instead of shortcuts
$16
BetterTouchTool
gestures, shortcuts and window snapping, with a real $25 lifetime licence
$15
Moom
grid popup on the green button, plus layouts that follow your displays
$15The facts
- Price
- $24.99
- What you get
- One payment, and the developer charges for major versions on a stated cadence.
- Details
- Bartender 7 is $24.99 one-time, described by the developer as including "all future updates for Bartender 7"; the same licence also activates the latest Bartender 6, and all tiers list "Includes Bartender 6 for Tahoe, and 7 for Golden Gate". Bartender Pro is $19.99 a year and adds the Pro suite plus Top Shelf. A "Mega Supporter" lifetime tier covers every version forever and includes Pro, but the developer publishes no figure for it on any static page and currently tags it "Launch Discount" — read it on the purchase page. Four-week trial for new users, two weeks for returning ones.
- Free trial
- Yes
- On Setapp
- Yes
- Minimum macOS
- not stated
- Developer
- Surtees Studios
- Price checked
- 2026-09-22 (medium confidence)
Check it yourself - Price band
- $15 to $30