---
title: "iSurge vs Activity Monitor, iStat Menus, CleanMyMac, Vitals and more (2026)"
description: "iSurge next to eight Mac apps in one table: Activity Monitor, iStat Menus, CleanMyMac, Sensei, Stats, SoundSource, NotchNook and Vitals. Each app’s facts come from its own site."
url: https://isurgemac.com/compare/
---

# How iSurge compares

Most Mac apps do one or two of these jobs. iSurge does them in one app: see apps instead of processes, find what’s slowing your Mac, set each app’s sound, free disk space, and run Focus and Keep Awake, for $14.99 once.

Checked 3–4 November 2026. Download: https://isurgemac.com/download · Buy: https://isurgemac.com/buy

## What the marks mean

- **Yes**: The app does this.
- **No**: Not offered, or not listed on the app’s own site.
- **Roadmap**: Planned on the app’s public roadmap, but not out yet.
- **In part**: The app does some of this, not all of it.
- **Not stated**: The app’s own site doesn’t say either way.
- **✓ out of 17**: How many of the 17 things in the table each app does.

| | iSurge | Activity Monitor | iStat Menus | CleanMyMac | Sensei | Stats | SoundSource | NotchNook | Vitals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| In the notch, or a pill on any Mac | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | Roadmap (not out yet) |
| Apps, not processes | Yes | No | No | In part | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Warnings that name the app | Yes | No | No | In part | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Each app’s volume | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | Yes |
| Each app on its own speakers | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No | No |
| Mute every mic at once | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Disk clean-up | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | Roadmap (not out yet) |
| Uninstall apps with their leftovers | Yes | No | No | Yes | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Dev servers, ports and containers | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |
| Homebrew | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Focus Timer | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| Keep Awake, even with the lid closed | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | No | No |
| What’s playing and your next meeting | Yes | No | No | No | No | No | No | Yes | No |
| Live CPU, memory, GPU, network, battery | Yes | Yes | Yes | In part | In part | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Temperatures and fan speed | Yes | No | Yes | In part | Yes | Yes | No | No | Yes |
| Fan control | No | No | Yes | No | No | In part | No | No | Yes |
| No account, no analytics | Yes | Not stated | Yes | No | Not stated | Yes | Not stated | Not stated | Yes |
| Price, one Mac | $14.99 once, or $9.99 a year | Free, built into macOS | $11.99 once | From $3.33 a month; $39.99 a year (App Store) | Not on its site | Free | $49 once | $19 once, or $3 a month | $15 once (to $29 on 9 Nov), or $9 a year |
| Needs | macOS 15+, Apple silicon | Every Mac | macOS 13.5+ | macOS 11+ | Apple silicon and Intel | macOS 12+ | macOS 15+ | macOS 14.6+, Apple silicon | macOS 15+, Apple silicon and Intel |

## Where others are ahead

- Fan control: Vitals and iStat Menus (Stats in part).
- Intel Macs: Vitals, Sensei, NotchNook Classic and Activity Monitor. iSurge needs Apple silicon.
- Older macOS: CleanMyMac (11 or later), Stats (12 or later) and iStat Menus (13.5 or later). iSurge needs macOS 15 or later.
- Free: Stats (open source) and Activity Monitor (built into every Mac).
- Their own extras: an equalizer in SoundSource, a file tray in NotchNook’s notch, and CSV export, an MCP server and a command line in Vitals.

## Questions

**Can I use iSurge with these apps?**

Yes. iSurge doesn’t get in their way, though two monitors will show your stats twice.

**Does iSurge replace Activity Monitor?**

For most people, yes: it adds each app’s processes up into one row. Activity Monitor stays on your Mac for the rare times you need one process.

**Does iSurge run on Intel Macs?**

No: iSurge needs Apple silicon (M1 or later) and macOS 15 or later.

**Can I try iSurge first?**

Yes: every feature, free for 3 days, no card. And 14 days to get your money back.

How we compared: each app’s features and prices are from its own site: Vitals (https://www.vitalsmac.com), iStat Menus (https://bjango.com/mac/istatmenus/), CleanMyMac (https://macpaw.com/cleanmymac), Sensei (https://cindori.com/sensei), Stats (https://github.com/exelban/stats), SoundSource (https://rogueamoeba.com/soundsource/), NotchNook (https://lo.cafe/notchnook), Activity Monitor (https://support.apple.com/guide/activity-monitor/welcome/mac). iSurge isn’t affiliated with any of them.