Stats alternative: Peekaboo vs Stats
By Vishva Variya · Updated
Stats is the free answer to iStat Menus: an MIT-licensed menu bar monitor with modules for CPU, GPU, memory, disk, network, battery, sensors and Bluetooth devices, updated as recently as November 1, 2026. If live numbers in the menu bar are all you need, it’s hard to argue with free. Peekaboo’s Mac Health sits in a paid file app and does something different with the same readings: it turns them into a verdict.
Looking for Stats itself? It’s at github.com.
- Stats price
- Free (MIT licence)
- Stats requires
- macOS 12 or later
- Peekaboo
- $24.99 one-time (launch price $9.99 until Nov 13), 14-day trial, macOS 14+
Stats figures from github.com/exelban/stats (README, LICENSE, releases), verified 2026-11-03.
Why pick Peekaboo over Stats?
A verdict, not just numbers
Peekaboo scores your Mac from 0 to 100 and names what costs points (low disk space, memory pressure, a busy processor, heat, a worn battery), each with a button to the fix.
A week of history
A reading every five minutes while Peekaboo runs, kept on your Mac for a week, so “it was slow on Tuesday” has something to check against.
Then act on the disk
When storage is the problem, Clean Up, Duplicates, Space Map and the App Uninstaller are right there, and every cleanup can be put back in one click.
Peekaboo vs Stats, job by job
| Job | Stats | Peekaboo |
|---|---|---|
| Menu bar readings | Stats: CPU, GPU, memory, disk, network, battery, sensors, Bluetooth, clock | Peekaboo: Optional: processor, memory pressure and network speed |
| Temperatures and fans | Stats: Sensor readings; fan control in unmaintained legacy mode | Peekaboo: Heat in plain words; no fan control |
| An overall verdict | Stats: Not offered | Peekaboo: 0–100 score, a reason per lost point, a button to the fix |
| History | Stats: Charts in each module | Peekaboo: A reading every five minutes, kept for a week |
| Freeing disk space | Stats: Outside its scope | Peekaboo: Clean Up, Duplicates, Space Map, App Uninstaller, all undoable |
| Price and macOS | Stats: Free, MIT; macOS 12 or later | Peekaboo: One-time per Mac after a 14-day trial; macOS 14 or later |
The honest verdict
For live numbers in the menu bar at no cost, Stats is the pick, and it shows more of them than Peekaboo does. Peekaboo is worth paying for when you want those numbers turned into a score with reasons, a week of history to look back on, and the tools to fix a full disk in the same app.
Stats vs Peekaboo: questions
Is Stats free?
- Yes. It’s open source under the MIT licence on GitHub, with an optional Sponsor link. It installs from the release DMG or with brew install stats.
Can Stats control my Mac’s fans?
- Its README lists fan control as a legacy mode that no longer receives updates or fixes, so treat it as unsupported.
Which macOS does Stats need?
- macOS 12 Monterey or newer, with macOS betas unsupported, per its README on November 3, 2026. Peekaboo needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later.