Compare

Menu bar managers, compared

Ways to hide menu bar icons on a Mac, side by side: macOS 27’s own settings, six menu bar managers and Drop Down. They differ most in where a hidden icon goes: off the menu bar, back into it when you ask, into a second bar, or into a panel like Drop Down’s.

Every other app’s column comes from its maker’s own pages, as each described it on October 1, 2026; the sources are at the end. A dash means no. “Not stated”, in italics, means the maker’s pages do not say, which is not the same as no. Pro marks what needs Drop Down Pro; the rest of Drop Down’s column is Basic, which is free.

Where hidden icons go and how you reach them

What happens to an icon once it is hidden, and how you get to it again. On macOS 27 the system hides menu bar icons app by app, and several makers below say so on their pages.

The table scrolls inside its frame, sideways and down; the app names and the features stay in view.

Where hidden icons go and how you reach them
Feature	Drop Down Free, with Pro	macOS 27 Built in	Bartender 7 Paid	Tuck Free, with Pro	Vanilla Free, with Pro	Thaw Free, open source	Ice Free, open source	Hidden Bar Free, open source
How you choose what hides	App by app, in the setup or Settings, or with the panel’s + button	App by app in System Settings › Menu Bar; ⌘-drag an icon off the bar	Hide and group items; a Focus Mode hotkey hides them all	⌘-drag icons left of Tuck, or set each one to stay shown, stay hidden or follow the toggle	Older help pages: ⌘-drag Vanilla’s dots to mark the hidden part of the bar	Visible, Hidden and Always Hidden sections, set in a layout editor or by ⌘-dragging	Visible, Hidden and Always Hidden sections, set by drag and drop	⌘-drag icons to the left of its arrow (a separator before macOS 27); on macOS 27, app by app
Where hidden icons go	A glass panel under the chevron, in an automatic grid Pro Fixed grids, pages, icon sizes, a list	Off the bar; items that do not fit go behind an overflow indicator	Back in place, or the Bartender Bar, a second bar for hidden items	Back in place (Push Mode), or the Shelf, a panel below the menu bar	Back in place in the menu bar	Back in place, or the Thaw Bar below the menu bar: a row, a column or a grid	Back in place, or the Ice Bar below the menu bar	Back in place in the menu bar
How you open them	Click the chevron or press ⌃⌥⌘D; click an icon for its menu	Select the app again in Settings; press the overflow indicator for what did not fit	Swipe, scroll, click or hover; the Bartender Bar also by hotkey, even at the pointer	Click Tuck or press ⌘⇧B	Older help pages: click Vanilla’s arrows	Hover, click, scroll, swipe or a hotkey	Hover, click empty bar space, scroll or swipe	Click the arrow, or a shortcut
Real icons or app icons	Real icons with Screen Recording (optional); app icons without	Not stated	Real item images with Screen Recording (optional); app icons without	The real images with Screen Recording; app icons without	Older help pages: the real icons, in place	Live captures with Screen Recording; app icons without, in the 2.1 and Thaw 3 pre-releases	Not stated; a limited mode works without Screen Recording	The real icons, in place
Search	Type to jump to the first match Pro Type to filter	Not stated	Quick Search and the Command Bar	Not stated	Not stated	Yes, with a hotkey	Yes, with a hotkey	Not stated
Order	Alphabetical or menu bar order Pro Your own order	⌘-drag icons in the bar	Reorder and space items; the order can hold across restarts	A custom order in the Shelf, with Pro	Not stated	Layout editor and spacing per display	Drag-and-drop layout	⌘-drag icons yourself
Keyboard	⌃⌥⌘D opens the panel; ⌃⌥⌘H shows every icon Pro Your own panel shortcut	Control-F8 moves focus to the status menus; none listed for hidden icons	Custom hotkeys, including the Command Bar and the Bartender Bar	⌘⇧B; custom shortcuts not stated	A toggle shortcut, with Pro	Hotkeys for sections, search, the Thaw Bar and profiles	Hotkeys for sections, search and the Ice Bar	One expand and collapse shortcut
Automatic rules	New apps can go straight to the panel; optionally, hiding pauses while the mic or a camera is on	Only for some of Apple’s own controls	Automation on battery, Wi-Fi, mic, location, time, a schedule or a script	With Pro: auto-hide, hover reveal and per-app rules	With Pro: hides again after a delay you set	Hides again automatically; profiles switch by display or Focus; item triggers in pre-release	Hides again automatically	Collapses again after a delay
The notch	The chevron starts beside the system’s items; if the notch covers it, ⌃⌥⌘D opens the panel at the pointer	Items that do not fit go behind the overflow indicator	Hides what the notch would cover; a click or hotkey brings it back	Suggests the Shelf during setup on macOS 27	Works on notched Macs; moving icons out from behind the notch is not stated	Moves items the notch would hide into the Thaw Bar	The Ice Bar shows hidden items below the notch	Not stated
Show all hidden icons	⌃⌥⌘H puts every icon back in the menu bar; so do quitting and a crash	None documented; select each app again	Swipe, scroll, click or hover in the menu bar	A second click in Push Mode shows everything	Toggle them; Completely Removed icons show only in its settings	Hover, click, scroll or swipe for the Hidden section; a hotkey per section	Hover, click, scroll or swipe for the Hidden section; a hotkey per section	Click its arrow; ⌥-click it for the always-hidden area
Beyond hiding	Nothing else; hiding is its one job	Control Center controls in the menu bar; background and glass tint	Menu bar styles, widgets, profiles; Top Shelf with Bartender Pro or Mega Supporter	With Pro: Shelf colors and grayscale icons	Hides desktop icons too	Menu bar tint, shapes and glass; profiles	Menu bar tint, shadow, border and shapes	Not stated

Price, license, requirements

What each costs, what it needs and where it comes from. Other apps’ prices are their makers’ own, in US dollars, as published; Drop Down’s are the ones in its pricing section.

The table scrolls inside its frame, sideways and down; the app names and the features stay in view.

Price, license, requirements
Feature	Drop Down Free, with Pro	macOS 27 Built in	Bartender 7 Paid	Tuck Free, with Pro	Vanilla Free, with Pro	Thaw Free, open source	Ice Free, open source	Hidden Bar Free, open source
Price	Basic free Pro $3.99 once during Early Access ($6.99 from 1.0) Supporter $19.99 once	Built into macOS	$24.99 once Bartender Pro $19.99 a year Mega Supporter, paid once, includes Pro	Free Pro $14.99 once	Free Pro $10 once	Free	Free	Free
Try it first	Basic is free with no time limit and no account	Built in	A free trial, four weeks for new users; Pro has its own 14-day trial	Free tier with no time limit; 30-day money-back guarantee on Pro	Free version; 30-day money-back guarantee on Pro	Free	Free	Free
Subscription	No	None; part of macOS	Bartender Pro only, yearly	No	No	No	No	No
Macs	Pro: up to 3 Macs; Supporter: up to 6	Any Mac that runs macOS 27	All your Macs	Pro: up to 3 Macs	Pro: up to 10 activations	Any (free)	Any (free)	Any (free)
Requires	Apple silicon, macOS 27 or later; runs from the Applications folder	A Mac with Apple silicon	macOS 27; Bartender 6 for Tahoe and Sequoia	macOS 14 or later	Not stated for Vanilla 3; 2.1 needed macOS 12	macOS 26 or later; Thaw 3 needs macOS 27	macOS 14 or later	macOS 13 or later
macOS 27	Yes, built for it	Yes	Yes, built for it	Yes	Yes, Vanilla 3	In pre-release (Thaw 3)	Not stated; a contributor’s fix is unmerged	The direct download, v1.11.1; not the App Store build
macOS 26 Tahoe	No	The same settings, without the overflow indicator	Bartender 6, same license	Yes	Vanilla 2.2	Yes, the stable release	In pre-release only	Yes, macOS 13 or later
Get it from	This site; updates through Sparkle	Software Update	Its own site; Setapp (version not stated)	Its own site, or Homebrew	Its own site	GitHub, or Homebrew	GitHub, or Homebrew	GitHub or Homebrew; an older build on the App Store
Open source	No	Some components	No source published	No	Not stated	Yes, GPL-3.0	Yes, GPL-3.0	Yes, MIT
Account	None; Pro takes a license key	Not stated	Not stated	Not stated; Pro’s license is checked online	None mentioned; Pro takes an activation code	None	Not stated	Not stated
Telemetry	None; goes online for updates and, with a key, license checks; the update server counts checks	Mac Analytics, only with your consent	No general statement; screen captures stay on the Mac	None; goes online for license and update checks	Older help pages: goes online only for updates and Pro codes	None	Not stated	Not stated; App Store label: Data Not Collected
Latest release	0.9.1 (Oct 1, 2026)	27.0.1	7.0.4	1.1.4 (Sep 30, 2026)	Vanilla 3	2.0.1 (Sep 2, 2026)	0.11.12 (Oct 29, 2024)	v1.11.1 (Sep 18, 2026)

About each app

macOS 27
Built in · by Apple
Already on your Mac, with nothing to install. It removes icons rather than keeping them close: an app you deselect is gone from the menu bar until you select it again, and the overflow indicator collects what does not fit, not what you choose. If you want fewer icons and rarely need the rest, it may be all you need.
Bartender 7
Paid · by Applause Group
Does much more than hide icons: automation, profiles, widgets, menu bar styling and keyboard control are all in the released app. Bartender 7 is built for macOS 27, and the same license covers Bartender 6 for Tahoe and Sequoia. It is paid once, with Bartender Pro as an optional yearly subscription; Mega Supporter includes Pro for a one-time price.
Tuck
Free, with Pro · by Quartz
Like Drop Down, it has a free tier, a one-time Pro, a panel for hidden icons and no telemetry. It also runs on macOS 14, 15 and 26, which Drop Down does not, and its Pro has per-app rules, which Drop Down does not.
Vanilla
Free, with Pro · by Matthew Palmer
Minimal, with release notes that go back to macOS Catalina, and it hides desktop icons too. Hidden icons come back into the menu bar rather than into a panel. Its help pages do not say which version they describe (they name macOS Catalina to Monterey), so the cells taken from them say “Older help pages”; the notes for Vanilla 3 do not say whether it needs a new Pro purchase.
Thaw
Free, open source · by thaw-app
Free and open source, under active development, with a long feature list and a grid layout for its Thaw Bar. On macOS 27 it is a pre-release, and some features its README lists are not in the stable release yet.
Ice
Free, open source · by Jordan Baird
Free and open source, with the Ice Bar, search and menu bar styling. Its last stable release dates from October 2024, Tahoe support exists as a pre-release, and its maker has published no release for macOS 27; a contributor’s change for it is an open pull request.
Hidden Bar
Free, open source · by Dwarves Foundation
Free and open source, and updated in 2026: v1.11.1 brought hiding back on macOS 27. It does one thing, in place: the icons slide back into the menu bar when you click its arrow.

Also checked

Four more we read, without a column:

Pelmet: free and open source (GPL-3.0) and made for macOS 27 only; hidden icons come back in place, with Visible, Hidden and Always Hidden sections, a layout editor, and stand-in items for Apple features that disappear while icons are hidden.
Lounge: a yearly subscription with a free trial; a panel that opens near the notch shows hidden and visible icons beside a clipboard history. Its changelog lists macOS 27 support since 1.1.4. It collects anonymous usage statistics, which its settings can turn off.
Barbee: on the Mac App Store, free with in-app purchases; it hides and groups icons, with automation, shortcuts and spacing. Its release notes do not name macOS 27; version 5.0 mentions compatibility with the latest macOS.
SaneBar: free and MIT-licensed since mid-2026 and now described as community-maintained; its maker’s own announcement says macOS 27’s rebuilt menu bar breaks it, and it has no macOS 27 release.

Questions

Is Drop Down an alternative to Bartender?

For hiding icons on macOS 27, yes. Both keep the icons you hide a click away: Bartender back in the menu bar or in its Bartender Bar, Drop Down in a glass panel under one chevron. Bartender does much more besides: automation on battery, Wi-Fi or a schedule, profiles, menu bar styles and widgets, and Top Shelf with Bartender Pro. Drop Down does one job, and Basic does it for free. Run one manager at a time: Drop Down recognises Bartender and pauses its own hiding while Bartender runs.

Can I run Drop Down beside another menu bar manager?

Not at the same time. When two managers hide icons, macOS combines what each of them leaves visible, so they undo each other. Of the apps on this page, Drop Down recognises Bartender, Thaw, Ice, Hidden Bar and Barbee: while one of them runs, it pauses its own hiding, tells you which app it is, and picks up again when you quit that app. The others here (Tuck, Vanilla, Pelmet, Lounge and SaneBar) are not on its list, so quit those yourself before you hide icons with Drop Down.

What does macOS 27 do on its own?

In System Settings › Menu Bar you choose, app by app, which apps may show an item in the menu bar. One you deselect leaves the bar, and comes back only when you select it again. When the bar runs out of room, macOS 27 hides what does not fit behind a small overflow indicator; Apple does not say you can choose which icons go there. Apple documents no panel, search or keyboard shortcut for hidden icons.

Does Drop Down need a subscription?

No. Basic is free, with no time limit and no account. Pro is a one-time purchase, updates included: $3.99 during Early Access, $6.99 from 1.0, and Pro bought during Early Access stays Pro at 1.0 and after. The pricing section has the details. Bartender 7 itself is paid once, and Bartender Pro is sold by the year or included in the one-time Mega Supporter; of the four more we read, Lounge is a yearly subscription and Barbee offers a yearly plan or a one-time purchase.

What if I used Ice or Hidden Bar before macOS 27?

Ice’s maker has published no release for macOS 27: the last stable release is from October 2024, and a contributor’s change to bring hiding back on macOS 27 is an open pull request. Hidden Bar’s direct download, v1.11.1, hides icons on macOS 27, app by app; its older App Store build does not. Thaw, a free and open-source manager, supports macOS 27 in its Thaw 3 pre-releases. Drop Down is made for macOS 27 only.

Sources

Each column, the pages it was read from on October 1, 2026.

Names are their owners’ trademarks; Drop Down is not affiliated with any of these apps or their makers. Spotted something out of date? Write to hello@getdropdown.app with a link to the maker’s page, and it is corrected.

Try it on your own menu bar.

No account needed. Requires a Mac with Apple silicon and macOS 27 or later.

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Basic is free · Pro $3.99 during Early Access