PulseGet Pulse

System monitor for macOS

Find the app behind a CPU spike or growing memory use. Pulse groups its processes together and keeps a history you can come back to.

Get Pulse · $16Explore Pulse

$16, one-time. No subscription.

Memory by Type
App11.23 GB
Wired4.01 GB
Compressed4.81 GB
Cached6.1 GB
Free8.2 GB
Memory by App
Chrome6.84 GB
Claude3.89 GB
Figma2.51 GB
Discord1.4 GB
Other3.62 GB
Process footprints can share pages and do not sum to physical RAM used.
Power by App
Claude2,697 mW
Chrome745 mW
Figma430 mW
iTerm2317 mW
Other594 mW
Kernel CPU energy only; excludes GPU and other hardware. Calibration is unverified.
Pulse vs Activity Monitor

Activity Monitor lists processes.
Pulse shows you apps.

Browsers, chat apps and design tools each run a crowd of helper processes, and Activity Monitor gives every one its own row. Pulse adds each helper to the app it belongs to, so every app gets one row and one total.

771 processes56 apps

Chrome is spread across 22 of 771 rows.

Sum of footprints
19.62 GB

More than a process list.

TopicActivity MonitorPulse
The main listOne row per process, with filters and a parent/child view.One row per app, with its processes inside.
Per-app totalsAdd up the helpers yourself. The Energy tab groups apps for energy.CPU, memory, disk writes, downloads, GPU time and power, totaled for each app.
HistoryA CPU History window. Mac laptops add 12-hour energy averages.Up to 30 days on your Mac, with app rankings for CPU, memory, disk, network, GPU and power.
AlertsNone.Sustained CPU, growing memory, and heavy disk or network activity.
Menu barNone. Its Dock icon can show a live graph.Readouts and graphs in the menu bar, with a dropdown of app rankings.
Dev servers and portsPorts per process, in its Inspect window.Grouped by project folder, with listening ports and idle servers pointed out.
Quitting an appQuit or Force Quit the processes you select.Preview every process the quit affects. Protected and other users’ processes are blocked.
Docker containersProcesses only.CPU, memory, network and ports for each container.
Temperatures and fansNone.Temperature and fan speed readings where your Mac reports them.
Sound and BluetoothNone.Volume and mute for each app, and Bluetooth device batteries.
PriceIncluded with macOS.$16 one-time. No subscription.
History

See which apps were busy earlier.

Review up to 30 days of history stored on your Mac. App rankings show usage over time; alerts flag sustained CPU use, growing memory, and heavy disk or network activity.

Busiest apps · 24H

  1. 1Claude235.1%
  2. 2Chrome56.2%
  3. 3Figma37.1%
Projects and ports

See what’s using that port.

Match local servers to their project folders, processes and listening ports. When a server is still running after you’re done, review its processes and stop it from Pulse.

Projects
Projects & portsGrouped by repository root or working directory. Stop always previews the exact processes.
3000
204.8 MB
3 observed TCP connections
40009229
94.1 MB
Idle · low traffic and no TCP connections for at least 5 minutes7 min, 17 sec
5173
70.8 MB
Idle · low traffic and no TCP connections for at least 5 minutes21 min, 52 sec
8000
58.9 MB
Observing activity
1313
76.5 MB
Network activity unavailable · idle status unknown
66.3 MB
Connection visibility unavailable · idle status unknown
Also in Pulse

The small stuff, covered.

Sustained CPU usagenowHandBrake has sustained unusual resource use. Open Pulse to inspect before taking action.

Usage alerts

A notification when an app keeps the CPU busy, keeps growing in memory, or won’t let up on the disk or network.

  • IINA100%
  • Chrome40%
  • DiscordMuted

Volume for each app

Turn one app down or mute it, and leave everything else playing.

56 °CCPU
2,631Fan, RPM
75%Mac
  • Headphones64%
  • Trackpad82%
  • Keyboard18%

Temperature, fans and battery

CPU and GPU temperatures, fan speeds, and battery levels for your Mac and Bluetooth accessories.

Busiest app: Claude224.6%

Look back a month

Charts and app rankings from the last 12 hours to the last 30 days, saved locally on your Mac.

  • Google Chrome414
  • Google Chrome Helper (Renderer)427
  • +20 more

Quit with a preview

See every process a quit will close before you confirm. Protected system processes stay running.

  • Temperature56 °C
  • Download56 KB/s
  • Chrome CPU62.1%

Your units

Celsius or Fahrenheit, bytes or bits, and app CPU per core or for the whole Mac.

Pulse app icon

Get Pulse for your Mac.

App usage, local history and project monitoring in one native Mac app. One purchase, no subscription.

$16one-time
  • CPU, memory, GPU, disk, network, battery and sensors
  • App totals with individual process details
  • Menu bar readouts, graphs and app rankings
  • Up to 30 days of local history and usage alerts
  • Projects, listening ports and containers
  • Sound controls and Bluetooth device status
Get Pulse · $16

Requires a Mac with Apple silicon.