SketchyBar
Ranked 4 of 4 menu bar managers by recommenders
Free macOS menu bar replacement that people pair with tiling window managers for a near-desktop setup, though some find it hacky and hard to enjoy.
Free macOS menu bar replacement that people pair with tiling window managers for a near-desktop setup, though some find it hacky and hard to enjoy.
6 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 5
- criticize it
- 1
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 3 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 5 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 5 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 3 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Constantly tweaked, highly customizable setup
“I have a SketchyBar setup that I'm constantly updating.”
Comment from 7 Aug 2026 in “Taste Is All That's Left” Pairs with tiling window managers
“with aerospace and sketchybar make it almost the same as my desktop pc”
Comment from 11 Mar 2026 in “MacBook Neo Review: No Other Budget Laptop Can Compete” “You can install some hacky WM and sketchybar but system settings”
Comment from 26 Apr 2026 in “Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0” Skillful, ergonomic functionality
“either sketchybar or zebar and have all this functionality executed even more skillfully and ergonomically”
Comment from 12 Apr 2026 in “Show HN: boringBar – a taskbar-style dock replacement for macOS”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Hard to enjoy using
“I tried using Sketchybar but couldn't bring myself to enjoy it”
Comment from 21 Nov 2025 in “macOS menu bar replacement, with yabai and AeroSpace support” Relies on hacky workarounds
“You can install some hacky WM and sketchybar but system settings”
Comment from 26 Apr 2026 in “Asahi Linux Progress Linux 7.0”
Other menu bar managers people recommend
The three most recommended other menu bar managers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ice menu bar manager for macOS | 13 | 11 | 54% | 5 | — | — |
| Bartender for macOS | 7 | 14 | 33% | 3 | — | — |
| Thaw | 6 | 1 | 86% | 3 | — | — |
| SketchyBarThis page | 5 | 1 | 83% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
5 of the 6 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“I have a SketchyBar setup that I'm constantly updating.”
“You can install some hacky WM and sketchybar but system settings”
“either sketchybar or zebar and have all this functionality executed even more skillfully and ergonomically”
“with aerospace and sketchybar make it almost the same as my desktop pc”
“I tried using Sketchybar but couldn't bring myself to enjoy it”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.