Looking for a Juicy alternative?
Updated 13 August 2026 · competitor facts checked on that date
Fair is fair: Juicy is one of the best-known battery apps for the Mac, and it's polished. Custom alerts at any percentage, battery health, a charge limit, iPhone and iPad health over USB, and — since June 2026 — energy use by app. If what you want is a battery companion with beautiful alerts, Juicy delivers, and this page won't pretend otherwise.
WattMate is built around a different question — the one you actually stare at when the battery melts on a train: which app do I quit, and what does that buy me?
The difference in one sentence
Both apps can show energy by app. Only WattMate names the price in minutes — "quit this, get about 12 minutes back" — and then, two minutes after you quit, re-measures the Mac and prints what actually happened. Not an estimate remembered kindly: a receipt. And when the effect can't be isolated honestly — other apps spiked, the load changed — it says exactly that instead of taking credit.
That receipt is the entire philosophy: a projection you can't check is just a vibe. Everything in WattMate is built to be checkable — real watts per app instead of scores, an overnight breakdown that names which service woke the Mac and for how long (read from the macOS power log), and history, so "it got worse after the update" is a comparison, not a memory.
Side by side
| Juicy | WattMate | |
|---|---|---|
| Energy use by app | Yes (since v1.5, June 2026) | Yes — in actual watts |
| Minutes back for quitting | No | Yes — named before, measured after |
| Verifies its own promise | No | Yes — the quit receipt |
| Overnight wake-ups, by name | No | Yes, from the macOS power log |
| Custom charge alerts at any % | Yes — its signature | No — notifications are about apps worth quitting |
| Charge limit | Yes (50–100%, default 80%) | No — macOS 26.4+ does it natively on Apple silicon |
| iPhone/iPad battery via USB | Yes | No — Mac only |
| Battery health | Yes | Yes, free |
| Price (Aug 2026) | $14.99 one-time + 1 yr updates (renew $9.99/yr) or $24.99 lifetime · 3-day trial | $9.99/yr or $29 forever · 10-day trial, no card |
| Platform | macOS 15+, also in Mac App Store and Setapp | macOS 15+, Apple silicon, direct only |
One buying note if you do choose Juicy: as of August 2026 its Mac App Store build is sold separately (free download with a $9.99 lifetime unlock) and, by Juicy's own site, the sandboxed store build is more limited than the direct one. Check which build you're getting — their direct lifetime is $24.99.
Who should pick which
Pick Juicy if alerts are the point: you want the charger reminder at exactly 20%, styled well, plus a broad battery companion for all your devices.
Pick WattMate if the point is getting hours back on battery: you want the culprit named in watts, the payoff named in minutes, and the claim checked against reality afterwards. That last part currently exists nowhere else — including Juicy.
More comparisons: WattMate and AlDente · WattMate and coconutBattery
Get the receipt, not the vibe
10 days free, no card · Requires macOS 15 or later · Apple silicon