Looking for a TurtleBar alternative?
Updated 18 August 2026 · competitor facts checked on that date · disclosure: WattMate is our app, and for some jobs the honest pick isn't us — TurtleBar costs $4.99, runs on Intel, and was updated more recently than we were
Straight up: TurtleBar is a good $4.99. It puts the real time estimate in the menu bar — "3:47 PM" or "2h 34m" instead of a percentage you have to translate — and it flips macOS Low Power Mode for you automatically: at a charge threshold you set, or when an app you named opens. One payment, no subscription, and its update feed shows version 2.0.0 published on 16 August 2026. It is maintained, it is cheap, and if that is the shape of your problem, buy it.
WattMate answers a different question, and it costs six times more: which app is draining the battery right now, and what do I get back if I quit it?
Same word, two different things
Both products list apps, and it is easy to read that as the same feature. It isn't. TurtleBar's per-app rules are triggers: "Zoom is open, therefore turn Low Power Mode on". The app decides when to flip a switch that applies to the whole Mac. It does not measure how much Zoom is costing you, and it doesn't claim to — their own guide on per-app power sends you to Activity Monitor for that.
WattMate goes the other way. It reads the chip's energy counters and reports watts for each app, live, then converts that into the number you actually want: quit this and you get about 12 minutes back. Two minutes after you quit, it measures the Mac again and prints what really happened — including "we couldn't isolate it honestly" when other apps moved at the same time.
Neither approach is the better one in general. A switch for the whole machine is simple and works while you do nothing. A measurement per app is work you have to look at, and it pays off when one app is the reason and you want to know which.
Side by side
| TurtleBar | WattMate | |
|---|---|---|
| Time left, in the menu bar | Yes — its signature | Yes |
| Automatic Low Power Mode | Yes — by charge level or by app opening | No — we measure, we don't switch anything |
| Power per app, in watts | No — their guide points to Activity Monitor | Yes, live and in history |
| Minutes back for quitting an app | No | Yes — named first, then measured |
| Checks its own promise afterwards | No | Yes — the quit receipt |
| Overnight wake-ups, by name | No | Yes, from the macOS power log |
| Runs on Intel Macs | Yes — universal binary | No — Apple silicon only |
| Oldest macOS supported | macOS 14 per their site (their feed allows 13) | macOS 14 |
| Price (Aug 2026) | $4.99 one-time · no trial · 14-day refund | $9.99/yr or $29 forever · 10-day trial, no card |
One thing to know before buying either: TurtleBar has no trial. Their pricing block promises a "14-day money-back guarantee", while their FAQ narrows the same promise to the app failing to run — "If TurtleBar fails to run on your Mac within 14 days, email us". Worth an email to ask which one applies before you pay $4.99. We took the other route: 10 days free with no card, so nothing to ask for back.
Who should pick which
Pick TurtleBar if you want the honest time estimate where you can see it and a switch that flips itself, especially on an Intel Mac — where WattMate does not run at all — or if $4.99 versus $29 settles it. Those are real reasons and we are not going to argue you out of them.
Pick WattMate if Low Power Mode is not the answer you're looking for, because it slows the whole machine to save power you can't see. If the question is "which app is doing this to me, and is quitting it worth the interruption", you need a number per app — and then a check that the number was true.
More comparisons: WattMate and Juicy · WattMate and AlDente · WattMate and coconutBattery · all four jobs, side by side
See where the hours go
10 days free, no card · Requires macOS 14 or later · Apple silicon