What is ClaudeUsageBar?

ClaudeUsageBar is a free, open-source macOS menu bar app that displays your Claude AI usage percentage at a glance. It lives quietly in your menu bar, showing how much of your session and weekly limits you've consumed. When you click the icon, you see a clean breakdown of usage percentages and exact reset times. The app fetches data directly from Anthropic's API using your session cookie, which stays stored locally on your machine and is never sent anywhere else. Built natively for macOS 12+, it weighs under 5MB and uses minimal CPU and memory.

Who it's for

• Claude power users who rely on the AI throughout the day and need to avoid hitting rate limits mid-task
• Freelancers and developers using Claude Code or Claude Pro who want to plan their work around available capacity
• Privacy-conscious users who want a lightweight, open-source tool that collects no analytics and keeps all data on-device

Key features

Menu Bar Native

The app lives quietly in your menu bar. One click shows your current usage for both the 5-hour session and the 7-day weekly window. You can also use the Cmd+U keyboard shortcut to open the popup from anywhere — though this requires granting Accessibility permissions.

Smart Notifications

You get notified when you're approaching your limit at 25%, 50%, 75%, and 90% usage thresholds. This means you never have to guess how close you are to being cut off during a critical workflow.

Reset Countdown

Always know exactly when your usage resets. The app displays the remaining time for both the session window and the weekly window, so you can plan your work around your available capacity.

Privacy First

No data collection, no analytics, no telemetry. Your session cookie and usage data never leave your computer. The app is fully open source, so you can inspect every line of code.

What stands out

"Your usage data stays on your machine – always."

This is the core promise that sets ClaudeUsageBar apart from any cloud-based tracking alternative. While other tools might send your usage data to a remote server for analysis or syncing, ClaudeUsageBar keeps everything local. Your session cookie is stored on your machine and is never sent anywhere else. Combined with the fact that the app is fully open source and free forever, it offers a level of transparency and control that's rare in the AI tooling space.

Worth checking out if…

You use Claude or Claude Code regularly and want a lightweight, native macOS app to track your usage without sacrificing privacy. It's especially useful if you've ever been surprised by a rate limit in the middle of a task, or if you want to plan your work around your available capacity. The app works with both Free and Pro plans, and Pro users will also see their weekly Sonnet usage if available.