The research shortlist
Page updated
battTop pick
Open-source charge limiting for Apple Silicon MacBooks
Metadata checked Aug 18, 2026
Highest-confidence overall pick: an established GPL-2.0 project with both GUI and CLI, explicit free status, recent public builds, broad firmware coverage, and the strongest maintenance and community signal among the qualifying options.
A native macOS menu-bar app and CLI that enforces upper and lower charge bounds, can switch off the adapter, handles sleep edge cases, controls MagSafe LEDs, and supports battery calibration.
- 01Upper and lower charge limits
- 02Native menu-bar app plus CLI
- 03Adapter cut-off and force discharge
- 04Sleep and pre-sleep charging protections
- 05MagSafe LED control
- 06Experimental automatic calibration
- Apple Silicon only; GUI and prebuilt support varies by firmware.
- Requires an admin-installed daemon and may require Gatekeeper approval for the unsigned build.
- macOS 26.4 and later has a native 80–100% limit, but batt remains useful below 80% and on older releases.
Evidence sources (10)
- batt official repositorySource available ·
- batt GPL-2.0 license fileLicense ·
- batt v0.8.0 releaseRelease ·
- batt public GUI and CLI downloadsFree at review time ·
- batt menu-bar screenshotScreenshots ·
- GitHub REST repository APISource available ·
- GitHub license metadataLicense ·
- Latest macOS release assetFree at review time ·
- screenshot asset fetched by the local materializerScreenshots ·
- screenshot asset fetched by the local materializerScreenshots ·
Stasis
Feature-rich open-source battery manager for Apple Silicon Macs
Metadata checked Aug 18, 2026
Best feature-parity pick: it covers more of AlDente Pro's distinctive functions than most free projects, while the active repository shows continued work after its latest tagged build.
Full review — capabilities, 3 caveats, evidence
A native menu-bar battery manager with hardware-level charge limits, sailing mode, plugged-in discharge, heat protection, MagSafe LED control, and live power and health metrics.
- 01Hardware-enforced charge limits through sleep
- 02Sailing mode to reduce micro-charging
- 03Automatic discharge while plugged in
- 04Heat protection
- 05Power dashboard with voltage, current, wattage, temperature, health, and cycle count
- 06MagSafe LED control
- Apple Silicon only and requires macOS 14.8 or newer.
- The latest tagged binary, v0.2.1, is marked pre-release.
- Direct source builds require macOS 15.7+ and Xcode with Swift 6+ support; distributed builds may need quarantine removal.
Evidence sources (7)
- Stasis official repositorySource available ·
- Stasis GPL-3.0 license fileLicense ·
- Stasis v0.2.1 public releaseRelease ·
- Stasis public ZIP downloadsFree at review time ·
- GitHub REST repository APISource available ·
- GitHub license metadataLicense ·
- GPL-3.0 terms grant running copies and prohibit imposing a license fee on granted rightsFree at review time ·
ChargeWatch
Open-source charge limiter with live Mac power monitoring
Metadata checked Aug 18, 2026
Best lightweight newer option: an explicitly free MIT app with public builds and a thoughtful stop-charging-without-discharge design, ranked below the more established alternatives because its project and community are smaller.
Full review — capabilities, 3 caveats, evidence
A SwiftUI menu-bar app that sets an Apple Silicon charge ceiling and monitors battery, system-load, and adapter wattage locally. At the limit it stops charging without intentionally discharging the battery.
- 01Configurable Apple Silicon charge ceiling, including below 80%
- 02Stops charging while keeping adapter power engaged
- 03Live battery, system-load, and wall-output wattage
- 04Hysteresis and optional seven-day full-charge calibration
- 05Local SQLite history with no network or tracking
- 06Fail-safe recovery on quit, crash, or read errors
- Charge limiting is Apple Silicon-only; Intel Macs get power monitoring only.
- Power monitoring requires macOS 13 or newer; the author reports testing the limiter on macOS 26.4 Tahoe with Apple Silicon.
- The ad-hoc signed app requires a one-time Gatekeeper override and administrator approval for its helper.
Evidence sources (8)
- ChargeWatch official repositorySource available ·
- ChargeWatch MIT license fileLicense ·
- ChargeWatch public releasesRelease ·
- ChargeWatch project iconScreenshots ·
- GitHub REST repository APISource available ·
- GitHub license metadataLicense ·
- Latest GitHub releaseRelease ·
- Latest macOS release assetFree at review time ·
Specifications, side by side
| Attribute | 1 · batt | 2 · Stasis | 3 · ChargeWatch |
|---|---|---|---|
| License | GPL-2.0-only | GPL-3.0-only | MIT |
| Platforms | macOS | macOS | macOS |
| Status | Checked | Checked | Checked |
| Version | v0.8.0 | — | v0.7.0 |
| Stars | 1.7k | 146 | 11 |
| Last push | |||
| Caveats | 3 | 3 | 3 |
About AlDente Pro
AlDente — Optimize battery charging on your MacBook. Keep your battery healthy and extend its lifespan.
Setapp listing: Set battery charging limits
