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Dev tools · alternatives · 2026

DA

24 alternatives to Dumbar, a not so smart menubar app

I created this to fill a need, accessing those silly LLMs from the menu bar instead of a web browser or command line. It relies 100% on Ollama, but gives you an easy way to make queries against multiple models, and provides a few sample modelfiles for you. open source, of course. https://github.com/JerrySievert/Dumbar to skip the blog post and go straight to the code and release.

Dumbar is a macOS menu bar application that provides quick access to large language models running through Ollama, eliminating the need to use a web browser or command line. It allows users to query multiple models… Below are 24 products that do a similar job, ranked by how close each is in meaning and then by launch-day votes. Dumbar, a not so smart menubar app launched in 2023; newer entries below may have overtaken it.

  1. 1
    ModelHub▲317

    The missing menu bar app for local LLMs on Mac.

    May 2026 · studio.consciousengines.com · its alternatives →

  2. 2SO

    Give every Mac app an Agent Sidebar

    Sep 2026 · sider.ai · its alternatives →

  3. 3

    A curated directory of 200+ Mac menu bar apps

    2019 · macmenubar.com · its alternatives →

  4. 4
    Superbar▲191

    Supercharge your Mac menubar

    2019 · superbar.app · its alternatives →

  5. 5
    Lacona▲645

    Fast, simple, powerful keyboard-driven commands for Mac

    2016 · lacona.io · its alternatives →

  6. 6

    Hi HN! We're Gabriel & Viraj, and we're excited to open source TensorZero. To be a little cheeky, TensorZero is an open-source platform that helps LLM applications graduate from API wrappers into defensible AI products. 1. Integrate our model gateway 2. Send metrics or feedback 3. Unlock compounding improvements in quality, cost, and latency It enables a data & learning flywheel for LLMs by unifying: • Inference: one API for all LLMs, with <1ms P99 overhead • Observability: inference & feedback → your database • Optimization: better prompts, models, inference strategies • Experimentation:…

    2025 · github.com · its alternatives →

  7. 7

    Hi HN A few folks and I have been working on this project for a couple weeks now. After previously working on the Docker project for a number of years (both on the container runtime and image registry side), the recent rise in open source language models made us think something similar needed to exist for large language models too. While not exactly the same as running linux containers, running LLMs shares quite a few of the same challenges. There are "base layers" (e.g. models like Llama 2), specific configuration to run correctly (parameters, temperature, context window sizes etc). There's…

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

  8. 8
    ExtraBar▲152

    Hey Hacker News The ones that know me here know that I am a productivity geek. After DockFlow to manage my Dock and ExtraDock, which gives me more space to manage my apps and files, I decided to tackle the macOS big boss: the menu bar. I spend ~40% of my day context-switching between apps — Zoom meetings, Slack channels, Code projects, and Figma designs. My macOS menu bar has too many useless icons I almost never use. So I thought to myself, how can I use this area to improve my workflows? Most solutions (Bartender, Ice) require screen recording permissions, and did not really solve my…

    Dec 2025 · extrabar.app · its alternatives →

  9. 9

    Hi HN! I recently switched from a Fedora&#x2F;GNOME laptop to a MacBook Air. My old setup served me well as a portable workstation, but I’ve started traveling more while working remotely and needed something with similar performance but better battery life. The main thing I missed was a simple taskbar that shows the windows in the current workspace instead of a Dock that mixes everything together. I built boringBar so I would not have to use the Dock. It shows only the windows in the current Space, lets you switch Spaces by scrolling on the bar, and adds a desktop switcher so you can jump…

    Apr 2026 · boringbar.app · its alternatives →

  10. 10
    MenubarX▲474

    A powerful menu bar browser. Pin websites like Native Apps.

    2022 · menubarx.app · its alternatives →

  11. 11

    Getbitbar.com x M77CASINO membahas cerita di balik data dan tren angka: bagaimana catatan historis, perubahan pola, dan konteks membantu pembaca memahami informasi secara lebih terstruktur tanpa menjanjikan hasil tertentu.

    2016 · getbitbar.com · its alternatives →

  12. 12

    I've been playing around with https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;zphang&#x2F;minimal-llama&#x2F; and https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;tloen&#x2F;alpaca-lora&#x2F;blob&#x2F;main&#x2F;finetune.py, and wanted to create a simple UI where you can just paste text, tweak the parameters, and finetune the model quickly using a modern GPU. To prepare the data, simply separate your text with two blank lines. There's an inference tab, so you can test how the tuned model behaves. This is my first foray into the world of LLM finetuning, Python, Torch, Transformers, LoRA, PEFT, and Gradio. Enjoy!

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

  13. 13
    1Setter▲108

    Hi HN, I’m an indie developer and I recently built 1Setter, a macOS menu bar app that lets you quickly access and apply common system settings with a single click. It supports individual actions as well as grouped actions, so you can trigger multiple settings in one step if needed. The motivation came from the friction of scattered macOS settings: some are buried in System Settings, some require multiple steps, and existing menu bar tools often felt too limited or opinionated. I wanted something lightweight, predictable, and fast. Under the hood, the app uses official system frameworks where…

    Jan 2026 · 1setter.app · its alternatives →

  14. 14

    The most powerful URL shortener for macOS

    2017 · shortmenu.com · its alternatives →

  15. 15

    Hi everyone! I'm Marius Hauken, an indie developer, and I'm excited to share my app: Pie Menu. It offers a fresh way to access your favorite menu bar commands and keyboard shortcuts on macOS. By simply pressing a hotkey you choose during setup, a radial menu appears around your cursor, customized to the current active application. This allows you to quickly select commands without having to remember complex shortcuts across different applications. Pie Menu comes with a library of preprogrammed commands for popular apps, but you can easily add any app on your computer. We've also created an…

    2024 · pie-menu.com · its alternatives →

  16. 16
    eqMac▲92

    A free menubar equalizer for macOS

    2017 · eqmac.app · its alternatives →

  17. 17

    Log your tasks openly, faster than ever before! 🔥🚢

    2018 · ambitiousfounder.com · its alternatives →

  18. 18

    All your best prompts. One shortcut away.

    Feb 2026 · prompt-library.app · its alternatives →

  19. 19

    The workflow enhancing Finder extension for Mac

    2018 · fiplab.com · its alternatives →

  20. 20
    Ollamac▲205

    A macOS app for interacting with the Ollama models

    2023 · github.com · its alternatives →

  21. 21

    This lets you talk to local LLMs in Apple Notes. I saw Obsidian Ollama (https:&#x2F;&#x2F;github.com&#x2F;hinterdupfinger&#x2F;obsidian-ollama) and thought it was handy, but I'm too lazy to migrate away from the Apple ecosystem, so I quickly hacked this together. I tend to use Notes as a scratchpad for prompts, so it's nice to do some quick inference without leaving the app. Notes doesn't really support plugins so I'm using the macOS accessibility API for reading selections and then stream responses using the clipboard (not ideal but it works).

    2024 · smallest.app · its alternatives →

  22. 22MG

    Hello HN, I've been working on this project for a while, and it has been in an "open" beta for some time. I finally believe it's ready for its first release. I hope you like it. Here are some potential questions that may arise: 1. How does it compare to LM Studio? It's likely that if you're already using LM Studio, you'll continue to do so. This project is designed to be more user-friendly. 2. Is it open-source? No, it is not. 3. Does it use any open-source libraries? Yes, it uses llama.cpp and a few others, as indicated in the license information included with the application. 4. Why is not…

    2023 · avapls.com · its alternatives →

  23. 23
    Gutta▲142

    A tiny, offline task list for your Mac menu bar

    Aug 2026 · github.com · its alternatives →

  24. 24

    Mac menu bar app to help access your important files fast

    2019 · easyfinderapp.com · its alternatives →

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Ranked by how close each launch is in meaning, then by votes. Prices were read from each product’s own site when checked and can change. Refine with your own description →