Quotum and CodexBar, compared honestly
CodexBar is the best-known menu bar app for AI coding limits: free, open source, and it tracks far more tools than Quotum. If what you need is to see as many providers as possible at no cost, it is the right choice. Quotum is for a narrower job: knowing which of your Claude and Codex accounts can still take the work, and opening that account in one gesture.
CodexBar checked on (README and changelog of version 0.71.0), and on for the points marked with a date. We did not test every CodexBar feature; what is below is what its documentation announces. CodexBar changes often: its repository is the reference.
What CodexBar does best
- It is free and open source, under the MIT license, installed with
brew install --cask codexbar. - It covers 89 providers, according to its changelog for version 0.71.0, released on October 2, 2026.
- It runs on macOS 14 or later, and also as a Linux desktop app, with a
codexbarcommand-line tool. - It keeps more than the present: a quota burndown from recorded snapshots, cost scans for Codex and Claude, widgets, and, since 0.71.0, iCloud sync and reset notifications.
- It can switch Codex's active account, by replacing Codex's
auth.json(as of September 29, 2026).
What Quotum adds
- Measurement and action on the same account. On a Claude or Codex account, Quotum opens that account's own copy of the desktop app, opens claude.ai or chatgpt.com in its Chrome profile, and pins a terminal to it. CodexBar's documentation does not announce these.
- Codex resets spent at the right moment. CodexBar shows the resets available and does not spend them (September 29, 2026). Quotum can spend one, by hand after a second confirmation, or automatically if you turn that on — only once the server has observed the quota exhausted, on a measurement at most ten minutes old.
- Nothing tracked until you choose. No tool is tracked at installation; CodexBar enables Codex by default (September 29, 2026).
- Other tools' credentials left as they are. Quotum reads the sign-ins other tools keep and writes none of them — which is also why it does not switch a tool's active account.
- Warp without an API key. Quotum reads Warp's sign-in from the Keychain; CodexBar asks for an API key (September 29, 2026).
- The age of every figure, to the right of each account — CodexBar shows it too; Quotum also folds an account whose week is used up under “Recharging”, with the time it comes back.
Quotum reads nine tools: Claude, Codex, Devin Desktop (formerly Windsurf), Cursor, Warp, Codebuff, Augment, opencode and Grok. Claude, Codex, Windsurf and Cursor can hold several accounts each.
Free trial for fourteen days, on the first two lines of the panel. Launch price: €4.99, then €9.99.
Side by side
| Criterion | Quotum | CodexBar |
|---|---|---|
| Price | €4.99 once (launch price), then €9.99 | Free |
| Source code | Not published | Open, MIT |
| Requires | macOS 26 or later | macOS 14 or later; also Linux |
| Tools tracked | 9 | 89 |
| Opens an account's app, profile, terminal | Yes, for Claude and Codex | Not announced |
| Switches a tool's active account | No | Yes, for Codex |
| Codex resets | Shown and spent on request; automatic mode off by default | Shown, not spent |
| History, costs, widgets | No | Yes |
When to pick which
- Pick CodexBar if you want it free, want to read the code, track more than these nine tools, run macOS 14 or 15, or want history, costs and widgets.
- Pick Quotum if you juggle several Claude or Codex accounts and want to open the right one — app, browser profile, terminal — from the line that tells you it has room, with Codex resets spent only when the quota is really gone.
Four more trackers — SessionWatcher, OpenUsage, Cockpit Tools and Claude Usage Tracker — are compared criterion by criterion on Claude and Codex usage trackers for Mac, compared. All names belong to their owners; Quotum is not affiliated with CodexBar.
Sources
- CodexBar, README (October 2, 2026):
github.com/steipete/CodexBar - CodexBar, CHANGELOG.md, version 0.71.0 (October 2, 2026):
github.com/steipete/CodexBar/blob/HEAD/CHANGELOG.md - CodexBar, docs/codex.md (September 29, 2026):
github.com/steipete/CodexBar/blob/HEAD/docs/codex.md - CodexBar, docs/warp.md (September 29, 2026):
github.com/steipete/CodexBar/blob/HEAD/docs/warp.md - CodexBar, Codex settings in the code (September 29, 2026):
CodexProviderDescriptor.swift - Quotum, What Quotum reads on your Mac:
quotum.app/what-quotum-reads
FAQ
What is CodexBar?
A free, open-source menu bar app, under the MIT license, that shows the usage limits of AI coding tools and when each window resets. Its changelog for version 0.71.0, released on October 2, 2026, counts 89 providers.
Is there a CodexBar alternative?
Several. Quotum is one, for Macs on macOS 26: it tracks nine tools, and on a Claude or Codex account it opens the right desktop app, Chrome profile or terminal. Others are compared on our usage trackers page.
How do I install CodexBar?
Its README gives brew install --cask codexbar. It requires macOS 14 or later.
Does Quotum do everything CodexBar does?
No. It tracks nine tools against 89, keeps no history, costs or widgets, does not run on Linux and does not switch a tool's active account. What it adds is acting on the account it has just measured.