The short answer. This category is not really about clocks. It is about which fact about time you need to see without asking: Second Clock and UTC Time answer “what time is it elsewhere”, Week Number answers “which week is this”, Day Progress and 1440 Minutes Left Today answer “how much of today is left”, Today answers “what is on the calendar”, Pandan answers “where am I in the day”, and Cadran puts a clock on the wallpaper. Mysa is the one that does not fit the pattern: it is a breathing-break reminder with a frosted overlay, which is a pause rather than a clock. The dividing question is which of those questions you actually ask, because each app answers exactly one and the menu bar only has room for a couple.
This guide covers 9 menu bar clock apps for macOS. Every fact below is drawn from the same verified records that back each app’s own page. The recommendations are our editorial judgment, not payment.
Quick comparison
| App | What it is | Pricing | Licence | Version |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1440 Minutes Left Today | menu bar utility | Free | not published | — |
| Cadran | clock app | not published | not published | 1.3.12 |
| Day Progress | menu bar utility | Free | not published | 2.1.1 |
| mysa | system tool | Open source | MIT | 1.0 |
| Pandan | system tool | Free | not published | 1.18.1 |
| Second Clock | system tool | Free | not published | 1.2.0 |
| Today | system tool | Free | not published | 1.8.3 |
| UTC Time | system tool | Free | not published | 1.11.0 |
| Week Number | system tool | Free | not published | 1.3.0 |
What actually decides this
- Which time fact you need. A second time zone, a week number, a countdown and a calendar are four different pieces of information. The mistake is installing a clock because you want a countdown; the clock will be accurate and useless.
- Whether it is a number or a schedule. A countdown is a scalar you can read at a glance. A calendar is a list that needs a click. The first fits in a menu bar title; the second does not, which is why the calendar tools open a panel.
- How much space the title takes. The menu bar is finite and shared with everything else. A title that renders a full date plus a countdown will push other items off on a smaller display, and the trade-off is invisible until it happens.
- Whether it is for you or for a screenshot. A week number is genuinely useful if you work in weekly cycles and pure decoration otherwise. Several of these apps exist because a countdown looks productive in a screenshot of someone else’s desk.
- What happens at midnight. Anything counting down to the end of the day has to reset correctly, including across a time zone change and a daylight-saving boundary. This is the bug that makes a countdown untrustworthy exactly once a year.
Our picks
- Second Clock — Its record describes showing a second clock for a different time zone in the menu bar, which is the second-zone case. Choose it when you work with people in another time zone.
- UTC Time — Its record describes showing the time in UTC in the menu bar or a widget, which is the single-zone case. Choose it when the times you deal with are UTC and nothing else.
- Week Number — Its record describes the current week number in the menu bar, which is the week-cycling case. Choose it when your work is planned in weeks.
- Day Progress — Its record describes time remaining today in the menu bar, which is the countdown case. Choose it when you want to see how much of the day is gone.
- Today — Its record describes viewing today’s schedule and events from the menu bar, which is the schedule case. Choose it when the next calendar event is the thing you keep checking.
- Cadran — Its record describes clock faces rendered on the wallpaper and screensaver, which is the desktop case. Choose it when the clock belongs on the desktop rather than in the bar.
The apps
1440 Minutes Left Today
1440 Minutes Left Today is a menu bar utility for macOS. Show how many minutes are left in the day from your menu bar. It is free.
What it does. Keep a track of how many minutes you have left until the day is over, right in your Mac menu bar.
Full profile and verified facts for 1440 Minutes Left Today →
Cadran
Cadran is a clock app for macOS. Renders 22 customizable clock faces on your Mac desktop wallpaper and screensaver. Its pricing is not published.
What it does. Cadran is a clock wallpaper app for Mac that renders live clock faces behind your icons, across every Space and display. Screensaver mode included.
Cadran is listed with current version 1.3.12.
Full profile and verified facts for Cadran →
Day Progress
Day Progress is a menu bar utility for macOS. Time remaining today in your menu bar. It is free.
What it does. Time remaining today in your menu bar. Use this as a visual cue to stay motivated and manage time more efficiently.
Day Progress is listed with current version 2.1.1.
Full profile and verified facts for Day Progress →
mysa
mysa is a system tool for macOS. A macOS menu bar app for quick breathing breaks, with a frosted screen overlay and handwritten quotes. It is released under MIT.
mysa is listed with current version 1.0.
Full profile and verified facts for mysa →
Pandan
Pandan is a system tool for macOS. Time awareness in your menu bar. It is free.
What it does. Time awareness in your menu bar. Pandan shows how long you have been actively using your computer, so you know when it is time to take a break.
Pandan is listed with current version 1.18.1.
Full profile and verified facts for Pandan →
Second Clock
Second Clock is a system tool for macOS. Show a second clock for a different time zone in your menu bar. It is free.
What it does. Show a second clock for a different time zone in your menu bar. The app is simple by design.
Second Clock is listed with current version 1.2.0.
Full profile and verified facts for Second Clock →
Today
Today is a system tool for macOS. View today’s schedule and calendar events from the menu bar. It is free.
What it does. Today’s schedule in your menu bar. The perfect companion to the built-in Calendar app. Just the events for today. Click an event to show it in the Calendar….
Today is listed with current version 1.8.3.
Full profile and verified facts for Today →
UTC Time
UTC Time is a system tool for macOS. Show the time in UTC in the menu bar or a widget. It is free.
What it does. Show the time in UTC in the menu bar or a widget. This can be useful as a quick reference.
UTC Time is listed with current version 1.11.0.
Full profile and verified facts for UTC Time →
Week Number
Week Number is a system tool for macOS. The current week number in your menu bar. It is free.
What it does. The current week number in your menu bar, with a customizable prefix. You can also find the week number for a specific date and add a widget.
Week Number is listed with current version 1.3.0.
Full profile and verified facts for Week Number →
How to choose
- Free of charge. 1440 Minutes Left Today, Day Progress, Pandan, Second Clock, Today, UTC Time and Week Number — no payment is required.
- No licence fee, source available. mysa — the source can be read and, under the terms of each licence, reused.
- Pricing not published in our data. Cadran — check the developer’s own site before assuming anything about cost.
Open source: mysa (1 of 9).
Common mistakes
- Installing a clock to solve a countdown problem.
- Letting a countdown widget render a full date and pushing the battery indicator off screen.
- Assuming a time-zone tool handles daylight saving. It usually does, and the exceptions are memorable.
- Using a breathing-break reminder as a timer. It is a prompt to stop, not a measurement of anything.
How this guide was put together
Each app’s facts come from its own record: the developer’s own pages and repository, the App Store listing where one exists, and the documentation, each with a source grade and an access date. Where a fact rests on the developer’s own statement rather than on something we verified independently, the sentence says so. Where our data has no value for something, the guide says “not published” instead of guessing.
A price appears here only where the record carries one from a stated source; the guide never estimates one, and it records the pricing model alongside so the two can be read together. Prices change and vary by region, so each app links to its own page for the current detail.
The facts and the recommendations are kept apart on purpose. Everything in the app entries, the comparison table and the answers above is composed from the records. The short answer, the criteria and the picks are our editorial judgment: they reflect what we would choose and why, and they are not paid for. Where we make a recommendation we name the condition it applies under, because we do not call anything “the best” without explaining the criteria.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do I choose between these menu bar clock apps?
There is no single answer — it depends on what you need. This guide covers 9 menu bar clock apps: 1440 Minutes Left Today, Cadran, Day Progress, mysa, Pandan, Second Clock, Today, UTC Time and Week Number. They differ mainly in pricing model, licence and the trade-offs each one carries. Pick by the trade-off you care about rather than by rank.
Are these menu bar clock apps free?
Pricing across this group: free (1440 Minutes Left Today, Day Progress, Pandan, Second Clock, Today, UTC Time and Week Number), not published (Cadran) and open source (mysa). Where we list pricing as not published, the developer does not state a model we could verify — check their own site before assuming anything about cost. We quote a price only where the record carries one from a stated source, and we never estimate one. Prices change and vary by region and by store, so always check the developer’s own page for the current figure.
Which of these menu bar clock apps are open source?
mysa (MIT) is open source.
Do these menu bar clock apps support Apple Silicon?
Our data does not carry an explicit Apple Silicon statement for any app in this group, so we do not claim one. The absence of a statement is not the same as the absence of support.
How do I choose between them?
Start with how you pay: the guide groups these apps by pricing model, because the budget is the constraint most people actually have. Then check the trade-offs listed for each app: the limitations are the part that decides most people’s choice, because they describe what the app will not do for you.
