Last Updated: February 1, 2026 | Review Stance: From someone who used to panic-refresh claude.ai/settings/usage
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The Relief in One Sentence
ClaudeUsageBar sits quietly in my macOS menu bar and tells me exactly how much Claude juice I have left—session % , weekly %, reset timer, and gentle nudges before I slam into the wall. Free, open-source, zero data leak worries. If you're on Pro and treat Claude like oxygen, this tiny app stops the "am I locked out?" panic forever.
From "Oh No, Locked Again" to Peace of Mind
Picture this: 2 AM, deep in a chain-of-thought prompt marathon, suddenly Claude says "You've reached your limit." Heart drops. I used to obsessively refresh claude.ai/settings/usage like a nervous tick. Then I found ClaudeUsageBar—a dead-simple macOS menu bar app that lives up there next to Wi-Fi and battery.
Setup takes 2 minutes (grab cookie from dev tools on usage page, paste once), and since then it's been watching my Free/Pro usage like a loyal sidekick. Tested across heavy days—long research threads, code reviews, writing sprints. This 2026 take is pure personal experience: no more surprises.
Late-Night Prompt Binges
Know when to wrap up before limit hits.
Workday Heavy Lifting
Plan deep tasks around weekly reset for Pro Sonnet.
Free Tier Survival
Stretch 5-hour sessions without blind guessing.
Multi-Account Jugglers
Quick switch and monitor without logging in/out.
The Bits That Keep Me Sane
Everyday Lifesavers
- Menu Bar Always-There %: Session (5h) and weekly (7d) right up top—no click needed for quick check.
- Reset Countdown: "Session resets in 2h 45m"—helps me pace long convos.
- Smart Notifications: Gentle pings at 25/50/75/90%—no more "surprise lockout".
- Cmd+U Shortcut: Popup from anywhere (after granting Accessibility once).
- Pro Sonnet Weekly View: See how much fancy model you burned this week.
- Refresh Button & Last Updated: Manual sync when paranoid.
How Reliable Is It in the Trenches?
Rock-solid in my daily chaos—updates every few minutes automatically, never missed a threshold. Cookie setup is fiddly once (dev tools copy-paste), but after that zero maintenance. Super light on battery/CPU—feels native macOS. Only hiccup: if you log out of claude.ai, re-paste cookie. But that's on Anthropic, not the app.
What Hits Home
Always Visible
Threshold Alerts
Open Source Trust
Pro Weekly View
Yeah... It's Actually Free
Forever Free
$0
No tricks
- Full features unlocked
- Open source on GitHub (implied)
- Donation optional
- No ads/telemetry
As of Feb 2026: Completely free forever. Dev accepts Stripe donations if you love it (link on site). No paid tiers, no upsell.
Honest Ups & Downs
Why I Can't Uninstall
- Ended my limit-anxiety forever
- Super clean & native feel
- Notifications are perfectly timed
- Privacy is actually real
- Free + open source = trust
- Works for both Free & Pro tiers
Minor Gripes
- Cookie setup feels geeky first time
- macOS only (sorry Windows/Linux friends)
- Need to re-paste if log out
- No iOS companion yet
My Personal Score: 9.3/10
For anyone who lives in Claude daily, ClaudeUsageBar is one of those "why didn't this exist sooner" tools. It removes the single biggest frustration—uncertainty—and does it elegantly, privately, and for free. If you're macOS + Claude, install it yesterday.
Ease: 9.0/10
Value: 10/10
Privacy: 9.7/10
Tired of Claude Limit Surprises?
Grab this free menu bar guardian—set it up once, never worry again.
Free & open-source forever as of February 2026.
