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File: docs/COMPETITOR_MATRIX_2026.md

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Recent Change History

Commit	Date	Subject
70ef30c	2026-04-16	Refresh competitor supportability notes
133d9ad	2026-04-16	Replace alert surfaces with monitoring status
8fbb65c	2026-04-16	Polish README positioning and competitor evidence
f7b2ac8	2026-04-16	Clarify menu bar visibility recovery in support docs
2332898	2026-04-16	Refresh competitive positioning and README framing
5f86848	2026-04-15	Add sourced competitor matrix for product decisions

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Source Excerpt

# Core-Monitor Competitor Matrix

Date: 2026-04-16

This document captures the current public positioning of the main macOS monitoring and fan-control competitors that Core-Monitor is most likely to be compared against. It is meant to support product decisions, repo messaging, and roadmap prioritization.

## Snapshot

| Product | Current strength | Publicly documented fan-control model | Important tradeoff | What Core-Monitor should beat |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Stats | Broad open-source menu bar monitoring with a large public user base and easy Homebrew/manual install | Fan control is still present, but the project README says it is in legacy mode and does not receive updates or fixes | Broad feature surface, but weaker trust story around actively maintained fan control | Thermal focus, helper trust, and clearer “monitoring only vs helper required” messaging |
| iStat Menus 7 | Mature menu bar monitoring and polished fan-control UI | Official help documents Automatic, Custom fan curve, and Manual modes; Automatic acts as if iStat Menus is not installed | Broad and polished, but intentionally wider in scope than a thermal-first product | Simpler thermal workflows and less menu bar sprawl by default |
| TG Pro | Strongest “serious fan control” posture and explicit helper/onboarding language | Official docs show per-fan override, Manual mode, and Auto Boost rules; official FAQ separates monitoring-only from helper-backed control | Powerful, but more admin-heavy and rule-oriented than many users need | Open-source transparency, clearer support exports, and a cleaner daily-use dashboard/menu bar experience |
| Macs Fan Control | Simple mental model, strong reputation, broad Mac model support, and clear fan presets story | Official site documents Auto vs Custom, sensor-based control, saved presets, configurable menu bar display, and restoring fans to Auto on quit | UI is intentionally simple and narrow; custom presets are a Pro feature | Modern UI polish, better local diagnostics, and a more informative Apple Silicon dashboard |

## Current source-backed notes

### Stats

- The public repository page shows roughly 38k GitHub stars and a latest release tag of `v2.12.9` dated April 12, 2026.
- The public GitHub README still describes Stats as a macOS system monitor in the menu bar.
- The same README says fan control is in legacy mode and does not receive updates or fixes.
- The README also documents external API usage for update checks and public IP retrieval.
- The README explicitly calls Sensors and Bluetooth among the most expensive modules and suggests disabling them to reduce energy impact.
- GitHub’s security advisory page documents a past local privilege-escalation issue in the privileged helper path.

Implication for Core-Monitor:

- Core-Monitor can be more convincing on fan-control trust if the helper remains actively maintained, clearly scoped, and explained in plain language.
- Core-Monitor should stay local-first and keep the “no telemetry / no external dependency for core monitoring” story crisp.

### iStat Menus 7

- Bjango’s official fan help page documents three modes: Automatic, Custom fan curve, and Manual.
- The same page explicitly says Automatic means fans behave as if iStat Menus is not installed.
- Manual mode is documented as not being saved across reboots.

Implication for Core-Monitor:

- Core-Monitor should preserve the same clarity around when the app is actually controlling fans and when macOS is fully in charge.