Your Mac is slow.
You deserve to know why.
The Activity Monitor replacement developers actually want. AI-powered process analysis. One command install. Everything runs locally.
18.3%
89%
312
47 apps3d 14h
| Name | PID | CPU | Memory | Actions |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ▶VS Code(23) | — | 14.6% | 4.2 GiB | ExplainKill |
| VS Code Helper (Renderer) | 2341 | 6.1% | 1.8 GiB | Kill |
| VS Code Helper (Plugin) | 2342 | 4.3% | 1.2 GiB | Kill |
| VS Code Helper (GPU) | 2343 | 2.1% | 680 MiB | Kill |
| ▶Google Chrome(31) | — | 8.7% | 3.1 GiB | ExplainKill |
| ▶Docker Desktop(5) | — | 4.1% | 2.1 GiB | ExplainKill |
| node | — | 6.2% | 512 MiB | ExplainKill |
| Spotlight | — | 1.9% | 234 MiB | ExplainKill |
Visual Studio Code editor. Electron-based with multiple helper processes for rendering, plugins, and GPU.
High CPU: Large workspace, many extensions, or TypeScript compilation.
Activity Monitor shows you data.
It doesn't tell you what to do.
You know something is wrong. You just can't figure out what.
"Which process owns port 3000?"
You have to run lsof -i :3000 and parse the output yourself.
"Why is my Mac using 14 GiB RAM?"
Activity Monitor doesn't explain. It shows a flat list of PIDs with no grouping or context.
"What can I safely quit?"
No guidance. Just a flat PID list. You're on your own deciding what to kill.
Everything you need.
Nothing you don't.
Built for developers who want real answers, not just raw data.
Port Mapper
Instantly see which process owns which port. No more piping lsof through grep.
| PORT | PID | PROCESS | LABEL |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3000 | 12847 | node | Next.js Dev |
| 5432 | 9912 | postgres | PostgreSQL |
| 6379 | 10234 | redis-server | Redis |
| 8080 | 903 | docker-proxy | Docker |
| 8888 | 14201 | jupyter-lab | Jupyter |
AI Process Explainer
"What is com.apple.bird?" Click any process for instant, plain English answers — safety rating, quit consequences, and actions.
The macOS display server. Manages all on-screen rendering — windows, animations, transparency, and GPU compositing.
High CPU: Usually means heavy UI rendering, lots of windows, or external display scaling.
Speed-Up Recommendations
One-click analysis finds exactly what’s slowing you down. Know what to quit and how much you’ll save.
Chrome using 3.1 GiB with 47 processes
Close unused tabs to save ~1.8 GiB
Memory pressure: 89% used
Quit Slack and Docker Desktop to free 3.5 GiB
4 idle apps running > 2 hours
Quitting saves 890 MiB memory, 2.3% CPU
Potential savings: 6.2 GiB memory, 14.8% CPU
Process Groups
See the real cost of each app. Not 47 separate Chrome PIDs — one entry showing total impact. Click to explore details and take action.
Quick Actions
Copy kill commands to your clipboard with one click. Terminate a single process or an entire group. Your Mac, your control — we never execute kills for you.
Web browser. Each tab runs as a separate renderer process. GPU and plugin helpers add overhead.
Historical Performance Tracking
Go beyond live monitoring. See 1-day to 30-day retrospectives with per-process CPU and memory charts, ranked app leaderboards, and detailed drill-downs. Find out which apps have been quietly draining your Mac.
Terminal TUI
Live terminal monitor with perf-pulse top. Real-time refresh every 2 seconds. Press q to quit.
Perf Pulse v1.1.0 CPU: 18.3% MEM: 14.2/16.0 GiB (89%) Processes: 312 Uptime: 3d 14h 22m NAME PID CPU% MEM STATUS VS Code Helper 2341 12.4% 2.8 GiB Running Google Chrome 1284 8.7% 3.1 GiB Running node 12847 6.2% 512 MiB Running com.docker.vmnetd 891 4.1% 2.1 GiB Running WindowServer 187 3.8% 890 MiB Running Press q to quit · Refreshing every 2s
CLI Power
Pipe system data to Claude Code or Codex. JSON, CSV, or text output for AI-powered analysis.
$ perf-pulse analyze --format json | claude "what's using the most memory?" Based on the system snapshot, here are the top memory consumers: 1. Google Chrome — 3.1 GiB (47 processes) → Recommendation: Close unused tabs 2. VS Code — 2.8 GiB (23 processes) → Normal for large workspaces 3. Docker Desktop — 2.1 GiB (12 processes) → Consider reducing VM memory allocation
Everything included.
One price. Forever.
Here's what you get with Perf Pulse Pro.
Up and running in
three steps.
No sign up. No configuration. Just install and go.
Install in 30 seconds
One command. No account creation, no cloud sync, no setup wizard.
Launch the dashboard
Your browser opens with a live dashboard. Zero configuration needed.
See everything. Fix everything.
Grouped processes, port mappings, AI explanations, and one-click speed up. All local.
Perf Pulse Pro
One-time payment. Lifetime license.
- Live process monitor with grouping
- Port mapper for developers
- AI process explainer
- One-click speed up recommendations
- CLI analysis engine
- Lifetime updates
- 30-day money-back guarantee
30-day money-back guarantee. No questions asked.
Your data never leaves your Mac.
Perf Pulse is built with a zero-trust architecture. No accounts, no cloud, no tracking. Every security decision defaults to the safest option.
100% Local
Every byte of data stays on your Mac. No cloud. No telemetry. No analytics. Zero network calls except license validation.
Sandboxed
Read-only system monitoring. Perf Pulse never modifies your processes, files, or system settings. It only observes.
Audited Code
Built in Rust with memory safety guarantees. XSS-protected dashboard. No unsafe code. Stripped binary — nothing hidden.
Verified Delivery
Installed via Homebrew with SHA-256 checksum verification. Signed releases. Automatic integrity checks on every update.
Security measures
- ✓Dashboard bound to localhost only — never exposed to the network
- ✓CORS restricted to same-origin requests
- ✓HTML output sanitized to prevent XSS injection
- ✓License file stored with owner-only permissions (600)
- ✓HTTPS-only license validation with pinned endpoint
- ✓Stripe webhook signature verification on every payment event
- ✓Security headers: HSTS, CSP, X-Frame-Options, referrer policy