Both put web apps in your Mac menu bar. MenubarX is a fully featured menu-bar browser, ad blocking, iCloud sync of bookmarks, user-agent switching. TopShelf is always-on-top-first and ships six built-in mini apps (calculator, notes, to-do, pomodoro, color picker, password generator) that float on their own without needing a URL.
Pick MenubarX if you want a full menu-bar browser experience, one place to open several web apps, with ad blocking, iCloud-synced bookmarks, and the ability to fake a mobile user agent so mobile-only web apps (Instagram, TikTok) look right in a small window.
Pick TopShelf if you want each pinned window to be always-on-top by default above every other app you use, not a menu-bar dropdown, and you also want native mini apps (calculator, notes, to-do, pomodoro, color picker, password generator) that float without needing a URL.
| TopShelf | MenubarX | |
|---|---|---|
| Pin a web app in a floating window | Yes, always-on-top by default | Yes, detachable, then floating |
| Built-in mini apps (calculator, notes, to-do, pomodoro, color picker, password generator) | Six included, native | Not included |
| Menu-bar dropdown as a browsing surface | Quick-launch menu, not a browser | Full menu-bar browser |
| Ad blocking | No | Yes |
| iCloud sync of bookmarks | No | Yes |
| Device / user-agent simulation (iPhone, iPad, Mac) | No | Yes |
| Quick-launch installed native Mac apps | Yes | No |
| Distribution | Mac App Store + Gumroad (older free trial) | Mac App Store (4.9★, 15K ratings) + direct DMG |
| Pricing model | One-time purchase, free updates | Freemium (Pro upgrade) |
| Actively maintained | Yes | Yes |
You already treat the menu bar as a browsing surface. You want to open several sites from a menu-bar icon, browse them there, block ads inside them, sync bookmarks across your devices, and occasionally switch user agent to make a mobile-only web app render correctly. MenubarX behaves like a small dedicated browser that happens to live in your menu bar.
The main thing you want is always-on-top, not "in the menu bar." You want the ChatGPT window sitting above your editor, the recipe sitting above your kitchen laptop, the pomodoro visible while you focus, regardless of which app has focus. TopShelf's default behavior is what MenubarX users end up asking for after they detach a window.
You also want native mini apps that do not require typing in a URL or opening a web page, a real calculator, a real quick-note scratchpad, a real pomodoro timer. TopShelf ships those on day one; MenubarX does not.
Yes. Some people run MenubarX for casual web-app browsing from the menu bar and TopShelf for the two or three specific things they want permanently pinned above every other window (an AI chat, a music player, a floating pomodoro). They target different jobs and do not conflict.