MarkDash vs kill-port and fkill
The short answer
Pick kill-port and fkill if you want a predev script that frees port 3000 before every run, on any OS and in CI.
Pick MarkDash if you want to see what holds the port before you kill it, and get the right project running again afterwards.
At a glance
| Feature | MarkDash | kill-port and fkill |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Native menu bar app, macOS 15 or later | Open source npm command-line tools (MIT) |
| Price | $9.99 per Mac at launch, then $19.99, paid once. 14-day trial | Free |
| Lists listening ports | Yes Every listening TCP port with process, PID, folder and command. Rescans every 4 s | No They kill by port; they don’t list ports |
| Knows the project | Yes Your saved sites by name; any other server by its folder | No |
| Starts your projects | Yes One click, with your login shell’s PATH. Detects the command from the folder | No |
| Stops a server | Yes Quit signal to the whole process tree, force kill after 3 s | Yes kill-port sends SIGKILL by default; fkill has --force |
| Restarts a server | Yes For the sites you saved | No |
| Live logs | Yes For the servers MarkDash starts | No |
| Port conflict warnings | Yes Port taken, two copies of one project, a server that moved (5173 → 5174). One-click kill | No |
| Saved pages that follow the port | Yes Save /admin, /blog… per project. Paste a localhost URL and it’s filed under the right one | No |
| Links, notes and a board | Yes Categories, notes, search, To do / Doing / Done board | No |
| Menu bar | Yes | No |
| Scripting | Partly Shortcuts and Spotlight: open, start and stop sites, open links. No CLI | Yes npx kill-port 3000, fkill :3000 |
| Also does | No No tunnels or share links | Yes macOS, Linux and Windows |
Where MarkDash pulls ahead
- You see what’s on the port before you kill it. A busy 3000 might be the project you wanted.
- It asks the process to quit first and only forces it after 3 seconds; kill-port forces it straight away.
- It starts the project again in the right folder.
- Warnings for moved ports and duplicate copies, so you know before a page breaks.
Where kill-port and fkill is the better pick
- They are free and run anywhere Node does, CI included.
- They fit in package.json: "predev": "kill-port 3000".
- fkill also kills by name or PID, with a fuzzy picker.
What they cost
Both are free and MIT licensed on npm.
MarkDash is a one-time purchase per Mac, from $9.99, after a 14-day free trial with every feature. See the licenses.
Questions
Is it safe to kill-port before every dev run?
Mostly, but it kills whatever is on the port, even another project. kill-port sends SIGKILL by default, so that process gets no chance to clean up. MarkDash shows you who holds the port first.
Try MarkDash on your own projects
Free for 14 days, then $9.99 per Mac, paid once. macOS 15 or later.
More comparisons
- MarkDash vs lsof and killThe built-in commands for finding who holds a port.
- MarkDash vs Activity MonitorApple’s process viewer, which has no port column.
- MarkDash vs PortlivoThe closest app to MarkDash, with sharing and a CLI.
- MarkDash vs LocalhostBarA small, free, open source list of localhost ports.
- MarkDash vs PortKillerFree, open source port killer for Mac and Windows.
- MarkDash vs RaycastDev Servers and Port Manager extensions for the launcher.
- MarkDash vs Laravel HerdA full PHP and Laravel environment.
Sources for kill-port and fkill: kill-port on GitHub · fkill-cli on GitHub