MarkDash vs LocalhostBar
The short answer
Pick LocalhostBar if you only need to see what’s on localhost and stop it, for free, on macOS 13 or later.
Pick MarkDash if you also want to start projects, read their logs, get warned about conflicts and keep their pages saved.
At a glance
| Feature | MarkDash | LocalhostBar |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | Native menu bar app, macOS 15 or later | Open source menu bar app (MIT), macOS 13 or later |
| 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 | Yes Loopback TCP listeners; system ports hidden |
| Knows the project | Yes Your saved sites by name; any other server by its folder | Yes From the page title, the folder or package.json, Cargo.toml, go.mod |
| 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 | Partly Quit signal to your own processes |
| 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 | Yes |
| Scripting | Partly Shortcuts and Spotlight: open, start and stop sites, open links. No CLI | No |
Where MarkDash pulls ahead
- It starts and restarts your projects, not only stops them.
- Live logs for the servers it starts.
- Warnings for a busy port, two copies of a project or a moved server.
- Saved pages per project and a links board.
Where LocalhostBar is the better pick
- It’s free and open source, and you can read every line.
- It runs on macOS 13.
- It names a port from the page’s own title, which is handy for tools you didn’t set up.
What they cost
LocalhostBar is free and MIT licensed, downloaded from GitHub.
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 LocalhostBar enough?
If you mostly want to glance at what’s running and close it, yes. MarkDash is for the rest of the loop: starting projects, reading their output and getting back to the right page.
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 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.
- MarkDash vs kill-port and fkillThe npm commands that free a busy port.
Sources for LocalhostBar: LocalhostBar on GitHub