Products

EasyBar has two user-facing macOS frontends. They share EasyBarKit's Lua API, renderer, package manager, and CLI core, but they are separate applications with separate commands and user data.

Which frontend should I use?

Choose EasyBar when you want to replace the menu-bar layout with one designed, full-width surface. Choose EasyBar Native when you want Lua widgets to live beside ordinary macOS menu-bar apps as independent status items.

Capability	EasyBar	EasyBar Native
Presentation	One custom full-width top bar	Independent macOS NSStatusItems
Public widget model	Native built-ins and Lua widgets	Lua widgets
Host-owned built-in	Spaces, battery, Wi-Fi, calendar, volume, CPU, Inbox, more	Inbox only
Layout control	Left, center, and right regions; groups; bar geometry	Relative item order; macOS owns final placement
Lua API and packages	Shared EasyBarKit contract	Shared EasyBarKit contract
Calendar/network agents	Installed and managed	Not installed, required, or managed
CLI	easybar	easybar-native
Config	~/.config/easybar/config.toml	~/.config/easybar-native/config.toml
Manual widgets	~/.config/easybar/widgets	~/.config/easybar-native/widgets
Managed packages	~/.local/share/easybar/packages	~/.local/share/easybar-native/packages
Runtime	~/.local/state/easybar/runtime	~/.local/state/easybar-native/runtime
Main log	~/.local/state/easybar/easybar.out	~/.local/state/easybar-native/easybar-native.out

EasyBar Native's built-in boundary

EasyBar Native does not expose EasyBar's regular Swift built-ins as status items. Its public extension surface is Lua widgets, with Inbox retained as the one host-owned built-in so Lua publisher packages have a common destination.

Can I install both?

Yes. Installing both is useful when you want to compare presentation styles or migrate gradually. They do not share config files, runtime sockets, logs, package activation state, or CLI names.

Installing the same package twice creates two independent installations:

easybar widgets install tailscale
easybar-native widgets install tailscale

Use the matching command to reload the frontend you changed:

easybar config reload
easybar-native config reload

Package compatibility

Most packages that use only the shared Lua API work in either frontend. Installation through a frontend's CLI does not by itself guarantee that every external requirement is available there. Check each package page for required commands and frontend-specific behavior.

A package is not portable to EasyBar Native when it requires an EasyBar-only helper agent, built-in, or the easybar executable. Inbox publisher packages are portable when they use the shared Inbox API and do not otherwise depend on an EasyBar-only capability.

Start here

Goal	Guide
Build a complete custom bar	EasyBar Quick Start
Add Lua widgets to the normal macOS status area	EasyBar Native Quick Start
Compare the two command-line tools	Command-line tools
Browse shared packages	Widget Store