Cornice
Cornice is a free, open-source menu bar manager for macOS that uses a divider to hide and reveal menu bar items.
What Cornice is
Cornice is a free, open-source menu bar manager for macOS that uses a divider to hide and reveal menu bar items. Users position the divider themselves; clicking it reveals the items to its left. An optional second divider creates a zone that stays hidden when the rest of the menu bar is revealed. Cornice does not automatically move other apps’ icons. Users can adjust divider thickness and height, choose among five chevron styles, and configure keyboard shortcuts and auto-hide behavior. Optional two-finger trackpad gestures on a window title bar can resize or reposition windows or send them to the Dock. Hiding and revealing items requires no permissions, but the optional gestures require Accessibility access. The interface supports sixteen languages, which can be changed without restarting. Cornice is distributed under GPL-3.0 and is listed as free for macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later on Apple Silicon. Its development-signed builds are not notarised, so macOS requires a manual first launch through its warning. Users with gestures enabled must grant Accessibility permission again after an update.
Good
- Free and open-source under GPL-3.0.
- Can keep a second menu bar zone hidden.
- Supports keyboard shortcuts and auto-hide behavior.
- Offers sixteen interface languages.
- Hiding and revealing items requires no permissions.
Watch out
- Users must place the divider by hand.
- Requires macOS 26 or later on Apple Silicon.
- The first launch requires opening through a macOS warning.
- Gesture users must renew Accessibility permission after updates.
Who it suits
Cornice suits macOS users who want to hide menu bar items while keeping a manual divider-based arrangement. It may also suit users who want optional window gestures and can manage Accessibility permissions.
Verdict
Cornice offers focused menu bar hiding with adjustable dividers and optional window gestures. Its manual placement and first-launch steps are worth considering before installing.
Plans and prices
From Cornice's own pricing page, checked 14 Oct 2026.
| Plan | Price | What it gives you |
|---|---|---|
| Cornice | Free | macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later · Apple Silicon · no paid tier stated · Free |
The facts
Each one read from Cornice's own pages, with the date it was checked.
What it does
- Always hidden zone
- An optional second divider keeps a menu bar zone hidden even when the rest is revealed.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Always-hidden zone
- A second divider can keep a selected zone hidden even while the normal hidden group is revealed.checked 14 Oct 2026
- API and SDKs
- The published README documents a native Xcode project but does not describe a public API, SDK, plugin interface, or integration connectors.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Auto-hide
- Cornice can hide the group automatically when the pointer leaves the menu bar.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Build process
- Developers clone the repository, open Cornice.xcodeproj, set their signing team, and build without App Sandbox.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Customization
- Users can adjust divider thickness and height, choose among five chevron styles, and set keyboard shortcuts and auto-hide behavior.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Gesture permission
- Window gestures require Accessibility permission and are disabled by default.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Gesture update caveat
- After an update, users who enabled gestures must grant Accessibility permission again because builds are ad-hoc signed.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Hide and reveal
- A chevron hides the menu-bar group to its left and reveals it again when clicked.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Independent alternative positioning
- AlternativeTo includes Cornice among Mac alternatives to Bartender.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Independent category
- AlternativeTo places Cornice in its Menu Bar Manager category for Mac.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Independent description
- AlternativeTo describes Cornice as hiding and revealing menu-bar items with one click and offering optional title-bar gestures.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Independent listing
- AlternativeTo lists Cornice as a free GPL-3.0 Mac menu-bar manager and shows one like.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Independent project metadata
- GitHub’s menu-bar-manager topic lists SnowDrit/Cornice as a Swift repository updated August 14, 2026.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Independent topic tags
- GitHub topic metadata tags Cornice with macOS, Swift, AppKit, SwiftUI, Tahoe, window-management, and open-source.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Installation
- Installation is by opening Cornice.dmg and dragging the app into Applications.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Installation caveat
- Builds are signed for development but not notarised, so macOS requires users to open the app manually through its warning the first time.checked 7 Oct 2026
- Keyboard shortcuts
- Users can assign shortcuts for normal hiding, the always-hidden zone, and auto-hide.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Languages
- The interface supports sixteen languages and switches language without restarting.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Latest release
- GitHub lists Cornice v1.0.1 as the latest release, published on October 7, 2026.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Launch at login
- The app includes an option to open automatically at login.checked 14 Oct 2026
- Licence
- The project is licensed under GPL-3.0.checked 14 Oct 2026
- License
- The project is distributed under the GPL-3.0 license.checked 7 Oct 2026
Where it runs
- Appearance controls
- Divider thickness and height are adjustable, with five chevron styles.checked 14 Oct 2026
