Claude-Code-Usage-Monitor watches tokens. Fuel Gauge watches your limit.
Claude-Code-Usage-Monitor is a popular terminal dashboard for Claude Code with burn rates and predictions. Fuel Gauge forecasts from the percentages Claude Code itself reports, and lives in the menu bar.
The short version
Use Claude-Code-Usage-Monitor if you want a live terminal dashboard of tokens and cost per 5-hour window, on macOS, Linux, or Windows. Use Fuel Gauge if you want a forecast from Claude's own limit percentages, always visible in the menu bar and under your prompt, with alerts, plus Codex, Grok Bot, and Cursor.
What Claude-Code-Usage-Monitor does well
It's a real-time terminal dashboard for Claude Code: tokens and cost in each 5-hour window, a burn-rate view, session forecasting that "predicts when sessions will expire", and warnings. It installs with uv tool install claude-monitor, runs on macOS, Linux, and Windows, and is free and MIT licensed with about 8,700 stars on GitHub.
Where Fuel Gauge is different
It starts from Claude's own numbers. Fuel Gauge reads the session and weekly percentages Claude Code reports to its status line after every reply. Token-based tools have to estimate the limit: Claude-Code-Usage-Monitor uses built-in token limits per plan, with a P90-based default, because Anthropic doesn't publish token counts.
It covers the weekly limit. Each card forecasts its own window, 5-hour and weekly, with a range and the most you can use per hour and still make it.
It's always visible. A menu bar glyph that turns orange, one alert per window, a line under your Claude Code prompt, and Codex, Grok Bot, and Cursor too.
Fuel Gauge vs Claude-Code-Usage-Monitor
| Fuel Gauge | Claude-Code-Usage-Monitor | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| License | FSL-1.1-MIT, source on GitHub | MIT |
| Where it runs | Mac menu bar, Claude Code status line, CLI | Terminal dashboard |
| Measures | Claude's own session and weekly percentages | Tokens and cost per 5-hour window |
| Forecast | Each window, with a range | Session forecasting |
| Weekly limit forecast | Yes | — |
| Codex, Grok Bot, Cursor | Yes | — |
| Platforms | macOS 14+ | macOS, Linux, Windows |
“—” means we couldn't confirm it from Claude-Code-Usage-Monitor's own materials as of October 2026.
What Claude-Code-Usage-Monitor does better
A detailed live terminal view with token and cost numbers, and it runs on Linux and Windows.
What Fuel Gauge does better
Forecasts from the percentages that actually decide when you're cut off, for both windows and four tools, without keeping a terminal open.
Trying it takes a minute
- Install Fuel Gauge.
brew install --cask coreyhaines31/tap/fuelgauge, or download the app from GitHub and drag it to Applications. - Turn on the status line. From the app, or with
fuelgauge install-statusline. It keeps your existing status line and backs upsettings.json. - Keep working. A 5-hour limit gets a forecast after about 10 minutes of readings, a weekly one after 3 hours. Until then it says “Learning your pace.”
- Keep Claude-Code-Usage-Monitor if you like its terminal dashboard. The two don't conflict.
Questions
Is Claude-Code-Usage-Monitor free?
Yes. It's free and MIT licensed. Fuel Gauge is free too, with the source on GitHub under the FSL-1.1-MIT license.
How is Fuel Gauge's forecast different?
Fuel Gauge works from the percent of your session and weekly limits that Claude Code reports after every reply. Token-based tools estimate limits from token counts, and Anthropic doesn't publish token limits for its plans.
Can I use both?
Yes. One runs in your terminal, the other in the menu bar.
Know if you'll make it.
Free. No account, no subscription.
brew install --cask coreyhaines31/tap/fuelgaugeOr ask your coding agent:
Install Fuel Gauge on my Mac: run `brew install --cask coreyhaines31/tap/fuelgauge`, open Fuel Gauge, then run `fuelgauge install-statusline` and `fuelgauge status`.
macOS 14 Sonoma or later · Apple Silicon and Intel