10 best minimalist apps to keep things organized in 2026

Feel like your Mac and iPhone are turning into a collection of apps you'll never return to? Totally get it! I'm always testing apps, and at one point, I had hundreds of them. Trying new things is great, but here's the thing: 41% of remote workers struggle to find information across tools. Plus, a cluttered Mac or iPhone runs slower.

That's why I'm saving you hours of time and gigabytes of memory on your Mac and iPhone. I've compiled a list of the 10 best minimalist apps that will make you more productive and your devices faster. 

Comparison of the best apps for minimalists [Based on user experience]

Before proceeding to the review, let me clarify a question you may have: ‘Wait, 10 minimalist apps? Isn't the point to use as few apps as possible?’ What matters is WHAT those apps are. By collecting a dozen truly high-quality tools, you can cover most of your work and personal life tasks. That's the essence of digital space minimalism — building the right collection of tools.

I agree with this Reddit user's opinion:

“Many people wrongly believe that minimalism is to a have as few things is better, that less is more. Minimalism is more than just keep tracking of things and making sure you have certain number of things of none at all. It is about consciously curating things that you have, making sure that each one adds value to your life”.

So here is a brief comparison of key minimalist phone and Mac apps.

App	Best for	Device	Price
Bartender	Organizing Mac menu bar	macOS	Included in Setapp
Todoist	Task management with gamification	macOS, iOS	Free or from $4/ month
IM+	Consolidating all messengers	macOS, iOS	Included in Setapp
Focus	Blocking distractions	macOS	Included in Setapp
Notion	All-in-one workspace organization	macOS, iOS	Free for individuals
iStat Menus	Real-time system monitoring	macOS	Included in Setapp
CleanMyMac	Mac maintenance and decluttering	macOS	Included in Setapp
CleanMyPhone	iPhone photo organization	iOS	Included in Setapp
Calm	Meditation and sleep support	iOS	From $6.67/month
Focused	Distraction-free writing	macOS	Included in Setapp

Let's explore each one.

Need quick help? Simply tell Productivity Tools — our free GPT assistant — what you need, and it will recommend the right tool for your use case in seconds.

Bartender: Minimalism app for keeping the menu bar clean

It seems that more and more apps these days insist on putting icons in the Finder’s menu bar. Whether it’s cloud storage, password managers, or backup tools, our menu bars are becoming ever more cluttered. Bartender solves that problem at a stroke by keeping your menu bar well-arranged.

Bartender allows you to take full control. You can choose which apps to display in the menu bar and which to hide behind Bartender’s icon. Or you can choose to display items for a period of time after they update. It also allows you to reorder menu bar items, search for them, and navigate with a keyboard rather than a mouse or trackpad. For the complete minimalist look, you can even hide the Bartender menu bar item itself!

“When I’m recording tutorials, I don’t want a messy menu bar ruining the shot. Bartender helps me keep my toolbar clean and minimal — a small tweak that makes my videos look way more professional,” says Javier, creator of the MinimalisTech Channel.

Best features:

• Custom control over which icons display in the menu bar
• Auto-show items when they update, then hide them again automatically
• Drag-and-drop icon reordering with keyboard shortcuts
• Search functionality to find any hidden menu item instantly
• Complete menu bar hiding for ultimate minimalism

Pros:

• Reduces visual clutter on your Mac
• Smart auto-show keeps you informed without permanent distractions
• Keyboard navigation eliminates mouse dependency
• Option to hide Bartender's own icon for complete invisibility

Cons:

• Requires initial setup time to configure properly

Price: Available on Setapp — a subscription platform with 250+ apps. You can try it free for 7 days.

Todoist: Minimalist app for task management 

Struggling with prioritization? I faced the same. But Todoist helps me to sort tasks without overwhelming me with features. Not everything is equally urgent, and color-coded priorities make this visual rather than abstract. It's also fun to earn karma points and get streaks.

To stay focused on my tasks and avoid procrastination, I organise my tasks by project (work, blog, personal) and use priority levels to focus on what matters most. The clean interface keeps me focused on doing rather than organising endlessly.

“Todoist is a simple but powerful cross‑platform task manager that keeps all projects and routines in one lightweight list, so you don’t have to juggle multiple planning tools”, shares Stefan-Radu Gogolan, video editor, digital marketing specialist. 

Best features:

• Visual task organization
• Natural language processing for quick task entry
• Recurring tasks with flexible scheduling
• Project templates for repeated workflows
• Color-coded labels keep related tasks organized

Pros:

• Clean, simple interface 
• Cross-platform sync 
• Gamification 

Cons:

• You can get confused if there are too many tasks

Price: Free or from $4/month.

IM+: Best minimalist messaging app consolidating all platforms

A cluttered dock and tens of open tabs in a browser not only bring a Mac to knees, but also ruin your minimalist style. 

IM+ is an aggregator that collects the messaging apps you use in one place. From Slack to Telegram to Instagram, you build your custom all-in-one messaging platform that has it all. Whenever you need to go through notifications or reply to messages, there’s only one app to launch. IM+ also allows you to be a bit of a perfectionist: you can use color tags to keep the apps in order, hotkey for convenience, and fine-tune push notifications.

Best features:

• Supports WhatsApp, Slack, Facebook Messenger, Telegram, Instagram, LinkedIn, and more
• Multiple accounts per service for work/personal separation
• Hotkey switching between different messaging services

Pros:

• Replace 10+ messaging apps with one interface
• Custom settings per platform while maintaining unified view
• File and multimedia sharing works across all services
• Geo-based status updates keep work and personal life separate

Cons:

• Initial setup requires connecting all your messaging accounts

Price: Available on Setapp — a subscription platform with 250+ apps. You can try it free for 7 days.

Focus: Best distraction-blocking app for minimalist productivity

One of the best things about Focus is that you’ll barely know it’s there, but it will help you work and get much more done. It’s designed to filter out distractions for a set period, so you won’t be able to check X or post to Instagram (for example) while you’re supposed to be finishing that essay or presentation. You choose which apps or websites to block and either switch it on and off manually, or schedule it for preset periods.

Focus keeps track of how much time you spend working and displays it in graphs, so you can challenge yourself to keep improving. What happens when you try to go to a website or open an app that’s blocked? It shows you a motivational quote from its huge library of wisdom. Now back to work!

Best features:

• Custom blocking for specific apps, websites, or entire categories
• Multiple focus profiles for different work contexts
• Scheduling feature for automatic distraction blocking
• Time tracking shows exactly how much you're actually working

Pros:

• Simple interface 
• Progress graphs 
• Flexible scheduling adapts to any workflow

Cons:

• Requires discipline to not disable blocking during weak moments

Price: Available on Setapp — a subscription platform with 250+ apps. You can try it free for 7 days.

Notion: Best all-in-one minimalist workspace

One Reddit user says “Notion is definitely overkill for simple note-taking or task management. I use Notion strictly as a "second brain" to store and organize the massive amount of information that I find on the web and YouTube”. 

And that's exactly what you need to know about this app. It combines every feature a minimalist needs and can be used to organize your life, calendar, brainstorms, to-do lists, and anything else.

I use Notion for project management, note-taking, and content planning — all in one place instead of three separate apps.

Source: Notion

Best features:

• Flexible workspace adapts to your needs
• Various templates for organizing your tasks
• Notion AI for automated note-taking and workflow building
• Available for use on different devices

Pros:

• Replace multiple apps with one unified workspace
• Customizable to match your exact workflow
• Powerful database capabilities without complexity
• Free for individual use

Cons:

• Can become overwhelming if you build too many systems

Price: Free for individuals

iStat Menus: Best minimalist app for system monitoring

Perhaps, the most useful app you could have on your Mac, iStat Menus takes up almost no room at all, making it perfect for minimalists. 

The idea is simple, iStat Menus monitors your Mac’s battery, processor, RAM, temperature, and a host of other metrics, and allows you to check them at the click of a menu bar item. You can keep an eye on how your Mac is performing or work out why it’s running slowly, without cluttering up your screen.

I check iStat Menus whenever my Mac fans start spinning — usually it reveals which app is consuming too many resources. The real-time monitoring helps me maintain peak performance, which is essential for minimalist computing. A fast Mac means less waiting, less frustration, and more focus on actual work.

“Video editing pushes my Mac to the limit. iStat Menus sits quietly in my menu bar, showing real-time CPU and memory usage. When I see a spike, I know to shut down background apps before a render fails, and it’s saved me hours of lost work,” says Javier, creator of the MinimalisTech Channel. 

Best features:

• Real-time CPU and GPU monitoring 
• Shows top memory-consuming apps
• Tracks sisk usage, activity, and S.M.A.R.T. status 
• Temperature sensors, fan control, and custom rules

Pros:

• Complete system overview from single menu bar item
• Identifies performance bottlenecks before they impact work
• Custom fan rules prevent overheating 

Cons:

• Can become distracting if you constantly check stats

Price: Available on Setapp — a subscription platform with 250+ apps. You can try it free for 7 days.

CleanMyMac: Best minimalist Mac maintenance app

CleanMyMac is a must for minimalists. It’s the perfect way to keep your Mac free from junk files or applications you no longer need. Not only will it save storage space and keep your Mac well organized, it can help it run faster too.

I run CleanMyMac's Smart Care feature weekly. It scans for system junk, removes outdated files, updates software, and identifies potential threats. For someone committed to digital minimalism, having 50+ GB of unnecessary files is unacceptable.

This minimalist app also removes all those hidden leftover files that accumulate when you simply drag apps to the Trash. This keeps my Mac genuinely clean, not just superficially organized.

“I can’t stand a cluttered Mac. CleanMyMac clears out all the junk left behind by Final Cut, Audition, Pixelmator, and more — it keeps everything running clean and fast,” says Thomas, creator of the NighTech Channel.

Best features:

• Smart Care runs comprehensive maintenance in one click
• System junk removal frees up gigabytes of storage
• Complete app uninstallation removes all leftover files
• Duplicate finder and large file identification

Pros:

• Easy maintenance requires minimal time
• Significantly improves the performance and speed of your Mac
• Removes junk files you didn't even know existed
• Clear, intuitive user interface in line with minimalist values

Cons:

• Can be overly cautious about what to delete

Price: Available on Setapp — a subscription platform with 250+ apps. You can try it free for 7 days.

CleanMyPhone: Best minimalist phone app for photo organization 

Attention, this is no joke — I have over 60,000 photos on my iPhone. Considering that I have a 256 GB phone, notifications saying “your storage is full” have already settled on my home screen. My lifesaver is CleanMyPhone. This minimalist app for iPhone scans my entire library to identify unnecessary clutter and helps me free up space.

The AI sorting feature is particularly impressive, automatically organizing photos into categories like Travel, Family, Pets, and Architecture. Finding specific photos takes seconds instead of scrolling endlessly.

Best features:

• Identifies blurry shots, old screenshots, and duplicate photos
• Video compression with minimal quality loss
• Convert Live Photos to still images to save space
• AI-powered automatic photo organization into categories
• Offline functionality works without internet connection

Pros:

• Frees up significant iPhone storage 
• AI sorting makes photo library genuinely organized
• Works offline 

Cons:

• Requires time to review suggestions before deleting

Price: Available on Setapp — a subscription platform with 250+ apps. You can try it free for 7 days.

Calm: Best minimalist app for meditation and sleep 

I love organizing things, not only in my digital space but also in my head. That's why I can't imagine my minimalist iPhone setup without Calm. It brings together guided meditations, sleep stories, focus music, and soundscapes in one beautifully designed app. 

Here’s what a Reddit user says about Calm:

“I highly recommend giving this app a try, if you haven't already. It really has helped me a lot with some of my ADHD symptoms like emotion regulation (specifically anger) and restlessness, and anxiety”.

Best features:

• Guided meditations for all levels
• Sleep stories and soundscapes for better rest
• Exclusive focus music for concentration
• Mindful movement and stretching videos
• Work-specific sessions for stress management

Pros:

• Clear, calming user interface fits the purpose of the app
• Extensive library includes meditation, sleep, and concentration
• High-quality content from experts
• Helps maintain mental clarity and digital minimalism

Cons:

• Subscription required for most content

Price: From $6.67/month

Focused: Best minimalist writing app 

When it comes to writing, there’s no shortage of beautiful minimalist writing tools on the Mac. But Focused is the one worth trying out. Not only does it look gorgeous, it has full support for Markdown, a Zen-mode that fills the screen with paper and plays relaxing music to help you concentrate, and a custom focus mode that highlights only the sentence or paragraph you’re working on.

As a content creator, I constantly use this minimalist app, and it helps me immerse myself in the process without distractions.

“Every time a notification pops up, I lose my writing flow. With Focused, I just switch on Zen mode, and the screen goes blank, soft music plays, and it’s just me and the words. It’s the simplest way I know to get deep work done”, shares Lokesh Kapoor, digital content creator and founder of the DroidCrunch blog.

Best features:

• Clean interface with minimal visible controls
• Zen mode fills the screen with paper and background music
• Typewriter mode centers text as you type
• Automatic version control saves your entire editing history

Pros:

• A truly distraction-free writing environment
• Focus modes prevent constant re-editing
• Auto-save ensures that nothing is lost

Cons:

• Minimal formatting options may not suit all writers

Price: Available on Setapp — a subscription platform with 250+ apps. You can try it free for 7 days.

Build your minimalist app kit

The best minimalist apps reduce clutter, consolidate functions, and eliminate distractions. To do this, you can put together a good set of multifunctional apps that help you maintain minimalism in your digital space.

Start by addressing your biggest pain points. If your Mac menu bar is overwhelming, begin with Bartender. If you're drowning in messaging apps, try IM+. For writing projects, Focused creates the distraction-free environment you need. CleanMyMac and CleanMyPhone will help you free your devices from clutter, allowing them to run faster. 

Setapp has over 250 curated apps, so you can explore all these minimalist apps without commitment anxiety. Try different combinations during your 7-day free trial and discover which tools genuinely simplify your digital life.