The best fan control apps for Mac
Apple’s fan curve favors silence, so M-series Macs often run hot before the fans ramp. These apps let you push the fans earlier, set a fixed speed, or just watch the temperatures.
Updated
- 1
Best for The most complete temperature and fan tool, with rules, alerts, logging and hardware diagnostics.
- Auto Boost rules map a sensor’s temperature to a fan speed; Manual and Max modes too.
- Per-core Apple Silicon temperatures, GPU, and drive temperatures through S.M.A.R.T.
- Notifications and email alerts, CSV logging, and diagnostics for fans, sensors and the last shutdown cause.
- Supports Intel and Apple Silicon (M1 through current), no subscription.
- Paid, though it’s often discounted.
- Focused on thermals: not a general system monitor.
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Best for Free, straightforward fan control: a fixed RPM, or speed tied to one sensor.
- Set a constant RPM or make a fan follow any temperature sensor, including third-party drives.
- Fans return to automatic when you quit.
- Works on Intel and Apple Silicon, and on Windows under Boot Camp.
- Saved custom presets require Pro.
- A simple sensor-to-speed range rather than a multi-point curve.
- 4
Stat SpaceOurs
Best for A free temperature-to-speed fan curve inside a developer-focused system monitor.
- Free manual fan speed and a temperature-to-speed curve driven by CPU, GPU or the hottest sensor, with 3 °C hysteresis.
- The helper that sets fan speed is installed only when you turn fan control on.
- Sensors, power in watts, thermal state and a throttling warning in the same popover.
- Apple Silicon and macOS 14+ only.
- Newer and less battle-tested at fan control than TG Pro or Macs Fan Control.
- No drive temperature rules, email alerts or CSV logs.
- 5
Best for Watching fan speeds and temperatures for free; not for controlling them.
- Fan RPM and temperature readouts in the menu bar, free.
- Open source, Intel and Apple Silicon.
- Its fan control is in legacy mode with no updates or fixes, per the README.
- Sensor names don’t map cleanly to cores on Apple Silicon.
How we chose
We only included apps that work on Apple Silicon today and can actually set fan speed, plus Stats as the free “just let me see it” option. We compared how you control the fans (fixed RPM, single-sensor range, or curve), which sensors you can drive them from, and what the app does when something gets too hot.
Honestly, the two specialists lead here. TG Pro has the deepest thermal feature set, and Macs Fan Control is the long-standing free choice. Stat Space and iStat Menus make sense if you want fan control inside a monitor you’d run anyway.
Check temperatures and throttling first
Before changing fans, confirm the Mac is actually hot and limiting itself:
# Thermal pressure: Nominal, Moderate, Heavy, Trapping or Sleeping
sudo powermetrics --samplers thermal -i 1000 -n 1
# CPU and GPU power draw in milliwatts
sudo powermetrics --samplers cpu_power,gpu_power -i 1000 -n 1
If pressure stays at Nominal, the chip isn’t throttling and faster fans will only add noise. Our guides on normal Apple Silicon temperatures and thermal throttling go deeper.
Which one should you pick?
- You want the best fan tool, period: TG Pro.
- You want it free and simple: Macs Fan Control.
- You already use iStat Menus: its fan control is probably enough.
- You’re a developer on Apple Silicon running a monitor anyway: Stat Space’s free fan curve.
- You just want to watch the numbers: Stats.
How Stat Space does it
We make Stat Space. Its fan curve reads CPU, GPU or the hottest sensor and maps it to a fan speed, with 3 °C of hysteresis so the fans don’t hunt up and down. Setting fan speed needs root, so it uses a small helper that is only installed when you switch fan control on, and nothing privileged runs otherwise. See fan control in Stat Space.
We make Stat Space, so weigh our pick accordingly. Prices and features as of November 2026; spotted something out of date? Email [email protected].
Questions
Can you control fan speed on an M1, M2 or M3 Mac?
Yes, on Macs that have fans, with a third-party app that installs a privileged helper. MacBook Air models from M1 onward have no fan, so these apps can only show temperatures there.
Is it safe to run Mac fans at a higher speed?
Yes. Fans are built to run at their maximum RPM, and higher speeds only cost noise and a little power. The risk is the other way: forcing fans slower than macOS wants can let the chip throttle harder.
Will higher fan speed make my Mac faster?
Only if it’s throttling. Under sustained load, ramping the fans earlier keeps clocks up for longer; at light load you won’t see a difference.
Does fan control survive a restart?
It depends on the app. Most return the fans to automatic when they quit, and reapply your settings when they launch again at login.
Know what your Mac is doing, without adding to it.
Free, no account. Pro is $9.99 once for the first 100 buyers.