Apple limits charging to 80%. AlDente is single-platform. ThunderVolt enforces custom limits through a system daemon — and extends to your iPhone and Apple Watch.
No credit card required · Apple Notarized
Hardware-level battery management built for serious Mac users.
ThunderVolt follows you across your entire Apple ecosystem. Monitor charge health on your iPhone, glance at your wrist, and control everything from anywhere — no Mac required.
Every serious battery manager on macOS — including AlDente — uses Apple's IOKit to control charging hardware. That's the correct, documented way. The difference is what ThunderVolt's daemon does with that access: real-time thermal monitoring, calendar-aware Smart Context, configurable hysteresis bands, and live sync to your iPhone and Apple Watch. AlDente does none of this.
Start Free Trial →Apple's native charge limiter is Mac-only. ThunderVolt lets you monitor and adjust every MacBook in your household from your iPhone or Apple Watch. Toggle Storage Mode, view live charge, get heat alerts — from any room, any device.
Start 7-Day Free Trial →ThunderVolt tracks your real health trend as −%/month and predicts your battery replacement date months before Apple's Battery Health indicator moves a single point. No guesswork. Just data.
See All Pro Features →Your limit is 75%. You have a 3-hour flight tomorrow at 9am. ThunderVolt sees it in your calendar, charges to 100% tonight, then drops back after you land. No other app in the world does this.
AlDente is the category leader with 700,000 users. Here's what it can't do.
| Capability | macOS Native (26.4+) |
AlDente Free · Pro €11.49/yr |
ThunderVolt Free · Pro from $2.99/mo |
|---|---|---|---|
| 80–100% charge limit | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Battery health monitoring | ✔ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Sub-80% limits (60%, 70%, 75%) | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Storage Mode — 50% limit | ✘ | ✘ min 20% | ✔ |
| Sailing / Hysteresis band | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Discharge to target % while plugged in | ✘ | ✔ manual | ✔ |
| Works lid-closed & during sleep | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
| Thermal / heat protection | ✘ | ✔ | ✔ |
| MagSafe LED status control | ✘ | ✔ | → coming soon |
| Calendar-aware charging | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Degradation forecasting & insights | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Remote control from iPhone & Watch | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
| Fleet sync — multiple Macs | ✘ | ✘ | ✔ |
AlDente: free direct download + Pro from €11.49/yr · ThunderVolt: free direct download + Pro from $2.99/mo, 7-day trial, no credit card
One install. No configuration needed. ThunderVolt handles every edge case from there.
One .dmg install. Grant the daemon permission once — ThunderVolt is the only battery app that works across Mac, iPhone, and Apple Watch.
Pick 80%, 75%, 60%, or any custom threshold — including sub-80% levels macOS and AlDente can't reach.
Smart Context, thermal protection, and fleet sync run silently. ThunderVolt handles every edge case automatically.