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Looking for an Übersicht alternative? Widgetscape vs Übersicht.
Übersicht runs desktop widgets that you write in JavaScript, and it is free. Widgetscape gives you 31 ready-made native widgets that you add and restyle without code. If you want to script anything, keep Übersicht; if you want a finished desktop in minutes, try Widgetscape. We make Widgetscape, so weigh that.
Facts about Übersicht checked on 10 October 2026, from its website and source repository.
At a glance
| Übersicht | Widgetscape | |
|---|---|---|
| What it is | A host for desktop widgets written as web code | A native app with 31 built-in desktop widgets |
| Widgets are made with | JavaScript and React’s JSX, HTML and CSS; a widget can run any shell command | Swift, by us; no web views, no scripting |
| Getting widgets | Write your own, or download others’ and edit them | Pick from the library and place it; it works |
| Layout | You position each widget with CSS | A grid of 150-pt cells and up to eight sizes; widgets snap into place; hold ⌘ to place freely |
| Look | Whatever each widget’s author styled | 23 palettes (or your own), Light or Dark, and Glass, Solid, Outline or Transparent — for every widget at once |
| Privacy | Depends on each widget’s code | Every widget has a Privacy tab: what it reads, where it goes, which permission it uses |
| Requirements | macOS 12 or later (version 1.6.82) | macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon (M1 or later) |
| Price | Free, open source (GPL-3.0) | 8 widgets free; Widgetscape Pro €9.99 + VAT, one-time, up to 2 Macs |
Where Übersicht is the better choice
- You want to show the output of your own scripts. Any shell command can feed an Übersicht widget. Widgetscape can’t run your code.
- You want full control of the markup and styling. An Übersicht widget is yours to design down to the pixel.
- You want free and open source, or you run macOS 12 or 13, or an Intel Mac — Widgetscape needs macOS 14 and Apple silicon.
Where Widgetscape is the better choice
- You don’t want to write or maintain widgets. Calendar, weather, Now Playing, system and battery monitors, Git status and more are ready to add, with options in a Customize panel rather than in code.
- You want everything to line up and match. One grid, sizes that each have their own layout, and one palette, mode and surface across every widget.
- You want native widgets. They are drawn in Swift, redraw only when what they show changes, and do no work when nobody can see them.
- You want widgets that would take real work to build: Day Timeline, a radio-tuner dial of your calendar along a screen edge, or Token Pulse, token usage from Claude Code, Codex and nine other AI coding tools.
Common Übersicht widgets, and what replaces them
Many Übersicht setups show the same few things. In Widgetscape these are built in: a clock (Time, Analog Clock, World Clock), CPU and memory (System Pulse), network traffic (Network Monitor), battery (Battery Health, Batteries), weather (Weather, from Apple Weather), the current track (Now Playing for Music, Spotify, Safari and Chrome), your calendar (Calendar, Agenda) and Git status (Repo Pulse). A status bar along the top of the screen is the one common setup Widgetscape has no equivalent for.
Widgetscape can’t import Übersicht widgets. The two are separate apps, so you can try Widgetscape without removing anything.
FAQ
Widgetscape vs Übersicht, answered
Is Widgetscape a drop-in replacement for Übersicht?
No. Widgetscape doesn’t run Übersicht widgets or any code you write. It replaces them only if the widgets you need are among its 31: clocks, calendar and agenda, weather, Now Playing, system and battery monitors, Git status, AI token usage and more.
Can Widgetscape run shell commands like Übersicht?
No. Each Widgetscape widget reads one kind of data, natively, and tells you what in its Privacy tab. If you need a widget that shows the output of your own script, Übersicht is the better tool.
Can I use both?
They are separate apps, and nothing stops you from installing both. You could keep a hand-made Übersicht widget for one script and use Widgetscape for everything else.
What does Widgetscape cost compared to Übersicht?
Übersicht is free and open source. Widgetscape has 8 free widgets and a 14-day trial of all of them; Widgetscape Pro is €9.99 + VAT, one-time, for up to 2 Macs.
Try ready-made widgets for 14 days.
All 31 widgets, no account, no card. 8 stay free after the trial.
macOS 14+ · Apple silicon · Notarized by Apple · Not affiliated with Übersicht