Put a single task in your menu bar and keep it in view until it is done.
Our take
From prolific indie developer Sindre Sorhus. The whole app is the idea: one line of text at the top of your screen stating what you are supposed to be doing. Free, tiny, and surprisingly effective.
- Price
- Free
- License
- Proprietary
- Version
- 2.0.2
- Requires
- macOS 26 or later (older builds support macOS 12+)
- Get it via
- Mac App Store
- Developer
- Sindre Sorhus
Do you use One Thing?
Who made this
Also makes 2 others — Aiko , System Color Picker
A well-known open-source Mac and Node.js maintainer, extremely well-documented across his own site, GitHub, and social profiles.
Site (opens in new tab) GitHub (opens in new tab) X (opens in new tab) Mastodon (opens in new tab)
What it does
One line, always visible
Type a task or goal directly into the menu bar and it stays there until you clear it.
Markdown styling
Bold, italic, strikethrough, and links work right in the menu bar text.
Drag and drop
Drag text in from any app to set it as your current task.
Services and Shortcuts
Send selected text from any app via macOS Services, a URL scheme, or the Shortcuts app.
Quick clear
Return or Esc closes the editor; Shift-click clears the task.
The deal
- Completely free — no ads, no in-app purchases
One Thing — questions people ask
Is One Thing free?
Yes — One Thing is free.
Does One Thing work alongside a notch app like Alcove?
Yes — One Thing lives in the menu bar, so it runs happily alongside any Dynamic Island hub or notch app.
Where can I download One Thing?
One Thing is available via Mac App Store.
Reviews
No public ratings yet. Reader reviews are coming to Kitsmith soon.
Listing hand-verified July 27, 2026 from the developer's site and public sources.
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