Cooked vs AlDente
These two do the same job: they stop your Mac at a number instead of parking it at 100%. The choice isn’t really about the limit. It’s about what the free app does before you pay, and about what a licence costs once you decide it’s worth paying for.
Cooked
Native macOS charge limiter
- 20–100%
- Limit range
- 1
- Macs per licence
- Free, €24.99/yr or €49 once
- Price
AlDente
Native macOS charge limiter
- 20–100%
- Limit range
- Up to 3
- Macs per licence
- Free, €11.49/yr or €23.99 once
- Price
Feature by feature
| Feature | Cooked | AlDente |
|---|---|---|
| Charge limit range | 20–100% | 20–100% |
| Holds the limit with no licence | included | included |
| Discharges down to your target on its own | included | paid |
| Menu bar icon shows what it’s doing | included | paid |
| Live health and temperature | included | paid |
| MagSafe light follows your limit | paid | paid |
| One-tap 100%, then back to your limit | paid | paid |
| Pauses charging when hot | paid | paid |
| Calibrates the battery gauge | paid | paid |
| Battery history, from today back to months ago | paid | no |
| 12-month health projection | paid | no |
| Charging on a schedule | no | paid |
| Apple Shortcuts automation | no | paid |
| Macs covered by one licence | 1 | Up to 3 |
| Price | Free, €24.99/yr or €49 once | Free, €11.49/yr or €23.99 once |
- included
- no
“Paid” marks what needs a licence, in both columns. AlDente’s free app limits charging and discharges on demand; everything else on their list is Pro, including automatic discharge, status icons, heat protection and top-up. Both apps run on Apple Silicon.
Checked on August 5, 2026 against AppHouseKitchen’s own feature list and pricing page, and checked again before every release. The Cooked column is what you can use today, not what’s planned.
Where they actually differ
Compare the free apps first
Most people never pay either of us, so this is the row that decides it. AlDente free holds your limit and discharges when you ask it to. Cooked free holds the limit, walks back down to your target on its own, says what it’s doing in the menu bar, and shows live health and temperature. Those four are Pro features on the other side.
AlDente Pro costs less, and covers more Macs
€11.49 a year or €23.99 once, on up to three MacBooks. Cooked is €24.99 a year or €49 once, on one Mac. If price per Mac is what decides it, they win, and no amount of writing changes that. What we put against it: fourteen days to change your mind, and a free tier you can stay on forever.
Automation is theirs
AlDente Pro charges on a schedule and plugs into Apple Shortcuts. Cooked does neither, and there’s nothing in progress. If your Mac is already wired into Shortcuts, that’s a real reason to go the other way.
So which one?
Choose Cooked if
- You want the limit, the automatic discharge and the live readout without paying anything.
- You want to see what the battery has been doing, today and months back.
- You want fourteen days to change your mind after you buy.
Choose AlDente if
- You want the lowest price, or one licence that covers up to three MacBooks.
- You want charging on a schedule, or Apple Shortcuts in your automations.
- You already run it and it has never got in your way. Switching costs more than it returns.
Where these facts come from
Every box above comes from a public page we read ourselves, not from memory. Here’s the trail, so you can disagree with us.
Compare Cooked with something else
Set your limit once. That’s the whole job.
Free forever, no account, no tracking. Apple Silicon (M1 or newer), macOS 13 Ventura or newer.