BuildCaptainBuildCaptain vs CCMenu: Jenkins in the Mac menu bar
CCMenu has been watching build lights on the Mac for years, and it costs nothing. It reads CCTray feeds and shows one status per project. BuildCaptain trades that breadth for depth: Jenkins only, but with the full stage graph, step logs, and build controls behind every pinned pipeline.
What CCMenu does well
CCMenu is a small, free, open-source macOS menu bar app. It reads the cctray.xml feed that most CI servers publish, so it can watch Jenkins next to TeamCity or anything else your team runs, all in one list of status dots. Nothing to buy, and nothing to configure beyond a feed URL.
Side by side
| What you get | BuildCaptain | CCMenu |
|---|---|---|
| Platform | Native SwiftUI app, macOS 14 or newer | Open-source macOS menu bar app |
| CI servers | Jenkins only, with the Pipeline Graph View plugin | Any CI server that publishes a CCTray feed |
| Where it lives | Your macOS menu bar | Your macOS menu bar |
| Stage view | Nested and parallel stages with step logs | No — one pass/fail status per project |
| Run, stop, rebuild | Run, stop, and rebuild with build parameters | No — CCMenu only watches |
| Notifications | Native failure, recovery, and completion alerts | Pass/fail status in the menu bar |
| Price | One-time Mac App Store purchase | Free and open source |
When CCMenu is the right choice
Choose CCMenu if a status dot per project is all you need, if you watch several different CI servers at once, or if a free open-source tool is a hard requirement. It has done that one job well for a long time.
When BuildCaptain is the right choice
Choose BuildCaptain if your builds live in Jenkins and the dot is never the end of the story. When a pipeline turns red you get the nested and parallel stage graph, the failing step's log, and a rebuild button — without opening Jenkins in a browser. One purchase on the Mac App Store, macOS 14 or newer, and the Pipeline Graph View plugin on your server.
Ready to take the helm?
Get BuildCaptain on the Mac App Store, connect your Jenkins server, and pin your first pipeline in under two minutes.
