Can I buy now?
Yes: the $129 lifetime Founding licence, as a pre-order, for the first 200 buyers. Yearly ($49/year) and monthly ($9/month) start when Pairbar 1.0 is released: they're subscriptions, and they shouldn't bill you before there's an app to use. Leave your email on the pricing page and we'll email you once at launch, with the code that makes your first year $39.
When do I get it?
Pairbar for macOS ships soon. If you pre-order, your licence key is emailed right away (it's in your Lemon Squeezy receipt), and the download link is emailed the moment 1.0 is released. Nothing to do until then: download, open, and the key activates it.
What if I change my mind?
Ask any time before the release and you get a full refund, no questions asked; after the release you have the usual 14 days. If the release slips more than 60 days past the expected window shown when you bought, we'll offer you a refund ourselves. Email support@pairbar.com or reply to your receipt.
Do I need both Claude and Codex?
No. Pairbar works with only the Claude desktop app, only the Codex app, or both. With one app you get the whole sidebar: every chat across your projects with live status and notifications, Tasks with PRs and checks, ⌘K search inside conversations, the Skill Library, voice dictation, plan-limit rings, subagent transcripts, workflows and agent actions. Use both and you also get one list for both apps, instant switching, the basket, second opinions and reviews from the other app, and handoff. One licence covers either way.
Is it worth it with only Claude Code?
Yes. With only the Claude app, Pairbar shows every Claude Code chat from every project in one list, says which one needs you and for which command, groups chats by branch with their PRs and checks, searches inside every conversation, manages your skills and Claude Code agents, shows your 5-hour and weekly limits, and lets you dictate prompts that your own Claude polishes. Only the cross-app features (switching, the basket, second opinions from Codex and handoff) need Codex too. The 7-day free trial works with just the app you have.
Does it work with only Codex?
Yes. Pairbar sits over the Codex app the same way: every Codex chat, local and cloud tasks, in one list with live status through Codex's own hooks, Tasks with PRs and checks, search inside conversations, the Skill Library, voice dictation polished by your own Codex, plan limits, workflows and agent actions. The Agents page manages Claude Code agents, so it needs Claude; everything else works with Codex alone.
How does voice dictation work?
Click the mic pill (docked on your screen, and under Claude's and Codex's message box) or press ⌃⌥Space, and talk. The words appear as you speak. When you stop, Whisper refines them on your Mac, then a quick polish by your own Claude or Codex (or on your Mac) tidies them into a clean prompt. Its stop budget scales with dictation length; slower refinements fall back to the available transcript. ↩ sends it to the chat, ⇧↩ lets you review it first, ⌥↩ inserts it to edit, and Esc cancels. It types into any app, puts your clipboard back afterwards, and handles speech in supported languages with English technical terms.
Does voice dictation send my voice anywhere?
No. Speech recognition runs on your Mac. The polish sends only the text to your own Claude or Codex, on the plan you already have, and you can polish on your Mac instead. There's no Pairbar server. Every dictation is kept in a history on your Mac, so nothing you said is lost if something goes wrong.
How does the trial work?
Download Pairbar and use everything free for 7 days, no card or account needed. Buy from the app whenever you like: it unlocks by itself a few seconds after checkout, and everything you set up during the trial is still there.
How do I activate Pairbar?
You don't need to do anything: buy from the app (on the trial line, the lock screen or Settings → Licence) and Pairbar activates itself a few seconds after checkout. No key to copy. The key is also in your receipt email if you ever want to enter it by hand.
Is there a free plan, or a Pro plan?
No tiers: there's one Pairbar, with every feature in every option. You choose only how to pay: yearly, monthly or, while it lasts, lifetime. The free trial has everything on too.
Monthly or yearly?
The same Pairbar either way. Yearly is $49/year ($39 for the first year with the launch code LAUNCH); monthly is $9/month, which comes to $108 over a year, so yearly costs 55% less. Monthly is there if you'd rather not commit to a year.
What is the LAUNCH code?
For the launch, the code LAUNCH takes $10 off the first yearly payment, so the first year is $39; renewals are $49/year. It's filled in for you when you choose yearly on this site or in the app. It applies to the first payment of a yearly subscription only, and only for a limited launch period.
What does lifetime include?
Every feature, on up to 3 of your own Macs, for $129 once, with the updates we publish for as long as Pairbar is maintained. The licence never expires and there's nothing to renew; if Pairbar is ever discontinued, your copy keeps working as far as macOS and the Claude and Codex apps allow (the Terms of Sale explain). It's the same 14-day refund as the subscriptions.
What happens after the first 200 lifetime licences?
Lifetime is then removed from the site and the app, and yearly and monthly stay. Everyone who bought lifetime keeps it, with updates for as long as Pairbar is maintained. It's limited because keeping up with the Claude and Codex apps is ongoing work that the subscriptions pay for.
Why a subscription?
Claude and Codex change their desktop apps often, and Pairbar has to keep up with every change so it keeps sitting exactly over them. The subscription ($49/year or $9/month) pays for that ongoing compatibility work, and for every update and new feature. If you'd rather pay once, lifetime is open to the first 200 buyers.
What happens if I cancel?
Cancel anytime from your Lemon Squeezy account (app.lemonsqueezy.com/my-orders). Pairbar keeps working until the end of the month or year you paid for. If the subscription then ends, it keeps working for 14 more days, then locks until you subscribe again. Nothing is deleted: subscribe again and everything you set up is still there.
How many Macs can I use it on?
Up to 3 Macs of your own, whichever option you choose. Moving to a new Mac? Choose Settings → Licence → Deactivate this Mac on the old one if you've used all 3.
New Mac?
Install Pairbar, then go to
pairbar.com/activate and enter the email you bought with. We email you a link that opens Pairbar and activates it: no password, no key to copy. If all 3 Macs are in use, free one first in Settings → Licence → Deactivate this Mac on the old one.
What does Pairbar do with my chats?
Pairbar indexes your chats and stores Notes locally, with no analytics or crash reporting. Messages, attachments and workflow prompts you choose to send go through your configured Claude or Codex provider. Pairbar also makes requests for licence and subscription activation, update checks and optional speech-model downloads. The privacy page describes these connections.
Will Pairbar show up when I share my screen?
By default, yes: Pairbar's windows appear in screenshots (Coming Soon), recordings and shared screens like any app. To keep chat titles out of a meeting, turn on Settings → About & advanced → Hide Pairbar from screenshots (Coming Soon) and screen sharing; the sidebar, quick search and the basket then stay out of them. Some capture (Coming Soon) tools may not honour this.
Does it change Claude or Codex?
No. It sits on top of the apps and never patches or injects into them. Chats open through the apps' own links, and forks and follow-ups use their own command-line tools. The optional integrations (live status and Pairbar's tools) add their entries to the apps' settings only when you install them.
Does Pairbar change my Claude or Codex settings?
Only when you click Install… in Settings → Integrations, and it's reversible. Live status adds Pairbar's hooks to ~/.claude/settings.json, or one block at the end of ~/.codex/config.toml, after saving a backup, and changes nothing else in the file. Pairbar's tools add a plugin in ~/.pairbar/plugins, linked into ~/.claude/skills for Claude and installed with Codex's own commands. Uninstall removes exactly what Install added. Everything else in Pairbar works without installing anything. Pairbar normally starts no claude of its own: plan limits come from Claude Code's status line, which the same Install sets up. And when a new Claude Code version updates ~/.claude/settings.json, that's Claude's own change: Pairbar never undoes it.
What do the hooks send?
Only what Pairbar needs to show status: the chat's id, its folder, the event's name (a tool call, a permission request, a stop) and a short tool summary such as “Bash · git push”, a file's name or a URL's host. Never your prompts, a tool's input or output, or the agent's replies. It goes over a private socket on your Mac that only your account can use; nothing goes over the network, and if Pairbar isn't running the event is simply dropped.
Can my agents see my other chats through Pairbar?
Only if you install Pairbar's tools. A Claude or Codex chat can ask for its own project's chats and tasks as metadata (title, status, branch, PR), never their messages; other projects only if you allow it. Secrets are masked, calls are rate-limited, and every call is listed in Settings → Integrations → Agent activity.
Can an agent run things without me?
Only what you allow. With Pairbar's tools installed, a chat can ask for a second opinion, a review, a helper chat, a handoff, a workflow run or a check-in, and by default anything that starts a chat waits for your Approve in Pairbar. Agents can never approve, whatever they send. You can set each kind to Off, Ask me or Allow, allow a chat's read-only requests for an hour, or mark a workflow Agents may run this; helpers that run commands or edit files are asked every time. A helper never gets more access than the chat that asked, budgets cap how many run, and Pause agent actions or Stop all ends it at once.
What do the agent actions cost?
Nothing extra from Pairbar. Helpers, reviews and workflow runs are real Claude and Codex chats started with your own claude and codex command-line tools, so they use the plans you already have, like any chat you start yourself. No API keys. Pairbar keeps a share of each plan for you (25% to start with) and won't start a helper on an app with less left than that.
What is the basket?
One of Pairbar's two window layouts: Claude and Codex docked side by side, stacked, or one at a time (Focus) inside one Pairbar frame with one sidebar, moving and resizing together like one window. The other layout, Overlay, lays the sidebar over the app in front, and opening a chat of the other app brings its window to the same spot.
Will Pairbar change my skills?
Only when you pick a fix in the Skills tab and approve its plan, which lists every file operation first. Replaced files are backed up, removed copies go to the Trash, and Undo puts it all back. It never edits a plugin's, claude.ai's or Codex's own skills, or a copy another tool manages.
Why isn't it in the Mac App Store?
Pairbar needs to read Claude's and Codex's local files, run your claude, codex, gh and git, and move windows with Accessibility, and the App Store's sandbox doesn't allow that. It's signed with a Developer ID and notarized by Apple, and updates itself securely.
Can I get a refund?
Yes. Ask within 14 days of your first payment, for any plan (lifetime included), and you get it back in full, no questions asked; a renewal you didn’t mean to keep, within 7 days if you haven’t used Pairbar since. Refunds are paid by Lemon Squeezy; a refunded licence stops working.
Refund policyIs Pairbar made by Anthropic or OpenAI?
No. Pairbar is independent and isn't affiliated with or endorsed by Anthropic or OpenAI. “Claude”, “Claude Code” and “Codex” are trademarks of their owners.
What are the system requirements?
macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later, on a Mac with Apple silicon; the Claude desktop app, the Codex desktop app, or both. Optional: the claude and codex command-line tools (plan limits, forks, follow-ups, workflows) and gh (pull-request status). An internet connection to activate the licence.
I lost my licence key.
You don’t need it:
get an activation link by email instead. The key is also in the receipt email from Lemon Squeezy and at
app.lemonsqueezy.com/my-orders, or email
support@pairbar.com.