Pro Travel
Safari
Night Drive
Cloud backup
Hotspot data gone in an hour? Travel blocks backups and updates.
Save hotspot data
Stop your Mac burning through your hotspot.
Backups, updates and photo sync can use gigabytes the moment you tether. Kilobat shows which apps are doing it and blocks them on capped connections.
brew install seifip/kilobat/kilobat- Free forever
- Pro $19 once
- 14-day refunds
- macOS 14+
- Open-source CLI
Why a Mac eats hotspot data
A Mac assumes it is on unlimited Wi-Fi. Join your phone’s hotspot and it carries on: iCloud Photos and Drive sync, backups, macOS and app updates, cloud folders, and video that quietly picks a higher quality.
macOS has a per-network Low Data Mode (System Settings → Wi-Fi → Details), and it helps, but apps decide for themselves whether to respect it. It doesn’t tell you what is still using data, and it doesn’t stop anything.
How Kilobat keeps your plan intact
See who is using data
Live upload and download for every app, in the menu bar. Free.
Block the background
The Travel profile allows only the apps you choose. It can switch on by itself on metered networks.
Set a budget
Once the budget is used up, Kilobat stops new connections, so the plan doesn’t run over.
Questions
Does Kilobat know I am on a hotspot?
It uses macOS network cost detection, including supported personal hotspots, to switch to Travel when you join a metered network. You can also mark any network as a hotspot.
Will blocked apps break?
Blocked apps can’t reach the internet until you allow them or switch profiles. Filtering affects new connections; existing ones may continue until they reconnect.
Is this free?
Seeing which apps use data is free. Blocking, profiles and budgets are part of Pro, $19 once, with a 14-day free trial.
Get your network out of the dark.
brew install seifip/kilobat/kilobat