A few months ago I opened an AI bill and had that annoying founder moment: I knew the number was real, but I could not tell where it was coming from fast enough.
That is the kind of problem I like to fix. Not because it is glamorous, but because it hits every day. If you use AI a lot, cost is part of the product, not a receipt you check later.
So I built TokenBar. It sits in the macOS menu bar and shows token usage in real time, so I can see what I am spending while I am working.
What I wanted was simple:
- less surprise
- more visibility
- fewer βwait, why was that so expensive?β moments
I am still a solo dev, which means I care a lot about tools that reduce friction instead of adding another dashboard to ignore.
If you are shipping with AI every day, the cost story matters. You do not need more hype. You need something that makes the tradeoff visible.
That is TokenBar.
![Defluffer - reduce token usage π by 45% using this one simple trick! [Earthday challenge]](https://media2.dev.to/dynamic/image/width=1000,height=420,fit=cover,gravity=auto,format=auto/https%3A%2F%2Fdev-to-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fuploads%2Farticles%2Fiekbgepcutl4jse0sfs0.png)
