SMART Utility review
Detailed Mac SMART monitoring with self-tests and alerts, sold as a one-time license.
Reviewed by iTechGuides Editors · Editorial team · Updated Oct 2026
SMART Utility is a macOS application for reading and displaying S.M.A.R.T. diagnostics from internal hard drives and SSDs, with limited support for some external drives. It is aimed at Mac users who want more than a basic drive-health indicator, including attribute-level data, built-in self-tests, logs, reports, and warnings about potentially failing drives. The application displays drive model, capacity, power-on hours, temperature, bad-sector counts, errors, and overall health status.
The licensing structure is simple and one-time. A Personal license costs $25, while a Family license costs $40. A Business license is $100, an Educational site license is $65, and a Consultant license is $350. The published plans do not describe a free plan. This makes SMART Utility a fit for individuals, families, organizations, educational sites, and consultants who prefer a perpetual purchase over recurring billing, with the appropriate license depending on the intended use.
Its strongest area is detailed local monitoring. SMART Utility can run short and long drive self-tests, scan in the background at configurable polling intervals, apply a pre-fail algorithm, and send Growl or email notifications. It can also log information, save or print drive reports, and scan supported RAID drives and some external enclosures. Growl and smartmontools provide ecosystem connections, but the application remains focused on Mac-based local monitoring. Buyers needing verified SSD wear information, remote monitoring, broader external-drive coverage, or a non-macOS platform should choose an alternative. SMART Utility is the better match for Mac users who value detailed SMART reporting and one-time pricing.
SMART Utility pros and cons
- Where it wins
- Detailed SMART attributes, health status, temperatures, and error data
- Background scans, self-tests, pre-fail warnings, and notifications
- Saves or prints reports and supports selected RAID drives and enclosures
- Where it doesn't
- macOS only
- No verified SSD wear monitoring or remote monitoring
- External-drive and enclosure support is limited
SMART Utility fact sheet, pricing and score →
Advertiser disclosure: iTechGuides is reader-supported. Vendors can pay for top positions in our rankings and for a place on other products' pages, and we may earn a commission when you click some links. Bought places stand at the number bought; this page and our disclosure say so. Paying vendors may get a fuller, more detailed review from our editors, and that review can change their score. How we rank.
Last updated · How we research and update