After Testing MenuPiP Hands-On, I Understand Exactly Where PipNow Wins

If you line up all the “turn any window into a mini window” tools on Mac, MenuPiP is probably the one whose feature list comes closest to PipNow’s: any app window becomes a mini window, multiple mini windows, opacity, window size and refresh rate controls, mouse click-through — and the price is friendly (about $6.99 one-time, vs. PipNow from $9.9).

Judged purely on the feature table, MenuPiP looks like a great deal. But we installed it and actually used it, and found several gaps between the feature list and the real experience. This post is about what testing revealed — not a spec-by-spec comparison.

The Shared Foundation First

Tools in this category all work the same way: they copy the window’s image and draw it inside their own overlay. So two things are common:

1. Both need “Screen Recording” permission, and all processing stays local;
2. Both are mirrors — in theory, when the original window is fully covered, the system may stop rendering it, and the mini window freezes on the last frame. This is a structural risk facing every tool in the category. MenuPiP doesn’t solve it; PipNow does (more below).

Four Gaps We Found in Testing

1. Fullscreen display: claimed on their site, doesn’t work in testing. The official page says it supports showing across desktops and over fullscreen apps, but in our actual testing the mini window simply fails to appear over fullscreen apps. If your mental scenario is “chat pinned beside me while I code in fullscreen,” this one item is a dealbreaker.

2. Region capture exists, but with no shortcut. MenuPiP can also turn a selected screen region into a mini window — the same idea as PipNow’s ⌥⌘F. But in testing it has only 1 global shortcut, and region capture isn’t among them; you have to click through the menu every time. Compare that with PipNow’s 8 shortcuts, all fully remappable — ⌥⌘P turns any window into a mini window, ⌥⌘F captures a screen region, both wired into your muscle memory. For high-frequency actions, that difference is exactly where it shows.

3. Freezes when covered — MenuPiP doesn’t solve this. Once the original window is covered by other apps, the mini window sticks on its last frame. That’s exactly how MenuPiP behaved in testing, and the only fix is manually bringing the original window back to the foreground to refresh. PipNow solves this: even when the source window is covered, the mini window keeps updating, so the core scenario of “keeping an eye on status from a corner” never breaks.

4. Inspecting details is all manual. This is the most fundamental difference from PipNow: MenuPiP’s mini window is all you get. To read what’s inside, you resize the window, lower the opacity, or click through to the original window — every action costs you a hand movement.

What PipNow Adds on Top

Put side by side, the gap isn’t any single feature — it’s coverage:

	MenuPiP	PipNow
Any window becomes a mini window	✅	✅ One keypress, ⌥⌘P
Multiple mini windows	✅	✅ No limit
Region becomes a mini window	⚠️ Yes, but no shortcut	✅ One keypress, ⌥⌘F
Hover preview that auto-enlarges	—	✅ Core interaction
Interactive preview	—	✅
Shortcuts	Only 1	✅ 8, fully remappable (⌥⌘P to miniaturize, ⌥⌘F for regions)
Display over fullscreen	Claimed on their site, doesn’t work in testing	Same category-wide issue, doesn’t work (being honest)
Freezes when source is covered	❌ Unsolved	✅ Solved
Mouse click-through	✅	Deliberately dropped: hold fn to tuck the mini window away temporarily — a better experience
Opacity control	✅	✅
Trial	3 days, stops working when the trial ends	7 days with full features, and after that the basic features keep working

Two notes:

• PipNow dropped click-through deliberately — it’s not a missing feature. You usually want click-through because the mini window is blocking something underneath. PipNow’s answer is hold fn and the mini window steps aside temporarily — release, and it comes back. No mode switching, no wondering “which layer did that click land on.” And for “seeing details,” click-through can’t help you anyway — PipNow’s hover preview plus interactive preview handles both “seeing clearly” and “acting on it,” the latter being something MenuPiP simply doesn’t have.

How to Choose

Choose MenuPiP if: you can live with the mini window freezing once the original app is covered, you don’t mind having fewer shortcuts, and you prefer traditional click-through over a better design.

Choose PipNow if: you don’t want the mini window freezing when the app is covered, and you like keyboard shortcuts plus more things you can configure.

PipNow’s free version lets you keep 1 mini window permanently, use hover previews and shortcuts — test every difference above with your own hands without spending a cent, then decide whether to upgrade to the full version (one-time purchase from $9.9).

One More Thing

If what you’re watching is local video or online courses, the Vihover post is a better fit; if you just want a window to stop being covered without shrinking it, a free always-on-top tool is enough — this post explains why.