Introducing PingKit Agent: Always-On Network Monitoring for Mac

Published March 10, 2026 · 5 min read

PingKit started as a toolkit — 19 network diagnostic tools in your pocket. But diagnostics are reactive. You run a speed test when your video call stutters. You scan your network after something feels wrong. By then, the problem has already happened.

PingKit Agent changes that. It turns your Mac into a 24/7 network guardian that watches your home network around the clock and sends instant alerts to your iPhone when something needs your attention.

Why a Mac Agent?

Your Mac is already on your network. It's already plugged in and running. Unlike dedicated monitoring hardware that costs $50–$100+, your Mac can do the job without any additional equipment.

PingKit Agent runs silently in your menu bar — no dock icon, no windows to manage. It launches at login and works in the background while you use your Mac normally. The overhead is minimal: a few megabytes of RAM and negligible CPU usage.

What It Monitors

PingKit Agent runs eight monitoring functions simultaneously, all configurable from the menu bar:

How It Works

Getting started takes about a minute:

1. Install PingKit Agent from the Mac App Store (coming soon). It appears in your menu bar immediately — no setup wizard, no account creation.
2. Grant local network access when prompted. This allows the agent to discover devices on your network using the same protocols your router uses.
3. Name your devices. The agent discovers every device on your network. Tap each one to give it a friendly name (e.g., "Living Room TV", "Dad's Laptop"). Named devices become trusted — unnamed ones trigger intruder alerts.

That's it. From this point on, PingKit Agent monitors your network continuously. You'll see a small icon in your menu bar that changes colour based on network health: green for healthy, yellow for warnings, red for problems.

iCloud Sync — No Servers Required

Everything the agent discovers syncs to PingKit on your iPhone via your personal iCloud account. This means:

• No accounts to create. If you're signed into iCloud on both devices, sync just works.
• Sync through iCloud. Your monitoring data syncs via your personal iCloud account — we never see it. AI features send anonymous network data to our secure AI service for analysis.
• No cloud subscription fees. iCloud sync uses your existing iCloud storage — the data footprint is tiny.

When the agent detects something — a new device, a latency spike, an internet outage — it writes to CloudKit. PingKit on your iPhone picks it up and shows the alert. The result feels like a native notification, because it is one.

Who Is This For?

PingKit Agent is built for people who want to know what's happening on their home network without needing a networking degree:

• Parents who want to know when new devices connect to their home WiFi
• Remote workers who need reliable internet and want early warning of connection issues
• Gamers who want to track latency trends and catch ISP performance dips
• Security-conscious users who want to keep an eye on their network perimeter
• Anyone frustrated with ISP reliability who wants hard data on actual speeds over time

Pricing

Update (March 2026): We've simplified pricing. All 19 iOS tools are now completely free. The only subscription is PingKit Guardian, which unlocks the Mac Agent, security scoring, iCloud sync, and smart alerts:

That's it — one simple plan. All 19 iOS diagnostic tools (ping, speed test, traceroute, port scanner, and more) are completely free with no limits. Guardian adds the Mac Agent for 24/7 monitoring, security scoring, and iCloud sync to your iPhone.

Private by Design

We built PingKit Agent with the same privacy philosophy as PingKit for iOS: your data stays yours. The agent doesn't phone home, doesn't collect analytics, and doesn't require an account. Network scans, device lists, speed test results — all of it stays on your Mac and in your personal iCloud. We never see it.