Alcove vs Boring Notch
Short answer: install Boring Notch. It's free, open source, and does more — file shelf, HUD replacement and calendar on top of music. Pay Alcove's $17 only if its noticeably more polished presentation is the thing you actually want. Both require macOS 14 Sonoma and a notched MacBook.
Side by side
| Alcove | Boring Notch | Notchy | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Price | $17 one-time | Free | Free |
| Source | Closed source | Open source, GPL-3.0 | Closed source |
| Minimum macOS | macOS 14 Sonoma | macOS 14 Sonoma | macOS 13 Ventura |
| Music + artwork | Yes | Yes, with visualizer | Yes |
| File shelf | No | Yes, with AirDrop | Yes |
| HUD replacement | No | Yes | Yes |
| Calendar | No | Yes | Yes |
| Clipboard history | No | No | Yes |
| Works without a notch | No | No | Yes |
Where each one actually wins
Alcove wins on polish
Alcove is the better-looking app and it isn't close. The animation timing, the way the island expands, the typography — this is a designed product and the $17 buys that care. If you want one thing that shows your music beautifully and nothing else, Alcove is a reasonable purchase.
Boring Notch wins on value and openness
Free, GPL-3.0, and materially more capable: a file shelf that handles AirDrop, replacements for the volume and brightness HUDs, calendar integration and a music visualizer. It's rougher than Alcove, and with 10.3k stars and an active issue tracker it moves like a community project — but you get more, for nothing, and you can read the code.
Where both lose
Both require macOS 14 Sonoma, so a Mac on Ventura is out. And both need a physical notch — on a Mac mini, a Mac Studio, an older MacBook Air or an external monitor, neither app gives you anything. Neither keeps clipboard history either.
The third option
Notchy is free like Boring Notch, runs a generation further back on macOS 13 Ventura, and draws a floating island on Macs with no notch at all — including external monitors. It adds clipboard history on top of the shelf, HUDs, calendar and music both of the others cover. It isn't open source, which is a real point for Boring Notch if auditable code matters to you.
Full breakdowns: Notchy vs Alcove · Notchy vs Boring Notch · Is Boring Notch safe?
Alcove vs Boring Notch — FAQ
Alcove or Boring Notch — which should I install?
Boring Notch, for most people. It's free, open source under GPL-3.0, and does more: a file shelf with AirDrop, HUD replacement and calendar on top of music. Alcove is worth its $17 only if you specifically want its more polished, more designed presentation and don't need the extra tools.
Is Boring Notch as polished as Alcove?
No, and that's the honest trade. Alcove's animation and visual detail are its whole selling point and they are better. Boring Notch is a community project that ships more features but with rougher edges and a busier issue tracker.
Is Alcove worth $17?
If you value the look above all and want one polished thing that does music well, it's a defensible one-time price. If you're comparing on capability, Boring Notch gives you more for nothing, which makes the $17 harder to argue for.
Do both work on my Mac?
Both require macOS 14 Sonoma or later, so on Ventura neither will run. Both support Apple Silicon and Intel, and both need a physical notch — neither draws an island on a Mac without one.
Is Boring Notch safe since it's free?
Yes. It's open source under GPL-3.0 with the full code public on GitHub, so it can be audited. Free and open source is not the same as untrustworthy — get it from the project's own releases rather than an aggregator.
What if I don't have a notched MacBook?
Neither Alcove nor Boring Notch helps you — both require the physical notch. Notchy draws a floating island on a Mac mini, Mac Studio, older MacBook Air or an external monitor, which is the main reason to consider it over either.
Which uses less battery?
Measure it rather than trusting a claim. Open Activity Monitor, idle the app with nothing playing, and read the Energy tab's 12-hour average. Any notch app renders all day, so idle cost is the only figure that matters.