Atoll alternative: same price, more Macs
Atoll is a good, genuinely free Dynamic Island for macOS — and it needs a notched MacBook Pro running macOS 14. Notchy is free too, runs back to macOS 13 Ventura, and puts the same island on Macs that have no notch at all.
| Atoll | Notchy | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — GPL-3.0, open source | Free — optional donations |
| Hardware | Notched MacBook Pro (14″/16″) | Any Mac — notch, no notch, or external display |
| macOS | 14 Sonoma or later | 13 Ventura or later |
| Install | DMG from GitHub releases | Signed DMG or brew install --cask notchy |
| Languages | English | 20+, natively localised |
| For developers | — | AI usage, Claude Code approvals, terminal, GitHub PRs |
From Atoll's own README and GitHub releases, checked against Notchy's shipping build.
The notch requirement is the real difference
Atoll is built for the cutout. If your Mac doesn't have one — a Mac mini on a monitor, an older Air, a docked MacBook driving a big display — there's nothing for it to attach to. Notchy draws a floating island on displays with no notch, and follows you between them.
Where the feature lists diverge
Media, stats, timers, clipboard and lock-screen widgets exist in both. Notchy goes further for people who work in a terminal: AI usage and spend, Claude Code approvals, GitHub PR and CI status and a real shell in the island.
Both are free, and that's the point
Atoll is GPL-3.0 and asks for nothing. Notchy asks for nothing either — no trial, no licence key, no subscription, funded by optional donations. Nobody here is trying to talk you out of an open-source app on price.
Already have Atoll installed?
Don't run the two at once — they'll compete for the same notch and the same media keys. If you're switching, here's how to remove Atoll cleanly, preferences and caches included.
How Notchy stacks up
Honest, feature-by-feature comparison of every major macOS notch app — no affiliates.
| Feature | Notchy | Alcove | NotchNook | Boring Notch | DynamicLake | MediaMate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 100% Free | $17 one-time | $25 (or $3/mo) | Free (Open Source) | Paid | Paid |
| Minimum macOS | macOS 13 Ventura+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ |
| Architecture | Pure SwiftUI (Native) | Swift (Native) | Swift (Native) | Swift (Open Source) | Swift (Native) | Swift (Native) |
| Now Playing Controls | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI Usage Tracker (Claude / Codex / Cursor) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Command Palette (⌃⌥K) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Localized (134 languages) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Clipboard History | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pomodoro Focus Timer | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| File Stash / Drop Shelf | Yes | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| System HUDs (Volume/Brightness) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AirPods Connected Reveal | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | — | — |
| Lock Screen Widgets | Yes | Yes | — | — | — | — |
| Quick Notes | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Calendar Widget | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | Yes | — |
| Caffeine Toggle | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Synced Lyrics | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Image Converter (HEIC/JPG/PDF) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Apple Reminders Capture | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Audio Output Switcher | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Device Battery (Mouse/Keyboard) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Download Finished Alerts | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Run Apple Shortcuts | Yes | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| Camera Mirror / Webcam Preview | Yes | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| Zip & Unzip Files | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hide the Notch | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Window Snapping (drag to notch) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| App Launcher Tab | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| OCR + Searchable Clipboard | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Text Snippets / Expander | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Menu-Bar Icon Hiding | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| System-Wide Mic Mute | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Live System Stats (CPU/RAM) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| iPhone-Style Call Island | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Built-In Terminal | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Camera/Mic Privacy Indicator | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
Everything Notchy does, for free
- Fluid Dynamic Island animations on the Mac notch
- Command palette (⌃⌥K) — every action one keystroke away
- Knock — double-tap a modifier key to open the notch
- AI usage tracker (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot)
- Detach any tab into a menu-bar popover
- Now Playing music controls (Apple Music & Spotify)
- Time-synced karaoke lyrics under the notch
- Mac clipboard history shelf (password-manager safe)
- Searchable clipboard — filter by text, file name, or OCR'd words
- On-device OCR — copy a screenshot, get its text (Apple Vision)
- Window snapping — drag a window to the notch to tile it
- App Launcher — pin apps to the notch, open with one tap
- Text snippets — TextExpander-style pastes from the ⌘K palette
- One-tap screen capture to clipboard + shelf
- Color eyedropper — sample any pixel, hex auto-copied
- System-wide mic mute for every meeting app at once
- Keystroke HUD for demos & screencasts (secure-input safe)
- Keyboard cleaning lock with countdown island (⌘⎋ unlocks)
- Menu-bar icon hiding — Bartender-style separator & chevron
- Live CPU / memory / network stats flyout
- Open GitHub PR count in the notch (Keychain-stored token)
- iPhone-style call island — Answer/Decline FaceTime on the notch
- Notch Terminal — real VT100/xterm shell in a PTY, its own tab
- Privacy Indicator — pill when any app's camera or mic goes live
- Caps Lock HUD — brief island on every toggle
- Full Charge island with adjustable threshold + low-battery sound
- Alt HUD styles — edge-pinned bar or circular gauge off the notch
- Audio-reactive Now Playing visualizer (real FFT of system audio)
- Custom closed-notch idle animation — drop in your own Lottie JSON
- Drag-and-drop file drop shelf — persists across relaunches
- Zip & unzip files right from the shelf
- Image converter (HEIC, PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF) + video → GIF
- Run Apple Shortcuts with one tap
- Screenshots auto-staged on the shelf, ready to drag
- Download finished alerts with Reveal in Finder
- USB drive mount island with one-tap Eject
- Apple Reminders quick capture & due list
- macOS Pomodoro notch timer & stopwatch — streaks + 7-day chart
- Resizable expanded panel (width & height, live preview)
- System HUDs (volume, brightness, battery)
- Audio output switcher (speakers, AirPods, monitor)
- AirPods connection manager & battery
- Magic Mouse, Keyboard & Trackpad battery + low-battery alerts
- Quick notes & Calendar widgets
- Camera Mirror (check your appearance)
- Keep Awake (caffeine toggle)
- Teleprompter (Cuely) for Zoom calls
- Focus-aware alerts & native haptic feedback
- Lock screen widgets & hide-the-notch mode
- 133 languages, fully localized
- Native SwiftUI, tuned for Apple Silicon
Notchy vs Atoll — FAQ
Is Atoll free?
Yes. Atoll is open source under GPL-3.0 and costs nothing. So is Notchy — free, with optional donations and no trial, licence or subscription. Price isn't the thing to pick on here; hardware support and feature breadth are.
Does Atoll work on a Mac without a notch?
No. Atoll asks for a MacBook with a notch — the 14- and 16-inch MacBook Pros. Notchy also runs as a floating island on Macs that have no notch at all: MacBook Airs before the notch, a Mac mini or Mac Studio on an external display, and any second monitor.
What macOS does each one need?
Atoll requires macOS 14 Sonoma or later. Notchy runs back to macOS 13 Ventura, so a 2020–2022 Mac that Apple stopped updating still gets the island.
What does Notchy do that Atoll doesn't?
The overlap is real — both do media, live activities, system stats, timers, clipboard and lock-screen widgets. Notchy adds AI usage tracking for Claude, ChatGPT, Cursor and Copilot, Claude Code approvals from the notch, a VT100 terminal in the island, GitHub PR and CI status, OCR, window snapping, an app launcher, text snippets, a knock gesture, and 20+ interface languages.
Do I have to build it myself?
Atoll ships a DMG on GitHub, so no — though building from source needs Xcode 15+. Notchy ships a signed, notarised DMG and a Homebrew cask (brew install --cask notchy), and updates itself in place.
Can I run both?
You can install both, but you shouldn't run them at once — two apps drawing on the same notch and intercepting the same media keys will fight. Pick one, and quit the other from its menu bar item.
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