The free FavTray Alternative that lives in the notch
FavTray bundles fifteen developer tools behind a single menu bar icon — an eye rest timer, AI usage tracking, keep awake, window management, cloud costs, system info, port kill, a menu bar manager, GitHub notifications, reminders, meetings, an AI writer, screenshots, agent session monitoring, and FavShelf, its Dynamic Island widget for the notch. It has a free tier, with Personal at ₹49 per month and Lifetime at ₹999. Notchy takes the opposite shape: the notch is the home rather than an add-on, everything is in one build, and nothing is billed.
- FavTray price
- Free tier; Personal ₹49/month; Lifetime ₹999 one-time
- FavTray requires
- macOS 14 (Sonoma) or later
- Notchy price
- Free — donations optional
Why use Notchy instead of FavTray?
- No subscription, no lifetime upsell
FavTray's paid plans are ₹49 per month or ₹999 once, both for a single Mac. Notchy has no plan, no seat count and no licence key — it is funded by optional donations.
- The notch is the product, not a widget inside it
FavShelf is one of FavTray's fifteen tools, reached from a menu bar icon. In Notchy the island is where everything happens: media, clipboard, shelf, timers, HUDs and stats all expand from the cutout, and there is a menu bar icon only if you want one.
- Most of the toolkit is already there
20-20-20 break reminders, AI usage and spend tracking, keep awake, window snapping into halves, quarters and thirds, live CPU, GPU, memory and network, listening-port management for port 3000, hiding menu bar icons, Apple Reminders, calendar and meetings, an on-device AI clipboard that rewrites text, screenshot capture with markup, and Claude Code approvals.
- Where FavTray does something Notchy doesn't
AWS and GCP billing at a glance, and GitHub pull-request and review notifications. Notchy tracks AI provider spend but not cloud bills, and has no GitHub integration. If those two are the reason you are looking, FavTray covers them and Notchy does not.
How Notchy stacks up
Honest, feature-by-feature comparison of every major macOS notch app — no affiliates.
Swipe the table sideways to see every app.
| 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
The honest verdict on FavTray
FavTray is a well-judged bundle and the cloud-cost and GitHub tools are things Notchy genuinely does not do. But it is a menu bar app with a notch widget attached, priced monthly, starting at Sonoma — where Notchy is a notch app with the same toolkit inside it, free, from Ventura up.
FavTray alternative — FAQ
How much does FavTray cost?
Its site lists a free tier at ₹0, Personal at ₹49 per month for one Mac, and Lifetime at ₹999 as a one-time payment for one Mac.
What macOS does FavTray need?
macOS 14 Sonoma or later, per its own site. Notchy requires macOS 13 Ventura or later, so it installs on roughly a year more of Macs.
Is FavShelf the same as FavTray?
FavShelf is the Dynamic Island widget inside FavTray — one of the fifteen tools the app bundles, rather than a separate product.
Does Notchy track AI usage like FavTray?
Yes — usage and spend across AI providers, plus Claude Code permission approvals you answer from the notch while the agent waits, and long-command islands that tell you when a build finished.
Does Notchy have a port killer and a menu bar manager?
Both. Listening ports shows what is holding port 3000 and lets you stop it, and menu bar icons can be hidden, with the extras the cutout covers still clickable.
Is Notchy really free?
Yes — no trial, licence key, subscription or in-app purchase, on macOS 13 Ventura and later.