Horo alternative: the countdown, on the notch
Horo is a fast, well-made menu bar timer with a Pro tier for tracking. Notchy runs a Pomodoro cycle, countdown and stopwatch from the notch — free, with nothing behind an upgrade.
| Horo | Notchy | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free basic · paid Pro tier | Free — optional donations |
| Countdown & stopwatch | Yes | Yes |
| Natural language input | Yes — type '25m' | No — set from the notch |
| Multiple simultaneous timers | Yes | Pomodoro plus a countdown |
| Time tracking & reports | Pro only | No |
| Where it counts down | Menu bar | The notch |
| Anything beyond timers | No | 50+ tools in the same island |
From Horo’s own site and Mac App Store listing, checked against Notchy’s shipping build.
Typing a duration is genuinely nice
Horo's natural language input — type the time, hit Return — is faster than any click-based timer, Notchy's included. If that is the interaction you want, Horo is the better tool and this page will not argue.
A countdown you can see without looking away
The point of a visible timer is peripheral awareness. On the notch it sits above your work rather than shrinking into a crowded menu bar.
Pomodoro without the upgrade prompt
Work and break intervals with a live ring on the island, free — no Pro tier, and nothing that asks you to buy anything mid-session.
Where Horo goes further
Several named timers at once, project tags and reports afterwards. Notchy does not do time tracking, so if you bill by the hour, Horo Pro is doing a job Notchy isn't.
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 Horo — FAQ
Is Horo free?
The basic timer is free on the Mac App Store, with a paid Pro version adding project tagging and time-tracking reports. Notchy's timers are free with nothing held back, but Notchy does not do time tracking or reporting at all.
Does Horo have natural language input?
Yes, and it is the nicest thing about it — you type '25m' or 'in an hour' and hit Return. Notchy's countdown is set from the notch rather than typed, so if typing a duration is the interaction you want, Horo does it better.
Can Notchy run multiple timers?
Notchy runs a Pomodoro cycle and a countdown or stopwatch from the notch. Horo is built around several simultaneous named timers, which is the better fit if you routinely track three things at once.
Where does the countdown show?
Horo counts down in the menu bar. Notchy counts down on the notch, so the remaining time sits above your work rather than competing with other menu bar icons for space.
Which should I pick?
If timers are a core part of how you work — several at once, tagged, with reports afterwards — Horo Pro is built for that. If you want a Pomodoro and an occasional countdown without another app, Notchy covers it free alongside everything else.
Can I run both?
Yes, nothing conflicts. They are both just reading the clock.
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