MacNotch alternative: no subscription
MacNotch is a capable notch hub — and it lives inside Setapp, so it costs from $4.99 a month and stops working when you stop paying. Notchy does the same job for $24.99 one-time, after a 7-day free trial, runs back to macOS 13 Ventura, and puts the island on Macs that have no notch at all.
| MacNotch | Notchy | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Setapp subscription — from $4.99/month | $24.99 one-time, with a 7-day free trial |
| Keep it if you stop paying | No — access ends with the subscription | Yes — it’s yours |
| macOS | 14.0 or later | 13 Ventura or later |
| Macs with no notch | Not stated | Yes — floating island, external displays too |
| Install | Through Setapp | Signed DMG or brew install --cask vishvavariya/notchy/notchy |
| Languages | 11 | 133, natively localised |
| For developers | — | AI usage, Claude Code and Codex approvals, terminal, GitHub PRs |
From MacNotch's own Setapp listing and website, checked against Notchy's shipping build.
A rental versus a download
Setapp is a good deal if you already use several apps in it. If MacNotch is the only one you want, you're paying a monthly fee for a notch — and losing it the month you cancel. Notchy is a signed DMG you download once, or one Homebrew command, and it stays.
The notch isn't the only place it runs
Notch apps assume a cutout. Plenty of Macs don't have one — a Mac mini on a monitor, an older Air, a MacBook docked to a big display. Notchy draws a floating island on displays with no notch and moves with you between them.
Where the feature lists diverge
Media, calendar, reminders, Pomodoro, system stats, device battery and file drops are in both. Notchy goes further for people who work in a terminal: AI usage and spend, Claude Code and Codex approvals, AI usage tracking and a real shell in the island.
Older Macs, and more languages
MacNotch asks for macOS 14. Notchy runs on macOS 13 Ventura and later, which covers Macs Apple has stopped updating. It's also localised into 133 languages against MacNotch's 11 — see the full language list.
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.
Everything Notchy does, in one app
- 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
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- 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
- Custom islands through the local developer API (off by default)
- iPhone-style call island — Answer/Decline FaceTime on the notch
- Notch Terminal — real VT100/xterm shell in a PTY, its own tab
- Camera Guard — alert (or block) when any app opens your camera
- 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
- 134 languages, fully localized
- Native SwiftUI, tuned for Apple silicon
Notchy vs MacNotch — FAQ
Is MacNotch free?
No. MacNotch is distributed through Setapp, which starts at $4.99/month — there is no free tier, and the app stops working when the subscription lapses. Notchy is a one-time $24.99 purchase with no subscription, after a 7-day free trial, and it keeps working forever.
Can I get MacNotch without Setapp?
Setapp is how MacNotch is listed and sold, so using it means carrying a subscription. If you want a notch app you download once and keep, Notchy ships a signed, notarised DMG and a Homebrew cask (brew install --cask vishvavariya/notchy/notchy), and updates itself in place.
What macOS does MacNotch need?
MacNotch lists macOS 14.0 or later. Notchy runs back to macOS 13 Ventura, so a Mac that Apple stopped updating still gets the island.
Does a notch app work on a Mac without a notch?
Notchy does. It draws a floating island on Macs that have no cutout at all — a Mac mini or Mac Studio on an external display, a pre-notch MacBook Air, or any second monitor — and follows you between screens. MacNotch does not state that it supports notch-less Macs.
What does Notchy do that MacNotch doesn’t?
The overlap is genuine — both do media, calendar, reminders, Pomodoro, system stats, Bluetooth device battery and file drag actions. Notchy adds AI usage and spend tracking for Claude, Codex, Cursor and Copilot, Claude Code and Codex approvals answered from the notch, a VT100 terminal in the island, GitHub PR and CI status, OCR, window snapping, an app launcher, text snippets and a knock gesture.
How many languages does each one speak?
MacNotch lists 11 languages. Notchy is localised into 133, so the island reads correctly whatever your Mac is set to.
Can I run MacNotch and Notchy at the same time?
You can install both, but don’t run them together — two apps drawing on the same notch and intercepting the same media keys will fight over it. Pick one and quit the other from its menu bar item.
Compare Notchy vs 263 Mac Apps
See how one Notchy license replaces dozens of single-purpose Mac utilities.