Macs Fan Control alternative: the reading, free
Macs Fan Control reads every thermal sensor and lets you override the fan curve. Notchy shows the number macOS hides — CPU temperature, on the notch, free. It does not control fans, and says so plainly.
| Macs Fan Control | Notchy | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free core · $14.95 Pro per computer | Free — optional donations |
| Temperature monitoring | Yes — CPU, GPU, SSD, memory, battery | Yes — CPU temperature and system stats |
| Fan speed control | Yes — custom RPM and sensor profiles | No |
| Fan presets | Pro only | N/A |
| Where it lives | Menu bar | The notch |
| Anything beyond thermals | No | 50+ tools in the same island |
From CrystalIDEA’s own site, checked against Notchy’s shipping build.
If you want the fans louder, use theirs
Custom RPM values and sensor-driven profiles are a real capability, and nothing on this page substitutes for it. Notchy is a gauge, not a control.
Apple Silicon changed the calculation
Fan overrides were near-essential on hot Intel MacBooks. Apple Silicon machines run cooler and throttle safely, so most people now just want to see the temperature rather than change it.
Heat at idle is the useful signal
A warm Mac under load is fine. A warm Mac doing nothing usually means a runaway process, which CPU and memory on the notch will show you faster than fan rules will hide.
Also worth comparing
TG Pro is the other main paid option here, with alerts and logging on top of fan control.
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 Macs Fan Control — FAQ
Does Notchy control fan speed?
No. Macs Fan Control can override Apple's fan curves with your own RPM values or sensor-based profiles. Notchy reads temperatures and shows them; it never touches the fans. If you want to force the fans up, this is not the app.
Is Macs Fan Control free?
The core features are free. A Pro licence at $14.95 per computer unlocks presets and advanced automation, or $24.95 for the macOS plus Windows Boot Camp bundle. No subscription.
How do I see CPU temperature without installing a fan app?
macOS simply does not expose the sensor readings anywhere in the interface, which is why everyone ends up downloading something. Notchy shows CPU temperature on the notch alongside CPU load, memory, GPU and network, free.
Is it safe to override the fan curve?
Broadly yes — Macs Fan Control cannot push fans beyond their rated maximum, and Apple's thermal protections still apply. But running fans hard constantly wears the bearings and is loud, and on Apple Silicon the machine will throttle rather than cook itself, so the need is rarer than it was on Intel.
What macOS do they need?
Macs Fan Control supports Intel and Apple Silicon across a wide range of releases. Notchy needs macOS 13 Ventura or later.
Can I run both?
Yes, and it is a sensible split — Macs Fan Control managing the fans, Notchy showing the temperature and everything else in the notch. They read the same sensors without conflict.
Compare Notchy vs 146 Mac Apps
See how Notchy replaces dozens of single-purpose paid Mac utilities for free.