Notchify alternative: same idea, more of it
Notchify is a good free, open-source take on the notch — hover it and you get media, a calendar, a camera mirror, notes and clipboard. Notchy does all of that as well, then keeps going, and runs on Macs with no notch at all.
| Fact | Notchify | Notchy |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — open source | $24.99 one-time, with a 7-day free trial |
| Media, calendar, clipboard | Yes | Yes |
| Camera mirror & file shelf | Yes | Yes |
| Macs with no notch | Built around hovering the notch | Yes — floating island, external displays too |
| OCR, timers, snapping, launcher | — | Included |
| For developers | — | AI usage, Claude Code and Codex approvals, terminal, GitHub PRs |
| Languages | English | 133, natively localised |
From Notchify’s own site and public source, checked against Notchy’s shipping build.
The names are almost identical
Notchify and Notchy get mixed up constantly in search. They are separate projects by separate people (Notchify is free, Notchy is paid) — this page exists mostly so you can tell which one you actually landed on.
A genuinely overlapping feature set
Media controls, camera mirror, clipboard history, quick notes and a file shelf are in both. If that list is all you need, Notchify will do it.
Where Notchy keeps going
OCR, timers, system stats, window snapping, an app launcher, and the whole developer set.
Not every Mac has a notch
Hovering the notch assumes there is one. Notchy draws a floating island on displays without one — a docked MacBook, a Mac mini, an older Air.
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
Show all 51Show fewer
- 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 Notchify — FAQ
Is Notchify free?
Yes. Notchify is free and open source, with no ads, no tracking and no accounts. Notchy is a one-time $24.99 purchase after a 7-day free trial, so if price decides it, Notchify wins. Otherwise pick on fit.
Notchify vs Notchy — what’s the difference?
Similar names, different apps. Notchify reveals media controls, a calendar, a camera mirror, a file shelf, quick notes and clipboard history when you hover the notch. Notchy covers all of that and adds OCR, timers, system stats, window snapping, an app launcher, AI usage tracking and a terminal in the island.
Does Notchify have a camera mirror?
Yes, and so does Notchy — a quick look at your webcam from the notch before a call, without opening Photo Booth or joining the meeting early.
Do both have clipboard history?
Yes. Notchify and Notchy both keep a clipboard history you reach from the notch, so on this feature there is nothing to choose between them.
Does either work on a Mac without a notch?
Notchy does — it draws a floating island on Macs with no cutout and on external monitors, following you between screens. Notchify is built around hovering the notch itself.
What does Notchy add?
Beyond Notchify’s set: OCR and text capture, Pomodoro and countdown timers, CPU and memory stats, device battery, window snapping, text snippets, a knock gesture, AI usage and spend tracking, Claude Code and Codex approvals, GitHub PR status, and 133 languages.
Compare Notchy vs 263 Mac Apps
See how one Notchy license replaces dozens of single-purpose Mac utilities.