QPrompt alternative: the script beside the lens
QPrompt is a solid free, open-source prompter — and it is a window, so your eyes travel down to it. Notchy scrolls the same script under the notch, inches from the camera. Both free.
| QPrompt | Notchy | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free — open source | Free — optional donations |
| Where the text sits | A window — eyeline drops | Under the notch, beside the lens |
| Mirror mode for glass rigs | Yes | No |
| Opacity over other windows | Yes | Compact overlay instead |
| Platforms | macOS, Windows, Linux | macOS |
| Anything beyond teleprompting | No | 50+ tools in the same island |
From QPrompt’s own site, checked against Notchy’s shipping build.
Eyeline is the whole job
A prompter halfway down the screen is what makes people look like they are reading. The MacBook camera is in the notch, so scrolling text just beneath it keeps your gaze where the viewer expects it.
Mirror mode is QPrompt's territory
If you shoot through a beam splitter, you need mirrored text and Notchy has no equivalent. That is a real hardware workflow and QPrompt serves it properly.
Cross-platform matters, or it doesn't
QPrompt runs on Windows and Linux too. If you move between machines that is decisive; if you are on a MacBook all day it buys you nothing.
Compare the whole category
Notch prompters, desktop prompters, cloud tools and hardware rigs suit different jobs. See the best Mac teleprompter apps of 2026.
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 QPrompt — FAQ
Is QPrompt free?
Yes — free and open source, for macOS, Windows and Linux. Notchy's teleprompter is free too, so this is about where the text sits rather than what it costs.
What's the difference between QPrompt and a notch teleprompter?
QPrompt is a window. Wherever you put it, your eyes travel from the lens down to it, and on camera that reads as looking away. A notch prompter scrolls the script directly beneath the camera housing, so your gaze stays within a couple of degrees of the lens.
Does QPrompt do mirror mode?
Yes, and it is the reason to use it. If you have a beam-splitter rig — glass in front of the lens — you need mirrored text, and Notchy does not do that. For hardware teleprompter setups, QPrompt is the right tool.
Which works on a Mac without a notch?
Both. QPrompt is a window so it does not care, and Notchy draws a floating island at the top of the screen that the teleprompter drops from. Neither one needs a cutout.
Can QPrompt read over other windows?
Yes — it has an opacity slider that makes the background semi-transparent so you can see what is behind it. Notchy's prompter floats above your windows as a compact overlay rather than a translucent panel.
Which should I pick?
Beam-splitter rig, or you need the same tool on Windows and Linux: QPrompt. Video calls on a MacBook where eyeline is the whole problem: a notch prompter. We compare every option in our best Mac teleprompter apps roundup.
Compare Notchy vs 146 Mac Apps
See how Notchy replaces dozens of single-purpose paid Mac utilities for free.