A QuickRecorder Alternative in the notch
QuickRecorder is a genuinely good free recorder: ScreenCaptureKit under the hood, loopback audio with no driver, mouse highlighting, a magnifier, HEVC with alpha, and Presenter Overlay on macOS 14. Notchy's screen recording is smaller on purpose — it drives macOS's own recorder from the notch, keeps the elapsed time where you cannot miss it, and stops with the same click that started it.
- QuickRecorder price
- Free
- QuickRecorder requires
- macOS 12.3 and later
- Notchy price
- Free — donations optional
Why use Notchy instead of QuickRecorder?
- The stop button is always in the same place
The recording you forget about is the expensive one. Notchy shows the elapsed readout on the notch for the whole take and stops from the same control — no floating toolbar, no hunting the menu bar square.
- It is the system recorder, not a second one
Notchy drives the same screencapture recorder ⇧⌘5 uses, so the format, the quality and the permission prompt are the ones your Mac already has. That is a deliberate limit: no custom encoder, no second screen-recording permission.
- QuickRecorder does more inside the recording
Loopback audio without a driver, a separate microphone track, mouse highlighting, a magnifier and alpha-channel HEVC are all QuickRecorder features that Notchy has no answer to. If you need any of them, use it.
- The rest of the capture kit comes along
Stills land on a shelf with markup and real redaction, the keystroke visualizer draws the keys you press, and the camera mirror checks your framing — the things that surround a recording rather than the recording itself.
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.
| Feature | Notchy | Alcove | NotchNook | Boring Notch | DynamicLake | MediaMate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Price | 100% Free | $17 one-time | $25 (or $3/mo) | Free (Open Source) | Paid | Paid |
| Minimum macOS | macOS 13 Ventura+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ | macOS 14 Sonoma+ |
| Architecture | Pure SwiftUI (Native) | Swift (Native) | Swift (Native) | Swift (Open Source) | Swift (Native) | Swift (Native) |
| Now Playing Controls | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AI Usage Tracker (Claude / Codex / Cursor) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Command Palette (⌃⌥K) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Localized (134 languages) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Clipboard History | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Pomodoro Focus Timer | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| File Stash / Drop Shelf | Yes | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| System HUDs (Volume/Brightness) | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| AirPods Connected Reveal | Yes | Yes | Yes | — | — | — |
| Lock Screen Widgets | Yes | Yes | — | — | — | — |
| Quick Notes | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Calendar Widget | Yes | — | Yes | Yes | Yes | — |
| Caffeine Toggle | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Synced Lyrics | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Image Converter (HEIC/JPG/PDF) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Apple Reminders Capture | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Audio Output Switcher | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Device Battery (Mouse/Keyboard) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Download Finished Alerts | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Run Apple Shortcuts | Yes | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| Camera Mirror / Webcam Preview | Yes | — | Yes | — | — | — |
| Zip & Unzip Files | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Hide the Notch | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Window Snapping (drag to notch) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| App Launcher Tab | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| OCR + Searchable Clipboard | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Text Snippets / Expander | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Menu-Bar Icon Hiding | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| System-Wide Mic Mute | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Live System Stats (CPU/RAM) | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| iPhone-Style Call Island | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Built-In Terminal | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
| Camera/Mic Privacy Indicator | Yes | — | — | — | — | — |
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
The honest verdict on QuickRecorder
QuickRecorder is the better recorder and it is free, so there is no reason to talk you out of it. Notchy's recording is for the person who does not want a recording app at all — one control in the notch, the clock running where you can see it, and the system's own file at the end.
QuickRecorder alternative — FAQ
Is QuickRecorder free?
Yes. QuickRecorder is free and open source under AGPL-3.0, installable from GitHub releases or Homebrew, and it requires macOS 12.3 or later.
Does Notchy record system audio?
It records what macOS's own recorder records. Driver-free loopback of system audio and a separate microphone track are QuickRecorder features, not Notchy ones.
Can I record a single window or a region?
Yes. Choose an area opens the standard macOS selector on its video tab so you can drag a region or pick a window; Whole screen starts immediately without a selector.
Does the notch show up in the recording?
No. The panel gets out of the way before the recorder starts, so it is neither in the video nor over the area you are about to select.
Is there a watermark or time limit?
No to both, in either app. Notchy is free with no trial or subscription, and the recorder is the system's.
Which should I use?
QuickRecorder if the recording itself needs features — audio routing, magnifier, alpha. Notchy if you record occasionally and mostly want starting and stopping to be one gesture you cannot forget about.