SwiftBar Alternative for Mac
SwiftBar is free, MIT-licensed and wonderfully open-ended: write a shell script, drop it in a folder, and its output becomes a menu bar item. That is also the catch — every widget is a script you have to write and maintain. Notchy ships the widgets already built, in the notch and on the desktop, and costs nothing either.
- SwiftBar price
- Free
- SwiftBar requires
- macOS 12 Monterey
- Notchy price
- Free — donations optional
Why use Notchy instead of SwiftBar?
- Nothing to write
CPU, memory, network, temperature, battery, AI usage, timers, calendar and Now Playing are already there, refreshing themselves. With SwiftBar each of those is a script, an interval to tune, and something to fix when a command's output format changes.
- The notch instead of the menu bar
SwiftBar plugins queue up in the menu bar, which is exactly where a notched MacBook has the least room. Notchy renders stats and activities inside the notch and can pop any tab out into its own menu bar popover when you do want one there.
- Real desktop and Notification Center widgets
Notchy ships native WidgetKit widgets for AI usage, activity rings and timers, refreshed by the system in the background. SwiftBar is a menu bar host — desktop widgets aren't what it does.
- Where SwiftBar wins
Anything arbitrary. A build server's status, a crypto price, a Kubernetes context, a joke of the day — if you can print it from a script, SwiftBar can show it, and it inherits the large xbar plugin catalogue. Notchy shows what it ships and nothing else.
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 SwiftBar
SwiftBar is the right answer when the thing you want to see is specific to you and expressible as a script — nothing else is as flexible, and the plugin catalogue is huge. If you were only going to install someone else's CPU and battery plugins anyway, Notchy gives you those finished, in the notch, with desktop widgets on top and no scripts to maintain.
SwiftBar alternative — FAQ
Is SwiftBar free?
Yes. SwiftBar is free and open source under the MIT licence, installable from GitHub Releases, Homebrew (brew install swiftbar) or built from source. Notchy is free too, with optional donations.
What macOS does SwiftBar need?
SwiftBar requires macOS 12 Monterey or later. Notchy requires macOS 13 Ventura or later.
Can Notchy run my own script in the notch?
Not as a custom widget. Notchy can run Apple Shortcuts from the notch and includes a real VT100 terminal you can type commands into, but it won't render arbitrary script output as a widget the way SwiftBar does.
Does SwiftBar work with xbar and BitBar plugins?
Yes — SwiftBar follows the same plugin format, so the existing xbar/BitBar catalogue largely works. That library is the strongest argument for choosing it.
What system stats does Notchy show without setup?
CPU load and temperature, memory pressure, disk and network throughput, battery health and charge, plus connected-device batteries — all on the notch, with no scripts and no configuration.
Can I use both?
Yes. They don't overlap much: SwiftBar for bespoke script output in the menu bar, Notchy for finished tools in the notch. Neither interferes with the other.