TapNoise vs Notchy: a free alternative for keyboard sounds and more
TapNoise is a menu-bar app that makes a MacBook keyboard sound like a dream board — 20 sounds from Thock and Creamy to Typewriter, 8-bit and Paws — and reads the MacBook's motion sensor so a hard press plays louder than a soft one. Around that sit Tappy, a little keycap on your desktop that types along and wears hats as you level up, plus knock commands, Guard Mode, Clean Mode and chimes when Claude Code, Codex or Cursor finish. It's $14.99 once for one Mac ($20.99 for two), needs macOS 14 and has no in-app trial. Notchy is free and covers the overlapping parts — typing sounds, a desktop pet, a keyboard-cleaning lock, knock actions and agent alerts — from the notch, back to macOS 13.
Looking for TapNoise itself? It lives at tapnoise.com.
- TapNoise price
- $14.99 one-time
- TapNoise requires
- macOS 14 Sonoma or later
- Notchy price
- Free — donations optional
Why use Notchy instead of TapNoise?
- Free instead of $14.99
TapNoise needs a paid licence before it does anything, with a 7-day refund window. Notchy costs nothing, with no trial, account or licence key.
- The overlap, built in
Typing Sounds (Mechanical, Typewriter, Soft, Blip, Beep or your own file, with per-app rules), 23 pixel desktop pets, a 60-second keyboard-cleaning lock and knock-to-run actions all ship in the free app.
- Agents you can answer, not just hear
TapNoise chimes when an agent is done or needs you. Notchy shows the Claude Code or Codex permission request in the notch with Allow and Deny buttons, so you answer it without going back to the terminal.
- Where TapNoise is better
It's the deeper keyboard toy: 20 sounds, press-force volume, slap and lid-creak sounds, typing speed and streaks, Song Mode, a theft alarm, a shortcut cheat sheet and silence whenever your mic is live. Notchy's five styles are synthesised and it has none of those extras.
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
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- 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
The honest verdict on TapNoise
If keyboard sound is the whole point — force-sensitive clacks, 20 profiles, Tappy and its hats — TapNoise is the more complete instrument and $14.99 is fair for it. If you want satisfying key clicks plus a desktop pet, a cleaning lock and agent approvals without paying, Notchy already does those alongside everything else in the notch.
TapNoise alternative — FAQ
Is TapNoise free?
No. TapNoise is a one-time purchase: $14.99 for one Mac (Solo) or $20.99 for two (Duo), plus tax, with launch discounts for a limited time. There is no in-app trial; refunds are available within 7 days. Notchy is free.
What Mac does TapNoise need?
macOS 14 Sonoma or later, on Apple silicon or Intel. Press-force sound, slaps, knocks and Guard Mode's lift alarm need a MacBook with a motion sensor. Notchy runs on macOS 13 Ventura and later.
Does Notchy have keyboard sounds like TapNoise?
Yes. Turn on Typing Sounds in Settings → Capture and pick Mechanical, Typewriter, Soft, Blip, Beep or My Sound (any audio file). You can limit it to chosen apps or exclude them, and pause it with a shortcut. The sounds don't change with how hard you press.
Is there something like Tappy in Notchy?
Notchy has a desktop pet instead of a keycap: 23 pixel pets that walk your desktop and react to CPU heat, low battery, the charger, a running Pomodoro, video and music. It doesn't react to typing or track words per minute.
Can I knock on my MacBook to run commands in Notchy?
Yes. A double knock on the chassis can play or pause music, mute audio, open the notch, clipboard or command palette, take a screenshot, start a Pomodoro or lock the screen, with per-app overrides. Macs without the sensor can use a trackpad tap or a modifier double-tap instead.
Does Notchy have a keyboard cleaning mode?
Yes. The cleaning lock ignores every key for 60 seconds, with the countdown in the notch; press ⌘⎋ to end it early. Unlike TapNoise's Clean Mode, the trackpad keeps working.
Who makes TapNoise?
TapNoise is an independent app from the maker of NotchMind, sold through tapnoise.com. Notchy is an unrelated, separate app.