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The best notch apps for Mac in 2026, compared

13 notch apps and Crowny, side by side. Every fact about another app comes from its own site, GitHub or App Store page, checked on 1 October 2026. We make Crowny, so weigh that, and read who each app is best for.

Side by side

Yes: the app’s own pages list it. —: not listed, which is not the same as missing. No or Planned: the app’s own pages say so. Scroll the table sideways on a small screen.

AppPriceOpen sourcemacOSAI coding agent sessionsApprove agent prompts in the notchAI plan usage limitsMusic / now playingCalendarMeetingsFile shelfClipboard historyTimers / focusGamesWeatherVolume / brightness HUDWorks without a notchPrivacy
Crowny$5 one-time (list $15)No15+, Apple SiliconYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesYesNoYesNo account, no analytics; your data stays on the Mac
NotchNook$25 one-time or $3/monthNo (the developer says it will probably go open source)14.6+— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)YesYes— (not listed)Yes— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)Yes—
Boring NotchFreeYes, GPL-3.014+, Apple Silicon or Intel— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)YesYes— (not listed)Yes— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)PlannedYes— (not listed)—
Alcove$14.99 one-timeNot stated15+— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)Yes— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)Yes— (not listed)“No data or personal information is collected”
DynamicLake Pro$13.99 one-timeNot stated—— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)YesYesYesYesYesYes— (not listed)YesYesYes—
MediaMate€6.99 one-timeNot stated13+, all Macs— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)Yes— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)YesYes—
AtollFreeYes, GPL-3.014+, a MacBook with a notch— (not listed)— (not listed)YesYesYes— (not listed)YesYesYes— (not listed)Yes— (not listed)No—
Droppy$9.99 one-timeSource available (GPL-3.0 with Commons Clause)14+, Apple Silicon or IntelYes— (not listed)YesYes— (not listed)YesYesYesYes— (not listed)— (not listed)YesYes“Clipboard and file data entirely on your device”
AgentNotch$9.99 one-timeNo (a commercial app)—YesYesYes— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)“100% local session monitoring”
TopNotchFreeNot stated11+— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)—
NotchDropFreeYes, MIT13+— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)Yes— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)App Store: “does not collect any data”
MewNotchFreeYes, GPL-3.014+— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)Yes— (not listed)— (not listed)Yes— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)YesYes“Privacy-friendly”
NotchPilot€4.99 one-timeNot stated—YesYes— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)Yes“No analytics, no telemetry”
NotchmeisterFreeYes, BSD-3-Clause11+— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)— (not listed)YesApp Store: “does not collect any data”

Which one is best for you

  • Crowny

    $5 one-time (list $15) · Pay once

    Best for: People who work with Claude Code, Codex or Grok and want their agents and their day in one notch.

    What a licence includes

  • NotchNook

    $25 one-time or $3/month · One-time (5 Macs) or subscription (2 Macs)

    Best for: The original widget notch: media, a file tray with AirDrop, a mirror and shortcuts.

    The developer’s notice on lo.cafe says some customers lost access to NotchNook, that access will be restored as soon as they are able to, and points to a new app, NOOTCH. notchnook.com shows a “coming soon” page. Check lo.cafe for where things stand.

    Crowny vs NotchNook

  • Boring Notch

    Free · open source

    Best for: A free, open-source notch for music, calendar, a shelf and system HUDs.

    The project has no Apple Developer account yet, so macOS warns on first launch; the README gives a Terminal command, or install with Homebrew.

    Crowny vs Boring Notch

  • Alcove

    $14.99 one-time · One-time

    Best for: A polished, minimal Dynamic Island: live activities, notifications, HUDs and lock screen widgets.

    Crowny vs Alcove

  • DynamicLake Pro

    $13.99 one-time · One-time

    Best for: A feature-dense island: music, calendar and weather glances, meeting alerts, clipboard and HUDs.

    Crowny vs DynamicLake Pro

  • MediaMate

    €6.99 one-time · One-time

    Best for: iOS-style volume, brightness and backlight HUDs, with now playing in the notch.

    Crowny vs MediaMate

  • Atoll

    Free · open source

    Best for: A free, open-source command surface: media, system stats, timers, clipboard and lock screen widgets.

    Crowny vs Atoll

  • Droppy

    $9.99 one-time · One-time

    Best for: A shelf-first notch with a big clipboard manager, HUDs and 38 free extensions.

    Crowny vs Droppy

  • AgentNotch

    $9.99 one-time · One-time

    Best for: Developers who juggle many coding agents (Claude Code, Cursor, Codex, Kimi, OpenCode and more).

    Crowny vs AgentNotch

  • TopNotch

    Free · Free

    Best for: Hiding the notch: it blacks out the menu bar so the notch disappears.

    Crowny vs TopNotch

  • NotchDrop

    Free · open source

    Best for: Just a file drop zone in the notch, with AirDrop.

    Its site

  • MewNotch

    Free · open source

    Best for: Free, minimal HUDs for brightness, volume and power, with a shelf and a mirror.

    Its site

  • NotchPilot

    €4.99 one-time · One-time

    Best for: Claude Code alone: approvals, replies and status in the notch.

    Its site

  • Notchmeister

    Free · open source

    Best for: Fun: effects that play when your pointer passes under the notch.

    Its site

How to choose

Most notch apps share a core: now playing, a file shelf, and a few glances like the calendar or battery. They differ in what they build around it.

  • Free and open source: Boring Notch and Atoll cover music, a shelf and calendar, and Atoll adds timers, clipboard history and system stats. MewNotch and NotchDrop do less, well.
  • A polished, minimal island: Alcove stays close to the iPhone’s Dynamic Island. MediaMate redesigns the volume and brightness HUDs.
  • The most features in one app: DynamicLake Pro and Droppy pack the most tools, from meeting alerts to file conversion.
  • Coding agents: a newer group shows Claude Code and other agents in the notch. AgentNotch and NotchPilot are built only for that. Droppy has an agents extension. Crowny pairs Claude Code, Codex and Grok sessions, approvals and Claude limits with music, meetings, focus and the rest of your day.
  • No notch at all: TopNotch hides it, for free.

Our longer guide to choosing a notch app goes through what to check before you pay for any of them, and Dynamic Island for Mac explains the idea behind them.

Where Crowny fits

Crowny is for people who spend the day at a MacBook, especially with coding agents. Each Claude Code, Codex and Grok session gets a face in the notch, Claude Code’s permission prompts drop down with Approve and Deny, and your Claude 5-hour and weekly limits are one glance up. Around that: music from Spotify, Apple Music and YouTube with live bars, your next meeting with Join, timers and focus sessions, a file shelf, clipboard history, weather and four games. It needs no account, keeps your data on your Mac, idles at about 0.1% CPU and costs $5 one-time, once.

Where Crowny is not the pick: it needs Apple Silicon and macOS 15, it does not replace the volume and brightness HUD, and it has no mirror or Lock Screen widgets. If those matter most, the table above shows who has them.

How we compared

We read each app’s own website, GitHub README and releases, or App Store page on 1 October 2026, and linked every source on the app’s comparison page. Where we used a review instead, it is marked as third-party. We left out anything we could not check. Apps ship updates often, so if a row is out of date, write to us and we will fix it.

NotchNook, Boring Notch, Alcove, DynamicLake, MediaMate, Atoll, Droppy, AgentNotch, TopNotch and the other names here belong to their owners. Crowny is not affiliated with any of them.