Side by side
Crowny’s column is ours. TopNotch’s column comes from its own pages (sources below), checked on 1 October 2026. A dash means the source does not mention it, not that the app lacks it.
| Feature | Crowny | TopNotch |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $5 one-time (list $15) | Free |
| How you pay | Pay once, 14-day refund, every version 1 update | Free |
| Open source | No | Not stated |
| macOS | 15+, Apple Silicon | 11+ |
| Latest version | 0.1.0 | — |
| AI coding agent sessions | YesClaude Code, Codex, Grok | — (not listed) |
| Approve agent prompts in the notch | YesClaude Code; Codex shows when it waits | — (not listed) |
| AI plan usage limits | YesClaude 5-hour and weekly | — (not listed) |
| Music / now playing | YesSpotify, Apple Music, YouTube | — (not listed) |
| Calendar | YesGoogle, iCloud, Outlook | — (not listed) |
| Meetings | YesOne-tap Join | — (not listed) |
| File shelf | Yes | — (not listed) |
| Clipboard history | Yes | — (not listed) |
| Timers / focus | YesFocus, timer, stopwatch, alarms | — (not listed) |
| Games | YesSnake, Tetris, 2048, Flappy | — (not listed) |
| Weather | Yes | — (not listed) |
| Volume / brightness HUD | No | — (not listed) |
| Works without a notch | YesA pill under the menu bar | — (not listed) |
| Also | Reminders, notes, GitHub graph, Gmail and Apple Mail, pinned sites; Water, stand and eye-break nudges, held during focus; AirPods and Mac battery; Always on or Minimal mode; Colourful or Black & white; About 0.1% CPU at rest | Works with Dynamic Desktop wallpapers; Multiple displays and spaces; Rounded wallpaper corners |
| Privacy | No account, no analytics; your data stays on the Mac | — |
Who should pick which
Pick TopNotch if
- You want the notch hidden, with a black menu bar that blends it away.
- You want something free that never changes how the top of your screen behaves.
- You are on macOS 11 to 14.
Pick Crowny if
- You want the space around the notch to show what is live: the song, a timer, a coding agent at work.
- You want a panel on hover with music, meetings, reminders, timers, a shelf, clipboard history and weather.
- You work with Claude Code, Codex or Grok and want their prompts and status in the notch.
Why people switch to Crowny
People search for a TopNotch alternative for two reasons. Some want another way to hide the notch; for that, TopNotch is already the simple, free answer, and macOS’s own “Scale to fit below built-in camera” option, in an app’s Get Info window, helps one app at a time.
Others have hidden the notch for a while and want to try the other approach. Crowny draws a black shape that matches the notch exactly, so when something is live the notch itself seems to grow: a timer counting down, music playing, an agent that needs you. Hover and it opens into a panel. In Minimal mode nothing sits over the notch while it is idle.
Pricing
TopNotch is free. Crowny is $5 once for one Mac (list price $15), with every version 1 update and a 14-day refund.
Crowny’s licence and what it includes are on the pricing page. Already have it? Download Crowny.
Questions
What does TopNotch do?
It makes the menu bar black so the notch blends in and seems to disappear. It works with Dynamic Desktop wallpapers and multiple displays, and needs macOS 11 or later.
Can Crowny stay out of sight when nothing is happening?
Yes. In Minimal mode nothing sits over the notch while it is idle; music, timers and agents still show when they are live.
Can I use TopNotch and Crowny together?
We have not tested the combination. TopNotch changes the wallpaper behind the menu bar and Crowny draws around the notch, so try it and see.
Sources
Checked on 1 October 2026. Apps change; if something here 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.