The best free Mac notch apps, and what free really means
At a glance
| App | Price | Requirements | Good fit for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Boring Notch | Free, GPL 3.0 | macOS 14 Sonoma or later, Apple silicon or Intel | Free and open source, with music, calendar, a file shelf with AirDrop, a camera mirror and volume and brightness overlays. |
| NotchPop | Free, MIT license | macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon and Intel | Free with MIT source and no login. Clipboard, shelf, music, calendar, timers and system stats. |
| Atoll | No price stated; the latest DMG downloads with no purchase step. GPL 3.0 | macOS 14.0 or later, a MacBook with a notch | An open source notch app with live activities, lock screen widgets and a long tool list. |
| MewNotch | Free, GPL 3.0 | macOS 14.0 or later | Free and open source. Volume and brightness overlays, a file shelf with AirDrop, now playing and a mirror. |
| SuperIsland | Free | macOS 14 or later, a physical notch | Free and open source, with a JavaScript extension SDK and an extension store. |
| Brow | Free; Pro $4.99 a month or $49 a year | macOS 14 or later | A free toolkit of 40 or more tools with a launcher, clipboard, window management and screenshots. AI features are paid. |
| Sapphire | Free tier for 1 Mac; paid plans from $15.99 a month | macOS 14.6 or later, Apple silicon or Intel | A free tier with Face ID on Mac, window snapping, a file shelf and lock screen widgets. Source under AGPL 3.0. |
| NotchSpace | Free | macOS 15 or later | A free shelf, app launch bar and menu bar manager from the Mac App Store. No clipboard history. |
| OneNotch | Free; Pro $6.99 once | macOS 15 or later, Apple silicon | A free tier with clipboard boards, capture tools and window snapping, limited to 50 clipboard items for 24 hours. |
| NotchBox | Free; NotchBox Pro $4.99 in app | macOS 13.0 or later | Free to download from the Mac App Store, with a long list of small widgets. One paid upgrade. |
Prices and availability were checked on 4 November 2026. Verify the linked product page before buying.
Boring Notch is the best known free notch app: GitHub shows about 2.06 million downloads across its stable releases. It is open source under GPL 3.0 and covers music, calendar, a file shelf and volume overlays. NotchPop and MewNotch are also free. Others on this list are free to start and charge for upgrades. Prices as of 4 November 2026.
How we checked
Each app was read on its own official page, GitHub repository or Mac App Store listing on 4 November 2026. Price, macOS version and features come from those pages only. Nothing here is ranked. Each entry carries a “best for” label, and the basis for that label is the feature list and price on the app’s own page. The apps are in the order of how fully free they are, not in order of quality.
“Free” covers three different things, so each entry says which one applies: free with no paid tier, free with the source open, or free to start with a paid upgrade.
Fully free
Boring Notch: best for a free, inspectable all rounder
Boring Notch is free and open source under GPL 3.0, and it runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or later on Apple silicon or Intel. It does music, calendar and reminders, a file shelf with AirDrop, a camera mirror and replacements for the volume and brightness overlays. The limit is that it is not signed with an Apple Developer ID, so the first launch needs a Terminal command, System Settings or Homebrew. Its newest stable release is 2.7.3 from 24 November 2025, and version 2.8 exists only as release candidates.
NotchPop: best for the most tools at no cost and no login
NotchPop says it is free forever, with no subscription and no login, under an MIT license. It lists a clipboard widget, a shelf, a music widget, calendar events, stopwatch, countdown and Pomodoro timers, and CPU, RAM and disk stats. It runs on macOS 14 or later on both chip types. The limits: no privacy policy page is linked, the maker is not named on the page, and the last release was in May 2026.
MewNotch: best for free volume and brightness overlays plus a shelf
MewNotch is free and open source under GPL 3.0 and needs macOS 14.0 or later. It replaces the volume and brightness overlays, adds a shelf with AirDrop, now playing controls and a mirror view. It is unsigned, so macOS may warn on first launch, and some roadmap items such as Touch Bar support are unfinished. Version 2.4.0 shipped on 19 October 2026.
Atoll: best for the longest free tool list
Atoll’s README states no price, trial or refund, and the latest DMG downloads from GitHub with no purchase step. It is open source under GPL 3.0 and lists live activities, lock screen widgets, clipboard history, timers, calendar previews and system stats. It needs macOS 14.0 or later, expects a notched MacBook, and asks for Accessibility, Camera, Calendar, Screen Recording and Music permissions.
SuperIsland: best for people who want to script their own modules
SuperIsland is free and open source, with a JavaScript SDK and an extension store. It lists a file drop, now playing, a meeting countdown with join links and live activities. Its limits are real: no release since June 2026, a physical notch is required, the repository shows no license file, and the 44 MB app needs Accessibility, Calendar and Location access.
NotchSpace: best for a free shelf and menu bar manager on the Mac App Store
NotchSpace is free on the Mac App Store, with a privacy label reading Data Not Collected. It adds a temporary shelf, a launch bar for pinned apps, Quick Look previews and image compression. It needs macOS 15.0 or later, and it says it is not a clipboard tool.
Free to start, paid to go further
Brow: best for replacing a launcher, clipboard manager and window manager
Brow Free is “$0 forever” with 40 or more tools, no account and no credit card, on macOS 14 or later. AI features need Brow Pro at $4.99 a month or $49 a year. Every listed release is labelled beta, up to 1.0.77.
Sapphire: best for Face ID on Mac and window snapping at no cost
Sapphire’s free tier covers one Mac and includes Face ID on Mac, Snap Zones window tiling, a file shelf and lock screen widgets. Paid plans start at $15.99 a month, with extra devices billed monthly on top. It needs macOS 14.6 or later and requests Accessibility and Screen Recording permissions.
OneNotch: best for clipboard boards and capture tools
OneNotch’s free tier keeps 50 clipboard items for 24 hours and one pin board. Pro is $6.99 once, though its feature index page lists $9.99, so check the price at checkout. It needs macOS 15 or later on Apple silicon.
NotchBox: best for macOS 13 and a small upgrade price
NotchBox is free to download and sells NotchBox Pro at $4.99. The listing does not say which features need Pro, and it shows no ratings yet. It runs on macOS 13.0 or later.
How to choose
- You want nothing to pay and the source to read: Boring Notch, NotchPop, MewNotch or Atoll.
- You want to try before paying: Brow, OneNotch, Sapphire or NotchBox.
- You are on macOS 13: NotchBox. Most others here need macOS 14 or later.
- You are on macOS 15 or later and want a shelf only: NotchSpace.
Where does NotchStar fit? It is not free. It costs $4 once for up to 3 Macs, with a 7 day trial, a 7 day refund and no account, and it needs macOS 14 or later. It is signed and notarized, so it opens with a double click, and it has ten tools plus a Screenshot Tray. Boring Notch, Atoll and Brow list more breadth or lower cost, and Boring Notch and Atoll let you read the code. NotchStar is closed source. See NotchStar compared with Boring Notch for the full table, or the best one time purchase guide if a small payment is acceptable.
Sources
All read on 4 November 2026.
