Alcove and Boring Notch are the two notch apps people compare most often, and they sit at opposite ends. Alcove is polished and costs $14.99. Boring Notch is free, open source and does more on paper, but it is less refined. Here is how to choose.
Quick disclosure: we make OneNotch, which is not one of the two apps here, but we mention where it fits at the end. Prices and features were checked against each app's own pages on September 30, 2026; check them again before you choose.
Alcove vs Boring Notch at a glance
| Alcove | Boring Notch | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $14.99 one-time, 72-hour trial | Free |
| Open source | No | Yes (GPL-3.0) |
| macOS | Reported 15+ | 14+ |
| Macs | — | Apple Silicon and Intel |
| Notarized by Apple | Yes | No |
| Music controls | Yes, with Live Activities | Yes, with a visualizer |
| File shelf | No | Yes, with AirDrop |
| Calendar and weather | — | Yes |
| Lock-screen widgets | Yes | — |
| Swipe gestures | Yes | — |
| Replaces volume and brightness HUDs | Yes | Yes |
A dash means the feature is not in that app's own feature list.
Polish and feel
Alcove is built natively in Swift and leans hard into the pure iOS Dynamic Island aesthetic. Its animations are among the smoothest in the category, it shows several Live Activities at once and it supports swipe gestures on the notch. If the goal is to make your Mac feel like your iPhone, this is the one.
Boring Notch brings a similar idea for free, but it is a community project. Some users report occasional bugs and higher memory use when the music visualizer is on. You get more features for no money, with less finish.
Features
Alcove focuses on media, notifications, Live Activities, customizable HUDs and lock-screen widgets. It does not include a file shelf or a clipboard manager.
Boring Notch covers music with a visualizer, a file shelf with AirDrop, calendar and weather, and it replaces the volume and brightness HUDs. It does not list lock-screen widgets or a clipboard manager.
Price, trial and install
Alcove costs $14.99 once after a 72-hour trial, with no subscription and no free tier. Boring Notch is free, and you can get it as a DMG from its GitHub releases or with Homebrew.
There is one practical difference: Boring Notch is not notarized by Apple, because the developers do not have a Developer account. The first time you open it, macOS warns you and you allow it manually in System Settings or Terminal. Alcove installs like any other signed app.
macOS and hardware
Boring Notch runs on macOS 14 Sonoma and later, on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. Alcove is reported to need macOS 15 Sequoia or later, so it will not run on Sonoma. If you are on an older macOS or an Intel Mac, Boring Notch is the only one of the two that works.
Which one should you choose?
- You are on macOS 15 and want the most polished result. Alcove.
- You want to pay nothing. Boring Notch.
- You need a file shelf. Boring Notch, since Alcove does not have one.
- You want lock-screen widgets and swipe gestures. Alcove.
- You are on Sonoma or an Intel Mac. Boring Notch.
- You want open source. Boring Notch.
Where OneNotch fits
If neither covers what you need, OneNotch is a third option: free to start, with a notarized download, a deep clipboard manager, screenshots and OCR, file actions and AI-agent status for Claude Code and Codex. It needs macOS 15 on Apple Silicon and it does not keep a persistent file shelf.
See the Alcove alternatives guide, the Boring Notch alternatives guide or the full best Mac notch apps comparison for the rest of the field.
Frequently asked questions
Is Alcove better than Boring Notch?
Alcove is more polished, with smoother animations, lock-screen widgets and swipe gestures. Boring Notch is free, open source and includes a file shelf, calendar and weather. Which is better depends on whether you value finish or price.
Is Boring Notch free?
Yes. Boring Notch is free and open source under GPL-3.0. Alcove costs $14.99 after a 72-hour trial.
Does Boring Notch work on macOS Sonoma?
Yes. It runs on macOS 14 Sonoma and later, on Apple Silicon and Intel Macs. Alcove is reported to need macOS 15.
Does Alcove have a file shelf like Boring Notch?
No. Boring Notch has a file shelf with AirDrop support, and Alcove does not.
Is Boring Notch safe to install?
It is open source, so the code can be read, but it is not notarized by Apple, so you must allow it manually the first time. Download it only from the official GitHub releases or Homebrew.
