#What each app is
boring.notch is a free, open-source notch app, licensed GPL-3.0 and maintained in public by TheBoredTeam on GitHub. NotchBay is this site's own closed-source, $9 one-time notch app, so read every recommendation on this page knowing which side it comes from. Both draw a Dynamic Island-style panel around the MacBook notch; the wider category, and which Macs have a notch at all, is mapped in the Dynamic Island for Mac guide.
boring.notch predates NotchBay and proved that people want the notch to do things. The NotchBay rows below come from the shipping 0.2.38 build; the boring.notch rows come from its README and releases page as read on 5 Sep 2026.
#Specs at a glance
| Spec | boring.notch | NotchBay |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free, with no paid tier in the README | $9 one-time; one purchase, one Mac, every future update included |
| Free way to try it | The app itself: download it and keep it | None self-serve. No free tier, no trial download; a 14-day money-back guarantee instead |
| License | GPL-3.0: fork, patch and redistribute | Commercial license, closed source |
| Signing | Code on GitHub, build it yourself if you prefer | Signed with an Apple Developer ID and notarized by Apple |
| Minimum macOS | macOS 14 Sonoma or later | macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later |
| Hardware | not published | Built for a notched MacBook (14 and 16-inch Pro from 2021, Air from the M2 generation); a floating pill elsewhere |
| Install | DMG from GitHub releases, or brew install --cask TheBoredTeam/boring-notch/boring-notch | Direct download from notchbay.com; not on the Mac App Store |
| Updates | GitHub releases and Homebrew | Automatic, signature-verified |
| Limits | Volunteer roadmap; call controls, clipboard history and dictation are not in the README | macOS 26 only; notched MacBook only (a floating pill elsewhere); tray holds 60 clips plus pins; Accessibility permission for call controls; no Safari for Meet; Full Disk Access for message mirroring; closed source; not on the App Store |
NotchBay rows: the shipping 0.2.38 build, 17 Sep 2026. boring.notch rows: its GitHub README and releases page, read 5 Sep 2026. "Not published" means the project does not state it, not that the answer is no.
#What free and one-time actually cost
Free here means free. boring.notch has no license key, nothing to renew and no paid tier in its README, and the GPL-3.0 license leaves the right to keep running, patching and redistributing a build with whoever has a copy rather than with the project. Nothing in the README limits an install to one machine.
One-time means $9 once, with no subscription, ever: one purchase, one Mac, for that Mac's lifetime, every future update included. So the cost does not come back next year. It does come back per machine. A second Mac needs a second purchase, and that is the one axis where free scales and paid does not.
#Which one runs on your Mac
The macOS floor decides this before any feature does. boring.notch's README asks for macOS 14 Sonoma or later, so Sonoma, Sequoia and Tahoe machines can all run it. NotchBay requires macOS 26 (Tahoe) or later with no exceptions, because its dictation is built on SpeechAnalyzer, a macOS 26 API.
If the Mac in question cannot take Tahoe, the comparison is over before it starts: check the model against Apple's list of Macs that run macOS Tahoe.
Hardware comes second. NotchBay is designed for a MacBook with a notch: the 14 and 16-inch MacBook Pro from 2021, and the MacBook Air from the M2 generation. On a Mac without a notch, or on an external display, there is no physical notch to be drawn around the way there is on a MacBook Pro, so NotchBay runs as a small floating pill at the top edge of the screen with the same feature set. The boring.notch README does not state a non-notch fallback, so treat both as notch-first apps.
#Feature by feature
| Feature | boring.notch (README) | NotchBay |
|---|---|---|
| Now playing | ✓ music control center with a visualizer | ✓ now playing with waveform and media controls |
| Calendar | ✓ calendar integration | ✓ next event with one-click join |
| Volume and brightness HUD | ✓ full macOS HUD replacement | ✓ HUD drawn in the notch |
| Files and sharing | ✓ file shelf with AirDrop | ✓ drop a file on the notch: Google Drive share link, AirDrop or QR code |
| Zoom and Google Meet calls | not listed | ✓ mute, camera, screen share, leave (Meet via Chrome, Brave, Comet) |
| Clipboard history | not listed (the shelf holds files you drop) | ✓ last 60 clips, sorted by type, OCR on screenshots, pins |
| Dictation | not listed | ✓ on-device via SpeechAnalyzer, inserted at the cursor |
| Message notifications | not listed | ✓ mirrored into the notch with quick reply (Full Disk Access) |
| AirPods and Bluetooth battery | roadmap item (bluetooth status) | ✓ on connect, with device art |
| Camera and mic indicators | not listed | ✓ in-use chips, plus Caps Lock, Focus, download and lock-screen chips |
| Per-app skins | not listed | ✓ the island changes with the frontmost app |
| Claude Code companion | not listed | ✓ agent status, usage limits, approve or deny permission prompts |
| Limits on the above | Everything marked not listed is absent from the README rather than impossible: it is an open project on a volunteer roadmap | macOS 26 only, notched MacBook only, 60-clip tray plus pins, Accessibility permission for call controls, no Safari for Meet |
The boring.notch column reads the README's feature list and roadmap on 5 Sep 2026. "Not listed" means the README does not claim it, not that a fork could never add it.
Music
boring.notch built much of the category's identity here: hover the notch, get artwork, controls and its visualizer. NotchBay's card adds a live waveform. If media control is all you want, this row alone should not sell you a paid app.
Calendar and calls
Both show your calendar. NotchBay goes one step further: the next event carries a one-click Join, and once you are in the call, mute, camera, screen share and leave work from the notch for Zoom and Google Meet. That needs the Accessibility permission, and Meet works through a Chromium browser bridge (Chrome, Brave, Comet); Safari is not supported yet. boring.notch does not list call controls, a scope choice rather than a failure.
Shelf versus tray
boring.notch ships a file shelf: drop files on the notch, pull them out later, send them by AirDrop. Simple and useful. NotchBay's tray is a clipboard history instead: it keeps your last 60 clips sorted by type (text, links, colors, images, files), screenshots and screen recordings land in it automatically, screenshots are OCR'd so the text inside them is searchable, and pinned clips never expire. It is a tray, not an unlimited archive; the full comparison of clipboard tools is in clipboard history on Mac.
Voice
Dictation is NotchBay territory: on-device speech recognition built on Apple's SpeechAnalyzer, with transcripts you can copy or insert at the cursor. Audio is processed on the Mac and is never uploaded.
#Where boring.notch beats NotchBay
The closed-source app here is this site's own, so read this as a competitor conceding the other side's real advantages, with specifics.
- Price, and no clock. Free, no license key to keep, and you can live with it for a month before deciding anything. NotchBay has no trial to run out because it has no trial at all.
- Three more macOS releases. boring.notch runs on macOS 14 Sonoma or later; NotchBay needs macOS 26. On a Mac still on Sonoma or Sequoia, boring.notch is the one you can run today.
- Auditable code. When boring.notch says your media data stays local, you can read the function that makes it true. With NotchBay you are trusting the developer plus the Developer ID signature and Apple's notarization scan. Verify-it-yourself is a stronger guarantee than trust-the-developer.
- Fork and patch rights. The GPL-3.0 license lets you fix a bug, add a feature or ship your own build, and the project takes pull requests. NotchBay takes email.
- A Homebrew cask. One command installs it and brew upgrade keeps it current; NotchBay updates itself but installs from a download.
- Fewer permissions to grant. NotchBay's call controls need Accessibility and its message mirroring needs Full Disk Access. Nothing in boring.notch's feature list needs either.
#Where NotchBay earns its price
- Meetings. One-click join from the calendar card, then mute, camera, screen share and leave from the notch for Zoom and Google Meet.
- A clipboard tray. Last 60 clips, sorted by type, OCR on screenshots, pins that never expire.
- Dictation and messages. On-device transcription, copied or inserted at the cursor, plus notifications mirrored into the notch with quick reply (Full Disk Access required).
- The small stuff. AirPods and Bluetooth battery on connect, a focus timer, weather for a chosen city, camera and mic in-use chips, per-app skins, a Claude Code companion showing agent status and usage limits from the local logs.
- One person on support. When NotchBay breaks after a macOS update, paying customers land in the developer's inbox and the fix is the developer's job rather than a volunteer's evening. That is a difference in obligation, not in speed: open projects often answer faster than people expect.
If boring.notch covers the workflow, it is not the budget choice, it is the correct choice. NotchBay earns its price when the meeting controls, tray search and dictation would pay it back inside a real working week.
#Is there a free version of NotchBay?
No, and it is the sharpest difference on this page. There is no free tier and no self-serve trial: unlicensed, NotchBay demonstrates itself once during onboarding and then asks for the sale. What removes the risk instead is a 14-day money-back guarantee, no questions asked.
Two exceptions exist and both are gated. notchbay.com/free issues a short trial key to someone who gives a social handle, so they can record a clip of the island working, and an approved public post earns a full lifetime license. Neither is a download-and-try path.
boring.notch asks for none of that: take the DMG or the Homebrew cask and run it as long as you like. For anyone who wants to live with a notch app for a week before spending anything, that is the honest recommendation, and the boring.notch guide covers the download and the first-launch warning.
#Privacy in both apps
The positions are close where it matters: both apps process your data on the Mac. boring.notch lets you confirm that in the source. NotchBay's terms, stated plainly: no account; clips, transcripts and calendar events are never uploaded; dictation audio is processed on-device; a file you drop to share goes to your own Google Drive, not to any NotchBay server; and the app sends one anonymous install check-in (a random id, the app version and license state), nothing personal. Each permission is requested only when you switch on the feature that needs it, and the Settings window has a live Permissions page showing what is granted.
#Verdict
Pick boring.notch if open source is your requirement, if your Mac runs macOS 14 or 15, if music, calendar and a file shelf are all you want, or if you like software you can patch yourself. Its Gatekeeper warning on first launch is explained in is boring.notch safe.
Pick NotchBay if your day runs through meetings, copied things and voice notes, and you have a notched MacBook on macOS 26. The Join button and in-call mute alone tend to decide this for meeting-heavy people.
If boring.notch turns out to be enough, nothing has been spent. If the island keeps feeling like it should do more, that wish list is roughly NotchBay's feature set, and NotchBay vs NotchNook and boring.notch vs NotchNook are the comparisons to read next once a paid notch app is on the table.
#Frequently asked questions
Can NotchBay and boring.notch run at the same time?
No. Both draw in the same notch region and will overlap, so quit one before running the other. If you are comparing the two, give each a full day on its own rather than switching mid-meeting.
How much notch do these apps have to work with?
About 220x38 points on the 16-inch MacBook Pro and 185x32 points on the 14-inch, roughly 12.2 percent of the screen's width. Both apps draw into that same space, so the notch is not what separates them: the size per model and the island geometry it allows are mapped elsewhere on this site.
