The closest free alternative to NotchNook is Boring Notch: open source, with music controls, a calendar and a file shelf in the notch. If you want the polish of an iPhone Dynamic Island, Alcove ($13.99 once) is the cleanest. If you want the most features for the money, DynamicLake Pro ($13.99 once) adds notifications, calls and file actions. And if what you want from the notch is work rather than widgets (clipboard history, window snapping, eye breaks), that's Toolnotch, which I make.
NotchNook itself is available again. Below: its status, then each alternative with what it does well and where it falls short.
Is NotchNook still available?
Yes. In September 2026 NotchNook went offline: the lo.cafe site stopped loading, its Setapp listing disappeared and Homebrew disabled its cask on 19 September. In October it came back on getnotchnook.com, which opens with "NotchNook is back." As of 20 October 2026 it sells for $15 lifetime (normally $25) or $2 a month (normally $3), with a 48-hour trial and no card required.
So you don't need an alternative to keep using it. People still look for one for three reasons: the outage made them nervous, they want something free, or NotchNook never did the job they wanted from the notch. The detailed side-by-side is on Toolnotch vs NotchNook.
The short list
| Price | Trial | macOS | Macs per licence | Best for | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| NotchNook | $15 lifetime (special) or $2/month | 48 hours | 14.6+ | 2 | Music, calendar, notes, file tray |
| Boring Notch | Free, open source | Not needed | 14+ | Any | Music and a file shelf for free |
| Alcove | $13.99 once | 72 hours | 15+ | 3 | A polished Dynamic Island |
| DynamicLake Pro | $13.99 once | None (14-day refund) | 14+ | 3 | The most features in one app |
| Toolnotch | $4.99 / $9.99 / $19.99 once | None (14-day refund) | 15+ | 3 | Clipboard, windows, breaks, keep-awake |
Prices and requirements from each official site, checked 20 October 2026. Toolnotch costs $4.99 for the first 10 buyers, $9.99 for the next 100, then $19.99.
Boring Notch: the free one
Boring Notch is an open-source app (GPL-3.0) from TheBoredTeam, with about 11,000 stars on GitHub. Hover over the notch and it opens a music player with a visualizer, your calendar and reminders, a camera mirror, battery and charging status, and a file shelf with AirDrop. It also replaces the macOS volume, brightness and keyboard backlight overlays.
What it does better than the paid apps: it costs nothing, and you can read the code. For music and a shelf, it covers most of what NotchNook does.
Where it falls short: the developers don't have an Apple Developer account, so macOS blocks the first launch. You either run a Terminal command or install it with Homebrew, which handles that step for you. The last stable release is 2.7.3 from November 2025; version 2.8 has been in release candidates since September 2026. Weather, Bluetooth devices and notifications are still on its roadmap.
Fits you if: you want music in the notch for free and don't mind a Terminal command. More in Toolnotch vs Boring Notch.
Alcove: the polished one
Alcove is built to look like the iPhone's Dynamic Island, and it does that very well. It shows what's playing (Spotify, Apple Music and any other app macOS sees as playing), calendar events as live activities with "time to leave" alerts, weather, battery, AirPods and Focus modes. It redraws the volume and brightness overlays and adds Lock Screen widgets. On Macs without a notch it draws a pill at the top of the screen.
What it does better: the animation and finish. Updates are frequent; the changelog shows version 1.7.9 on 30 June 2026.
Where it falls short: no file tray yet. Its changelog says a tray update (1.8) is coming, but it isn't out as of 20 October 2026. No notes, no to-dos. Its FAQ says it relies on private Apple APIs and is sold "as is", with no guarantee it keeps working if Apple changes them.
Price: $13.99 once, 3 Macs, a 72-hour trial and a 14-day refund. macOS 15 or later. More in Toolnotch vs Alcove.
DynamicLake Pro: the one with everything
DynamicLake Pro packs the longest feature list of the group: music, calendar and weather, notifications from Messages, WhatsApp, Telegram, Slack and email, iPhone and FaceTime calls, timers, Bluetooth device alerts, an app switcher with previews, and file actions. Drop a file on the notch to AirDrop it, get a shareable link or convert audio, video and documents. A smaller mode called miniLake keeps it out of the way.
What it does better: notifications and calls, which NotchNook doesn't show, and file conversion. It runs on Macs with or without a notch and on external displays.
Where it falls short: no trial (a 14-day refund instead), and so many modules that you'll spend time in settings turning things off. Its FAQ warns that look-alike apps (AppleLake, dynamiclake.net) copied its branding: buy only from dynamiclake.com.
Price: $13.99 once on Gumroad, 3 Macs, macOS 14 or later. More in Toolnotch vs DynamicLake.
Toolnotch: if you want the notch to do work
Toolnotch doesn't play music or show your calendar. It puts four work tools in the notch, all in one licence.
Pasteback keeps your clipboard history: ⇧⌘C opens it under the notch. It searches the words inside screenshots and images, hides passwords and API keys behind dots, and ⇧⌘2 copies the text of anything on screen. Its shelf holds files you drag to the notch, and new screenshots wait there for a day. See clipboard history on a Mac.
Wyndow snaps windows with ⌃⌥ and the arrows. Unplug your monitor and your windows land on the laptop in the same zones; plug it back in and each one returns where it was. See why windows move when you unplug a monitor.
Bodybreak reminds you to look away every 20 minutes and pauses during calls and videos.
Staywake keeps the Mac awake on demand, or on its own while a terminal command is working.
Where it falls short: no media controls, no calendar, no trial build. The demos on toolnotch.app run the real interface in your browser, and there is a 14-day refund. It also needs macOS 15, and Accessibility permission for the window manager.
Fits you if: you copy and paste all day, move between a laptop and a monitor, or forget to look up from the screen.
How to choose
Pick by the job, not by the notch:
- Music and calendar at a glance: NotchNook (now back), Alcove for the nicest finish, Boring Notch for free.
- Notifications and calls: DynamicLake Pro.
- Files: NotchNook's Tray, Boring Notch's shelf, DynamicLake's file actions, or Toolnotch's shelf, which can also compress images and strip their metadata before you paste them.
- Clipboard, windows and breaks: Toolnotch.
A dashboard app and Toolnotch can run side by side. NotchNook and Boring Notch open on hover (Alcove can too), while Toolnotch opens from shortcuts and clicks, so they rarely compete. If both have a file shelf, keep only one turned on.
See pricing for what a Toolnotch licence covers.
FAQ
Is there a free alternative to NotchNook?
Yes. Boring Notch is free and open source, with music controls, a calendar and a file shelf with AirDrop. You install it from GitHub or with Homebrew. It isn't signed by an Apple developer account, so the first launch needs an extra step.
Does NotchNook still work in 2026?
Yes. After going offline in September 2026, NotchNook came back in October on getnotchnook.com. If you bought it before the outage, check its licence help page before reinstalling.
Which NotchNook alternative works on a Mac without a notch?
All of them in some form. Alcove draws a pill at the top of the screen, DynamicLake Pro supports non-notch Macs and external displays, Boring Notch has settings for displays without a notch, and Toolnotch hangs its panels from the menu bar.
Can I run two notch apps at the same time?
Yes, if they don't fight over the same gesture. Toolnotch never opens on hover, so it sits fine next to a hover app. Two apps that both react to hover, or two file shelves, will get in each other's way.