A free NotchNook alternative: Vortex, NotchNook and Boring Notch compared

NotchNook and Boring Notch put music, files and more in the MacBook’s notch. Vortex puts work there: a focus timer, clipboard history, a shelf for files and builds, tasks from your screen and keys Claude Code can use without seeing them. Here’s how the three compare, and when each one is the better pick.

This site is Vortex’s, so read its column with that in mind. Every line about Vortex comes from its README and feature docs, and every fact about NotchNook and Boring Notch from their own pages and listings, linked under the table.

Who each app is for

Vortex is for people who work on a Mac all day, developers especially. A focus timer, clipboard history and a shelf for files sit one hover away, a shortcut turns anything on screen into a task, and Claude Code can use your database URLs and API tokens without seeing them. It’s free, open source under MIT, and never goes online by itself.

NotchNook is for people who want a notch full of widgets and are happy to pay for it. Its official page lists widgets, live activities and a shelf for files, and its settings show widgets for your media player, Shortcuts and a camera mirror. It’s sold as a subscription or a one-time license.

Boring Notch is for people who want a free, open-source notch built around music: playback controls with a visualizer, the calendar and reminders, a file shelf with AirDrop, and new pop-ups for volume and brightness.

NotchNook vs Boring Notch vs Vortex

As checked on 1 November 2026. NotchNook facts are from its official page as archived on 20 August 2026, its privacy policy and its Homebrew listing. Boring Notch is at 2.7.3, its latest stable release. “Not listed” means the app’s own pages don’t mention it.

Feature	Vortex	NotchNook	Boring Notch
Price	Free	Paid: subscription or one-time license	Free
Source code	Open, MIT	Not listed	Open, GPLv3
Runs on	macOS 14+, Apple silicon	macOS 14.6+	macOS 14+, Apple silicon or Intel
Notarized by Apple	No	Not listed	No
Timer	Yes, one at a time	Not listed	Not listed
Clipboard history	Yes, the last 10 plus pins	Not listed	Not listed
File shelf	Yes, and it watches build folders	Yes	Yes
AirDrop	No	Not listed	Yes
Music controls	No	Yes, a Media Player widget	Yes
Calendar	No	Not listed	Yes, with Reminders
Volume and brightness HUD	No	Not listed	Yes
Camera mirror	No	Yes, a Mirror widget	Yes
Tasks from a screenshot, with OCR	Yes, on your Mac	Not listed	Not listed
Claude Code	Uses your keys without seeing them	Not listed	Not listed
Keyboard-cleaning lock	Yes	Not listed	Not listed
Macs without a notch	Yes, under the menu bar icon	Yes, as a handle	Yes, at a height you set
Goes online by itself	Never	A daily license check	Optional update checks

Sources:

• NotchNook: official page, as archived on 20 August 2026, with its settings screenshot; privacy policy, as archived on 31 July 2026; Homebrew listing, as archived on 8 June 2026.
• Boring Notch: README, 2.7 release notes, license, website, and its settings for updates and displays without a notch.
• Vortex: README and feature docs.

When NotchNook is the better choice

• You want music in the notch. NotchNook has a Media Player widget. Vortex has no media controls.
• You want widgets. NotchNook’s settings show widgets for Shortcuts and a camera mirror, and a tab for live activities. Vortex runs no Shortcuts and has no mirror.

NotchNook is paid: a subscription, for up to 2 Macs, or a one-time license, for up to 5.

When Boring Notch is the better choice

• You want music in the notch, for free. Boring Notch has playback controls, a visualizer and lyrics. Vortex has no media controls.
• You want your calendar and reminders there, and AirDrop from the shelf.
• You want new pop-ups for volume, brightness and the keyboard backlight.
• You want a camera mirror or a battery indicator.
• You have an Intel Mac. Boring Notch runs on Apple silicon and Intel; Vortex needs Apple silicon.
• You install apps with Homebrew. Boring Notch has a cask; Vortex comes as a zip from GitHub Releases.

Like Vortex, it’s free and open source, and macOS asks for one extra step the first time you open it.

What only Vortex does

Of the three, only Vortex lists these:

• Keys for Claude Code. Save a database URL or an API token in Vortex under a name. Claude Code writes {{name}} where the value goes, and Vortex runs the command in your shell and takes the value back out of the output. Claude gets the result, never the key, and you allow each key once per session from the notch. How it works.
• Tasks from your screen. A shortcut freezes the screen. Frame an area and press Return: the task keeps the picture, with the app, the window title and the page address. Text on it is recognized on your Mac, so search finds the task by any word in the picture.
• A shelf that catches builds. Point Vortex at your build folder, and every new .ipa, .apk or .aab lands on the shelf once it’s fully written. Unpinned files leave after a day.
• Keyboard cleaning. One button locks every key, media keys included, while the mouse and trackpad keep working.
• Offline by design. Vortex never goes online by itself: no analytics, no update checks, no account. Its one listener is the MCP server for Claude Code, on this Mac only, with a token.

Try Vortex in your browser

Every feature has a live demo on the home page: the timer, clipboard, shelf, tasks, keys and keyboard cleaning. When you’re ready, download Vortex: it’s free, for macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon.