Noico › Boring Notch Alternative
The best Boring Notch alternative for Mac
Boring Notch is free and open source, and a genuinely solid pick for media controls and a file shelf. Noico covers that same ground and adds the widgets Boring Notch doesn't try to be — weather, clipboard history, a color picker, and a scratchpad — with active development behind it.
| Feature | Noico | Boring Notch |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free · $11.99 one-time Pro | Free (open source) |
| Development model | Actively maintained, commercial | Community-maintained, open source |
| Notch file shelf | Yes | Yes, with AirDrop |
| Now Playing music controls | Yes (Pro) | Yes, with a music visualizer |
| Battery indicator | Yes | Yes |
| Calendar | Yes (week strip) | Yes |
| Weather widget | Yes (free) | Not part of the app |
| Clipboard history | Yes (Pro) | Not part of the app |
| Color picker | Yes (Pro) | Not part of the app |
| Scratchpad / notes | Yes (Pro) | Not part of the app |
| In-app auto-updates | Yes, built in | Manual reinstall or Homebrew |
Why people look for a Boring Notch alternative
Unlike the NotchNook comparison, this isn't really about price — Boring Notch is already free. People searching for an alternative are usually after one of two things: a wider set of widgets than Boring Notch's media-and-files focus covers, or the reliability of an app with someone actively behind it, rather than a community project that depends on volunteer maintainers to keep working across macOS updates.
What Boring Notch does well
Credit where it's due: Boring Notch is fully free, open source, and does a genuinely nice job with the things it focuses on — Now Playing controls with a music visualizer and album art, a drag-and-drop file shelf with AirDrop support, a battery indicator, and a calendar. If that's the full set of widgets you want, it's a legitimately good, zero-cost option.
Where Noico adds to that
Noico covers the same file-shelf and Now Playing territory, then adds a weather widget, clipboard history, a color picker, and a scratchpad — all in the same notch shelf, without needing a separate app for each. It's free to download and try, and Noico Prounlocks the rest for a one-time $11.99 — still no subscription, same as Boring Notch's price of zero, just with more in the box if you want it.
The other real difference: updates
Because Noico is built and maintained by someone shipping it as a product, it checks for and installs updates automatically. Open-source menu bar apps like Boring Notch are often installed via Homebrew or a manual download, which means staying current is on you. If you've ever had a notch app quietly stop working after a macOS update and had to go hunting for a fix, that's the gap this closes.
When Boring Notch is the better choice
If you specifically want an open-source app you can inspect or modify yourself, or you only care about media controls and a file shelf and nothing else, Boring Notch remains a solid, honest recommendation — there's no reason to add an app you don't need.
Other notch apps worth a look
See how both stack up against the rest of the field in ourbest Mac notch apps comparison, or check the NotchNook comparison if subscription pricing is what you're trying to avoid.
Ready to try it? Download Noico free and upgrade to Pro only if you love it.