SideDock
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The short answer
Boring Notch is free and open source: music with a visualizer, your calendar and reminders, a file shelf with AirDrop, and its own volume and brightness indicators in the notch. SideDock costs a one-time fee and goes further: a notch that shows more, docks at every edge, more than 50 widgets, and Pip. If free and open is what matters most, Boring Notch is a great choice. If you want one app for the whole edge of your Mac, try SideDock.
Free has real advantages
You can read every line of Boring Notch, build it yourself, and it costs nothing. It runs on Intel Macs as well as Apple silicon. The trade-offs: it isn’t signed with an Apple developer certificate, so its first launch needs a trip to Privacy & Security, and its last stable release came out in November 2025, with version 2.8 now in testing.
In the notch
Both show what’s playing and your calendar, replace the volume and brightness pop-ups, and hold files you can AirDrop. Boring Notch 2.8, still in testing, adds notifications, meeting links and switching the sound output.
SideDock’s notch also follows downloads, coding agents, your earbuds’ battery, timers, Focus and Keep Awake, opens into Home with your music, the weather and Pip, and comes in Black, Frosted or Dynamic Glass.
Beyond the notch
Boring Notch stays in the notch. SideDock adds docks at the edges and corners for your apps, folders and widgets (CPU, memory, battery, weather, clipboard, Git and more), and Pip, which tells you what’s next, keeps quiet in calls, and does things when you ask, using the AI account you already have.
Price and setup
| SideDock | Boring Notch | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9, $16 or $23 at launch; then $19, $29 or $39, once | Free (open source, GPL-3.0) |
| Free trial | 7 days, everything unlocked, no card | Not needed |
| Macs per license | 1, 3 or 5 | As many as you like |
| Updates | Every update to the version you buy | Free, from GitHub (2.8 in testing) |
| Needs | Apple silicon, macOS 14 or later | macOS 14 or later, Apple silicon or Intel |
Which one should you get?
- Boring Notch, if you want a free, open notch app and don’t mind a few rough edges.
- SideDock, if you want the notch plus docks, widgets and a companion, polished, in one app you pay for once.
A note on fairness
Compared using Boring Notch’s GitHub page and SideDock’s own site on October 14, 2026. Features change, so check theirs for the latest. Boring Notch is made by TheBoredTeam; SideDock isn’t affiliated with it.
Try SideDock free for 7 days
Everything unlocked, no card, no account. Pay once if it stays.