Crest vs Alcove: which notch app do you actually want?
Alcove is the Dynamic Island, faithfully: fluid transitions, notifications sliding out of the notch, Live Activities, swipe gestures, Lock Screen widgets. Crest is a panel that answers the things you keep opening windows for. Both are one payment and both live in the same strip of screen, so people compare them, but they are solving different problems.
Last updated: July 2026
Full disclosure: this page is published by the makers of Crest. Alcove's prices and limits below are taken from Alcove's own pages, checked in July 2026, and the things it genuinely does better are listed as plainly as our own side.
The short version
Pick Alcove if you want the iPhone's Dynamic Island on your Mac and you want it to feel right. It is $14.99 once, future updates are included, and it runs on three devices at a time.
Pick Crest if you want the notch to hold what you keep opening windows for: what is playing, the meeting you are two minutes from missing, your todos, CPU and battery, your clipboard history, and Claude Code waiting on a yes or no.
Side by side
| Crest | Alcove | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $19.99 one-time | $14.99 one-time |
| What it puts in the notch | Music with lyrics, the next meeting with one-tap join, todos and notes, CPU, memory and battery, clipboard history, GitHub pull requests and CI, agent approvals | Notifications, Live Activities, customizable HUDs, Lock Screen widgets, swipe gestures |
| Free tier | Free forever, plus a 7-day Pro trial | A 72 hour trial, then it is a purchase |
| Devices per licence | Two Macs | Up to three at once, and you can deactivate one from settings |
| Future updates | Free for the life of the app | Included, its FAQ says so plainly |
| Refunds | 14 days | 14 days, no reason required |
| Data collected | No analytics and no tracking. Licensing stores your email and a machine identifier, and that is the list | None, its FAQ says so and points at its privacy policy |
| Developer tools | GitHub pull requests and CI, live Claude Code and Codex sessions | |
| Agent approvals | Allow or Deny a Claude Code prompt from the notch | |
| Macs with no notch | It shows a floating pill instead | Not stated on its site |
Where Alcove is better
- It is the Dynamic Island, and it is good at it. Fluid transitions, notifications that come out of the notch, Live Activities, swipe gestures and Lock Screen widgets. Crest does not mirror your notifications and does not do gestures, so if that is the feature you came for, this is a short decision.
- It is cheaper. $14.99 against $19.99. Five dollars is not much, but it is the right direction if you only want the one thing.
- Three devices, managed properly. Up to three at a time, with a licence tab that lets you deactivate one yourself. Crest covers two Macs.
- It says the awkward thing out loud. Its FAQ states that Alcove relies on private Apple APIs, that Apple could change or remove them, and that the app is sold as is. Very few apps in this category volunteer that, and it is worth reading before you buy anything that lives in the notch.
Where Crest is better
- There is a free version, and it does not expire. Now Playing with lyrics and the queue, the Shelf with clipboard history, window snapping and the pinned home glance stay free forever. Alcove gives you 72 hours to decide.
- It covers the working day, not the animation. The meeting you are about to be late for with a one-tap join and a camera check, your todos and notes, CPU, memory, disk, network and battery, and your clipboard history. That is several windows you stop opening.
- It answers your coding agents. When Claude Code asks permission, the prompt pins to the notch until you allow or deny it, on whichever display you are looking at, even over a fullscreen app. Nothing else in this category does that.
- Three modes with an auto switch. Home, Work and Code. A meeting coming up flips it to Work, your editor in front flips it to Code, and a manual pick always wins.
- It still works on a Mac without a notch. External display or an older Mac, you get a tidy floating pill in the same place.
The pricing math
Alcove is $14.99 once, with all future updates included, up to three devices at a time, a 72 hour trial and a full refund within 14 days. Crest Pro is $19.99 once, two Macs, updates free for life, a 14 day refund, and a free tier that keeps working if you never pay.
Five dollars apart, so price is not the decision here. The decision is whether you want the notch to look like an iPhone or to work like a dashboard. Both apps take one payment and neither one rents you anything, which in 2026 is worth noticing.
FAQ
How much does Alcove cost?
$14.99, one time, with all future updates included and up to three devices active at once. Its FAQ offers a full refund within 14 days with no reason required. From tryalcove.com and its FAQ page, checked 26 July 2026.
Does Alcove have a free trial?
Yes, a 72 hour trial from its download page. Crest's free tier has no clock on it at all, and Pro adds a 7-day trial on top.
Can I run Crest and Alcove at the same time?
Not comfortably. Both hang something from the notch and both react to your cursor arriving there, so they will fight over the same space. Try one at a time.
Does Crest do Dynamic Island notifications?
No. Crest shows its own live activities in the notch, like a recording in progress or an agent waiting on you, but it does not mirror every system notification and it has no swipe gestures. That is Alcove's job.
Does Crest have a free version?
Yes. Now Playing with lyrics, the Shelf with clipboard history, window snapping and the pinned home glance are free forever. Pro is $19.99 once.
Put the notch to work
Music, the next meeting, todos, system stats, your clipboard and Claude Code approvals, one glance up. The free tier is a real app, not a demo.
Download Crest for macOS Get Crest Pro, $19.99macOS 14 or later · Universal (Apple Silicon & Intel) · 7-day Pro trial, no card up front
More comparisons: Best Mac notch apps in 2026 · vs NotchNook · vs The Boring Notch · vs TopNotch · vs Perch · vs Notchmeister · vs MediaMate · Crest overview