Crest vs Notchmeister: decorate the notch, or use it?
Notchmeister is a free toy from the Iconfactory that gives your notch a glow, a Cylon eye, holiday lights or a little radar. Crest hangs a working control panel from it. They are not really rivals, and if you came here to choose, the honest answer is that they are answering different questions.
Last updated: July 2026
Full disclosure: this page is published by the makers of Crest. Notchmeister's prices and limits below are taken from Notchmeister'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 Notchmeister if you want your Mac to be a bit more fun. It costs nothing, it is beautifully made, and it is exactly as serious as it means to be.
Pick Crest if you keep opening windows to check things that could live in the notch instead: what is playing, your next meeting, your todos, CPU and battery, your clipboard, and Claude Code asking permission.
Side by side
| Crest | Notchmeister | |
|---|---|---|
| What it does with the notch | Hangs a control panel from it | Decorates it with effects |
| Price | $19.99 one-time | Free |
| Free tier | Free forever, plus a 7-day Pro trial | The whole app is free |
| Runs all the time | It is a working panel | It appears when you move the cursor to the notch |
| Media, calendar, todos, stats, clipboard | ||
| Agent approvals | Allow or Deny a Claude Code prompt | |
| Charm | Restrained on purpose | The entire point |
| Made by | An independent developer | The Iconfactory |
Where Notchmeister is better
- It is free, from a studio with taste. The Iconfactory has been making beautiful Mac software for decades, and Notchmeister is a small, generous thing rather than a funnel into something paid.
- It is delightful. A glowing cursor trail and a Cylon eye are not productivity, and they are not pretending to be. Sometimes that is the correct amount of software.
- It asks nothing of you. No account, no trial clock, no upgrade prompt.
Where Crest is better
- It gives the notch a job. The notch is the one part of the screen your eyes already know how to find. Crest fills it with what is playing, the meeting you are about to miss, your todos, system stats, and your clipboard history.
- It answers Claude Code. Permission prompts from your agents pin to the notch until you allow or deny them, on whichever display you are looking at.
- It has a free tier that does work. Now Playing, the Shelf with clipboard history, window snapping and the pinned home glance are free forever.
- It behaves on battery. Animations pause on battery and the panel sleeps when your Mac does.
The pricing math
Notchmeister is free on the Mac App Store. Crest is $19.99 once, with a permanent free tier and a 7 day trial of the rest. Neither one has a subscription, which in this category is worth saying out loud.
Can you keep both?
Mostly, yes, and plenty of people will want to. Notchmeister lights up when your cursor visits the notch; Crest opens a panel when you reach for it. They both react to the same corner of the screen, so expect the occasional overlap, but neither one breaks the other and you can turn either off in a click.
FAQ
Is Notchmeister free?
Yes. It is a free download on the Mac App Store from the Iconfactory.
What does Notchmeister actually do?
It decorates the notch with effects: a glow that follows your cursor, a Cylon eye, festive lights and a small radar, among others. It is a toy, and a well made one.
Does Crest decorate the notch?
No. Crest treats the notch as a place to put information you would otherwise open a window for.
Can I run both?
Mostly. Both react to the cursor arriving at the notch, so they may occasionally overlap, but neither breaks the other.
Is there a free way to use Crest?
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.
Want the notch to do something?
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 Alcove · vs MediaMate · Crest overview