Cupola vs Boring Notch: which MacBook notch app fits you?

Boring Notch and Cupola both live in the MacBook notch, but they start from different ideas of what that space is for. Boring Notch, built by TheBoredTeam and released free and open source on GitHub, turns the notch into a media control center with a visualizer, plus calendar and reminders integration, a file shelf with AirDrop, and a full system HUD replacement for volume, brightness and the keyboard backlight. Cupola is a paid app built around one job: putting your real Apple Calendar, Reminders and Notes, plus a clipboard history, in the notch, with nothing to import or keep in sync separately.

If you want a free, open-source, actively developed notch app with music visuals and HUD replacements, Boring Notch is a strong pick, especially if you're comfortable with an unsigned app and the one-time Terminal step that comes with it. If you want your actual Calendar, Reminders and Notes in the notch without adopting a second to-do list or notes app, Cupola is the more direct fit.

What Boring Notch is for

Boring Notch's GitHub README describes it as turning the notch into "a dynamic music control center, complete with a vibrant visualizer and all the essential music controls you need," and adds "calendar integration, a handy file shelf with AirDrop support, a complete MacOS HUD replacement and more." Its roadmap, checked on GitHub, lists playback live activity, calendar integration, reminders integration, a camera mirror, a charging indicator, customizable gesture control, shelf functionality with AirDrop, notch sizing customization, and system HUD replacements for volume, brightness and backlight as already shipped (checked boxes). Bluetooth live activity, weather integration, customizable layouts, lock-screen widgets, an extension system and notifications are listed as unchecked, not-yet-built roadmap items; a clipboard history manager appears only as a commented-out idea, not an active roadmap item.

What Cupola is for

Cupola puts five things in the notch: your real Apple Calendar, Apple Reminders, Apple Notes, a clipboard history, and a Focus timer, each in its own tab. It reads and writes straight to Calendar, Reminders and Notes through macOS and Apple's own apps, so anything you add or change goes right back into the same Calendar, Reminders and Notes you already use everywhere else. Hovering the notch opens the quick panel; there's also a full app window and a Focus mode for timed sessions.

Feature comparison

Pricing, as of October 2026

Cupola is $20 once, with a 7-day free trial that needs no card. After the trial your existing entries stay viewable, you just can't edit until you unlock, and there's a 14-day no-questions refund.

Boring Notch is free. Its GitHub repository is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0, and the project accepts voluntary support through Ko-fi; there is no purchase price or license key.

Requirements and install

Cupola needs a Mac with Apple silicon (M1 or newer) and macOS 26 or later; Intel Macs aren't supported. It installs with one line in Terminal: curl -fsSL https://trycupola.com/app/install.sh | bash.

Boring Notch's README states it needs macOS 14 Sonoma or later and runs on Apple silicon or Intel. It installs by downloading a .dmg from its GitHub releases and dragging the app to Applications, or via Homebrew (brew install --cask TheBoredTeam/boring-notch/boring-notch). Its README states the project doesn't yet have an Apple Developer account, so macOS shows an "unidentified developer" warning on first launch; the README documents a one-time Terminal command (xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine "/Applications/Boring Notch.app") or a System Settings override to get past it. Installing through Homebrew is stated to bypass that warning automatically. Building from source needs macOS 15.6 or later and Xcode 26 or later, per the README's "Building from Source" section.

Privacy and data handling, as each states it

Cupola's privacy policy states that your events, reminders, notes and clipboard history never leave your Mac and are never sent to Venzpire (Cupola's maker). Crash reports are on by default (and can be switched off) and contain no content; usage statistics are off unless you turn them on. Cupola asks macOS permission for Calendars and Reminders, Full Disk Access (for the Notes and Reminders databases), and Automation.

Boring Notch's GitHub repository includes no privacy policy page among the files reviewed here. Because it's open source under GPL-3.0, anyone can read its Swift source directly to see what data it accesses and where it sends anything, which is a form of transparency Cupola, as closed-source software, doesn't offer. No specific data-handling claims from Boring Notch's own documentation are quoted here, since none were found in the README or repository root at the time of this review; check the project's source or ask in its Discord if that matters to you.

Where Boring Notch is the better pick

Boring Notch is free, open source, and under active development by a community: its GitHub repo shows thousands of stars and regular releases, and you can read every line of its Swift source, build it yourself, or fork it. It does more in the music and system-utility space than Cupola: playback visuals, a file shelf with AirDrop, HUD replacements for volume and brightness, and customizable gestures, none of which Cupola offers. It also supports Intel Macs and macOS 14 Sonoma, a much wider range than Cupola's Apple-silicon-and-macOS-26 requirement, at no cost.

Where Cupola is the better pick

If your real calendar, reminders and notes already live in Apple's apps, Cupola gives you those exact items in the notch, not a separate calendar or reminders feature you'd have to keep updated in two places. Cupola also adds a full clipboard history and a dedicated Focus mode, and it ships code-signed, so there's no Gatekeeper warning or Terminal command needed to open it for the first time. For $20 once, you get a single polished focus on Calendar, Reminders, Notes and clipboard, backed by paid support, rather than a general-purpose utility you assemble features from.

Verdict

Pick Boring Notch if you want a free, open-source, feature-rich notch utility focused on media, system HUD replacements and a file shelf, and you don't mind the unsigned-app install step or wider but shallower feature coverage. Pick Cupola if you want your actual Apple Calendar, Reminders and Notes, plus clipboard history, in the notch with nothing to re-enter, and you'd rather pay once for a signed, focused app than assemble a free one.

If you're still deciding whether any notch app is worth it at all, see what to do with the MacBook notch. For a paid, feature-dense alternative, see Cupola vs NotchNook.

Sources

• https://github.com/TheBoredTeam/boring.notch (README, roadmap, installation, requirements, license)