Kitsmith / Compare / Notchy vs Itchy
MacNotchy vs Itchy
Notchy vs Itchy: verdict, pricing, and specs compared, so you can pick the right one for your Mac.
At a glance
Notchy
FreeA free Dynamic Island for the Mac notch.
Itchy
FreeA free notch hub with 12 built-in modules and a Swift SDK for building your own.
Spec comparison
Notchy
- Price
- Free
- Pricing model
- Free
- License
- Proprietary
- Placement
- Notch
- Channels
- Direct · Homebrew
- Category
- Hubs
Itchy
- Price
- Free
- Pricing model
- Free
- License
- Proprietary
- Placement
- Notch
- Channels
- Direct
- Category
- Hubs
The verdict
Both are free notch hubs built for people who want to add their own capabilities rather than accept a fixed feature set. Notchy leans toward AI workflows — an on-device usage tracker across 60+ providers (Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Copilot) plus a searchable clipboard with OCR. Itchy leans toward general extensibility — 12 built-in modules and an open Swift SDK so anyone can compile and load a custom module. Pick Notchy if AI usage tracking is the reason you want a hub; pick Itchy if you want the widest module set and the option to build your own.
Which one should you pick?
Pick Notchy if…
- Pick Notchy if you want an AI usage tracker across 60+ providers, with alerts before you hit a rate limit
- Pick Notchy if OCR-searchable clipboard history — including text inside screenshots — matters to you
- Pick Notchy if you want everything running on-device, with API keys kept in the system Keychain
- Pick Notchy if you want a free hub with no donation ask beyond an optional Ko-fi link
Pick Itchy if…
- Pick Itchy if you want the most built-in modules of the two — 12, covering Pomodoro, calendar, mail, Bluetooth, notes, and more
- Pick Itchy if you or someone on your team might build a custom module — the Swift SDK is open on GitHub
- Pick Itchy if you want modules you can reorder and enable individually from Settings
- Pick Itchy if you’d rather have one general-purpose hub than one aimed specifically at AI tool usage
Notchy vs Itchy — questions people ask
Are Notchy and Itchy both free?
Yes — both are free with no subscription. Notchy accepts optional Ko-fi donations; Itchy states no plans for a paid tier.
Which one tracks AI coding tool usage?
Notchy — it tracks rate limits and usage across 60+ AI providers, including Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, and Copilot, from the notch.
Can I build my own module for either app?
Itchy ships an open Swift SDK — write a module with `import itchy`, compile it as a macOS .bundle, and load it without forking the app. Notchy does not offer a comparable SDK.