Bartender Pro adds Top Shelf, a panel under the notch, to the Bartender menu bar manager. NotchNook puts your whole day in the notch: music, calendar, notes, a to-do list, timers, a mirror and a file Tray, on Apple silicon and Intel Macs.
48-hour free trial·No card needed·macOS 14.6 or later·Apple silicon and Intel
At a glance
NotchNook
Your whole day, in the notch.
Music, calendar, notes, a to-do list, timers, a mirror and a file Tray, with live activities for battery, Bluetooth and calendar events.
Not on Bartender Pro's feature list
Notes
To-do list
Timer
Mirror (camera)
Volume and brightness HUD
All built into NotchNook.
Relaunch: US$2/month, for as long as your subscription stays active, or US$15 lifetime. Offer ends October 13. Regular price: US$3/month or US$25.
Bartender Pro
A menu bar manager, now with a shelf in the notch.
Bartender Pro is a yearly subscription to the Bartender menu bar manager that adds Top Shelf: a notch panel with audio and music controls, live weather, a calendar, a clipboard manager, file storage with AirDrop and live activities for AI coding agents.
US$15/year (includes Bartender); a lifetime Mega Supporter option is also offered
Side by side
Feature by feature.
"Not listed" means Bartender Pro's official sources don't mention it.
NotchNook and Bartender Pro compared
Feature
NotchNook
BBartender Pro
In the notch
Notes
Yes, with bold, italic and underline
Not listed
To-do list
Yes, with favorites and auto-archive
Not listed
Timer
Yes, with haptic wheels and 1m–1h presets
Not listed
Mirror (camera)
Yes
Not listed
File shelf and AirDrop
Yes: multi-file drops, paste, AirDrop, kept across restarts
Yes, file storage with AirDrop, plus clipboard history
Music controls
Yes, with source picker and scrubber
Yes, Apple Music, Spotify and more
Calendar
Yes, with an upcoming-event live activity
Yes, with one-click meeting join
Live activities
Yes: battery, Bluetooth and upcoming events
Yes: Claude Code and Codex agents, meeting warnings
Volume and brightness HUD
Yes
Not listed
Your Mac
Requires
macOS 14.6 or later, including macOS 26
Not listed for Top Shelf; Bartender 6 is built for macOS 15 and macOS 26
Intel Macs
Yes
Bartender 6 runs on Intel Macs; not stated for Top Shelf
Macs without a notch
Yes, via a slim handle at the top of the screen
Yes, as a Dynamic Island on Macs without a notch
Multiple displays
Yes, on every connected display
Not listed
Price and trial
Free trial
48 hours, no card
14 days
Price
Relaunch: US$2/month, for as long as your subscription stays active, or US$15 lifetime. Offer ends October 13. Regular price: US$3/month or US$25.
US$15/year (includes Bartender); a lifetime Mega Supporter option is also offered
Open source
No
No
The verdict
Why people pick NotchNook.
Go with NotchNook if…
You want more done right from the notch.
You want notes, a to-do list, timers and a mirror right in the notch.
You want volume and brightness HUDs, plus live activities for battery and Bluetooth.
You prefer paying monthly or once for a lifetime license, rather than yearly.
You already use Bartender for your menu bar and want one subscription for both.
You want clipboard history, live weather and AI-agent tracking in the notch.
In action
See NotchNook at work.
NotchNook 1.6.3 · recorded on macOS · click to pause
Bartender Pro facts checked on October 6, 2026 against its official Bartender Pro page, launch announcement and Bartender 6 page. Bartender Pro launched on May 12, 2026, with Top Shelf as its first tool. Spotted something out of date? Write to support@getnotchnook.com and we'll fix it.
NotchNook