Compared
Claude Island alternatives, free ones first
Claude Island, the free app that put Claude Code in the MacBook notch, is now called Vibe Notch, and its last release came out on 20 April 2026. If you liked it and want something still shipping, three free, open-source apps carry the idea further, and they come first here. CrewTower is the paid one, for when you run several agents, in terminals and desktop apps, and want to answer them without the terminal coming forward.
Where Claude Island stands
Its repository now redirects to Vibe Notch, under the same Apache 2.0 license. It still works for Claude Code on macOS 15.6 or later: Dynamic Island style notifications, approve or deny from the notch, and a full conversation history with Markdown. Its last release, 1.3.2, came out on 20 April 2026, and the latest commit is from the same day. Pull requests for focusing the terminal window (#53) and for usage limits (#84) are still open.
The free successors
CodeIsland is the closest free match to everything on this page. MIT licensed, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon and Intel, more than thirty tools, approvals and questions answered from the island for the tools whose hooks wait for a decision, always-allow, one click to the exact terminal tab or tmux pane, Claude Desktop and the Codex desktop app, and a free iPhone and Apple Watch companion. Latest release 1.0.38, 11 October 2026.
Open Island calls itself an open-source Vibe Island. GPL-3.0, macOS 14 or later on Apple silicon and Intel, fifteen agents in its README, permission prompts answered for Claude Code, Codex, OpenCode and others (Gemini CLI, Pi and Grok Build are fire-and-forget), exact tab or pane jump in nine terminals and multiplexers, Claude Desktop and the Codex desktop app, and no telemetry. Latest release 1.2.1, 15 September 2026.
Notchi keeps Claude Island's playful side: an animated companion per session for Claude Code and Codex, Claude Code prompts answered from the notch (Codex's are display-only), usage quota, and 30 days of cost and tokens. GPL-3.0, macOS 15 or later, on a Mac with a notch. Latest release 1.2.7, 19 September 2026.
Where they are better than CrewTower
They are free and open source. CrewTower is $9.99.
More agents. CodeIsland covers more than thirty tools and Open Island fifteen. CrewTower recognises twenty-six and answers prompts for six.
macOS 14. CodeIsland and Open Island run on Sonoma; CrewTower needs macOS 15.
The whole conversation. Vibe Notch shows a session's full history with Markdown. CrewTower's Activity view shows the last stretch of the transcript.
On your phone and on other machines. CodeIsland answers from an iPhone or Apple Watch and follows agents on remote hosts over SSH. CrewTower watches the Mac it runs on.
Cost history. Notchi keeps 30 days of cost and tokens, and Vibe Notch shows tokens per session. CrewTower keeps none.
CrewTower vs Vibe Notch (Claude Island)
| CrewTower | Vibe Notch | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99 once (early bird, regularly $14.99) | Free, open source (Apache 2.0) |
| Latest release | 1.0.34, 18 October 2026 | 1.3.2, 20 April 2026 |
| macOS | 15 or later, Apple silicon and Intel | 15.6 or later |
| Agents | 26 recognised; 6 answered from the notch | Claude Code |
| Desktop apps | Claude Code in the Claude app, Codex in the ChatGPT app | Not published |
| Answer from the notch | Permissions, questions and plans for Claude Code; permissions for the other five, and questions for Codex and opencode | Approve or deny tool runs |
| Jump to the session | The exact tab in Terminal, iTerm2 and Ghostty; the exact tmux or herdr pane; per terminal | Not published; window focusing is an open pull request |
| Usage window | Claude Code and Codex, from each provider's own reporting | Not published; usage monitoring is an open pull request |
| Conversation view | The last stretch of the transcript, in the card | Full history, with Markdown |
| Analytics in the app | None | Anonymous usage events through Mixpanel, per its README |
Where CrewTower is different
It is shipping. Twenty releases between 29 August and 18 October 2026; the changelog lists every one.
Every agent you run, in one notch. Claude Code, Codex, Cursor, Gemini CLI, Qwen Code and opencode are answered from the notch, in terminals and, for Claude Code and Codex, in the Claude and ChatGPT apps. Twenty more are shown and jumped to.
It lands on the tab. Jump selects the exact tab in Terminal, iTerm2 and Ghostty and the pane in tmux and herdr, so the session that needs you is in front of you, not just its app.
The usage window, and context left. How much of your Claude Code and Codex session and weekly windows is used, with the reset countdown, and how much context each session has left.
Nothing counted inside the app. CrewTower has no analytics and no crash reporting.
Which one to pick
Vibe Notch if it still does what you need: Claude Code only, the full conversation in the notch, free.
CodeIsland or Open Island if you want a maintained free app with more agents, macOS 14 support and exact-tab jump. CodeIsland if you also want your phone or remote hosts.
Notchi if what you liked was the character in the notch.
CrewTower if you run several agents and the time you lose is the prompt waiting in a tab you are not looking at, and you would rather pay $9.99 for an app with one accountable maker and a release every few days.
All of these are independent products from independent developers, and none of them, CrewTower included, is made by Anthropic; Claude Island is named here only because that was the app's name. Nothing on this page is a claim about anyone's code; it is what each project publishes, and every line is checkable in a minute.
Questions
Does it work with tmux?
Yes. A Claude Code session running inside tmux gets its card like any other, and Jump brings forward the terminal window attached to that tmux server and selects the session's exact pane through tmux itself.
Does it also work if I have several Claude sessions running at once?
Yes. Every running Claude Code session gets its own card, in terminals and in the Claude app, and the ones waiting on you sort to the front. One card can also hold several requests at once, from the session and its subagents, each answered on its own.
On the card I only see “working”. Can I see what it is doing right now, like the last tool call or a progress line?
Yes. Press Activity on the card: it opens the last stretch of that session's transcript inside the card, what the agent said and what it ran, in order, newest at the bottom. For the agents CrewTower follows live, the line under the title also names the current step, and running subagents are listed beneath it.
Is it on Windows or Linux?
No. CrewTower is a Mac app and needs macOS 15 or later, on Apple silicon or Intel.
Sources
Read on 19 October 2026: github.com/farouqaldori/vibe-notch for the rename, license, macOS, features and Mixpanel, with its releases for 1.3.2, and pull requests #53 and #84; github.com/wxtsky/CodeIsland and its releases; github.com/Octane0411/open-vibe-island and its releases; github.com/sk-ruban/notchi, its releases and notchi.app. CrewTower's releases are on its changelog.
Every agent, one notch
Explore CrewTower in the interactive website demo. A license gives you access to the Mac app.
Get CrewTower for Mac$9.99 once · macOS 15 or later