A rail of notes beside your work, or a shelf of notes, files and clipboard history one gesture away?
Koala keeps a small set of notes in a rail at the edge of your Mac screen, which you can pull out next to what you are doing and dock back at the edge. Unclutter is three tools in one slide-down panel: Notes, a Files shelf and clipboard history, summoned with a gesture and hidden again when you move away. This page compares the two on facts from each maker's own site.
The short version
Koala checkout runs on Stripe's hosted Checkout page.
| Comparison point | Koala | Unclutter |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $9.99, one-time | $19.99, one-time (lifetime licence) |
| What you get | Notes only: a rail of notes | Three tools in one: Notes, Files shelf, Clipboard history |
| Where notes live | In a rail at the screen edge; detachable floating notes | In a slide-down panel, sticky-style |
| Always visible | Yes, the rail stays beside your work | No: the panel slides down on a gesture and hides when you move away |
| Multiple notes at once | Yes, several notes in the rail, each detachable | One notes panel, with a single-note or list view |
| Detachable / floating | Yes: pull a note out, resize it beside your work, dock it back | Panels can be dragged out and stay on top of other windows until you close them |
| Notes search | No | Yes, quick full-text search |
| Clipboard history | No | Yes: the 10, 25 or 50 most recent clips, plus a permanent Favorites list |
| File shelf | No | Yes: a dropzone for temporary and frequently used files |
| Folders | No | Not claimed for notes on the maker's notes page |
| Markdown | No | Not claimed on the maker's notes page |
| Checklists | Yes | Not claimed on the maker's notes page |
| Sync default | Optional iCloud sync, off by default | Set up by you, through a cloud drive you already use (iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox) |
| Sync across devices | Another Mac, via optional iCloud sync | Across your Macs, via the cloud drive you set up |
| Account required | No Koala account; an Apple Account only if you turn on iCloud sync | No account claim on the maker's site; sync uses your own cloud-drive account |
| Refund | No fixed window: request by email, statutory rights preserved | 30-day money-back guarantee, stated on the site |
| iPhone and iPad app | No, Mac only | No mobile app claimed on the maker's site |
| macOS required | macOS 26 or later | macOS 10.13 or later; Apple Silicon and Intel |
Koala keeps a rail of notes at the edge of your screen. Hover to open a note, click to edit it. When a note needs room, pull it out of the rail, resize it beside your work, and drag it back to the edge when you are done.
Koala's rail and detached notes are designed to travel with you: the note panels are built to join all Spaces and to float alongside full-screen windows, so a note can stay next to your work wherever it is.
Unclutter is a shelf you summon, not a rail that stays. Move the pointer to the top of the screen and scroll down, and the window slides down; move away and it hides again. It is instantly accessible on every screen and Desktop, even in full-screen mode, but it is not beside your work until you call it.
Panels can be dragged out of the Unclutter window by their title bar, and a dragged-out panel stays on top of other windows until you close it. That is a panel parked for now, not a note that persists like Koala's detached notes.
Koala's notes are rich text with images and checklists, always visible in the rail, several at once, each detachable. What Koala does not have is search: there are no folders, no search and no Markdown editor, so you find a note by where you put it in the rail.
Unclutter's notes are sticky-style: quick to jot, shown one at a time or as a list, with quick full-text search that narrows the matching list as you type. The maker's notes page claims no rich text, no checklists, no folders and no Markdown for its notes, so this page claims none of them either.
Unclutter keeps the 10, 25 or 50 most recent things you copied, across restarts, with a Favorites list that stores clips permanently and text clips you can edit in place. Clips from password managers are concealed, never saved to disk, and disappear on quit. Koala has no clipboard manager at all.
Unclutter's Files panel is a dropzone for temporary and frequently used files: drag from the Desktop, Finder, other apps or the web, search files by name, and view them as a list or icons. The default drop action moves the file; Option-drag copies it, Command-Option-drag creates an alias. Koala has no file shelf at all.
Say it plainly: if clipboard history or a file shelf is what you actually want, Unclutter is the buy. Koala does not replace them, and this page does not pretend otherwise.
Local-first. Koala works without an account, and note content stays on your Mac; it is not sent to Koala servers. Koala works offline after a single online activation, and you can export or import a backup archive from the menu. The site does not name the archive's file format.
Unclutter syncs through a cloud drive you set up yourself: iCloud Drive, Google Drive, Dropbox or any other cloud drive, carrying your files and notes across your Macs. No iPhone or iPad app is claimed on the maker's site, so this page claims no mobile sync. Panels can be individually disabled, and the panel layout follows light and dark themes or your macOS appearance.
On sync: Koala's iCloud sync is off by default — Koala says so outright, and you turn it on from the menu only if you want the same notes on another Mac. Unclutter's sync is something you set up, through a drive you already use; the maker's homepage says "across all your devices" while its notes panel says "across all your Macs", so this page says Macs and claims nothing mobile.
One payment for macOS 26 or later, with unlimited notes, local-first storage, offline use after activation and optional iCloud sync included. Koala states no fixed refund window: to request cancellation or a refund, contact hello@usekoala.app with your purchase reference, with statutory rights preserved.
One payment for a lifetime licence, with a 30-day money-back guarantee stated on the site. That is twice Koala's price, and it buys three tools instead of one. If clipboard history or a file shelf is what you actually want, pay the extra $10 for Unclutter: Koala at half the price is only a bargain if notes alone are what you need.
No. Koala is notes only: it has no clipboard history and no file shelf, so Unclutter's other two tools have no Koala equivalent. If you want those, Unclutter is the buy.
Unclutter's site shows a download with no card needed, but states no trial length or demo terms. See unclutterapp.com for the current terms.
No. Koala is notes only: a rail of notes at the screen edge, each detachable. It has no clipboard manager and no file dropzone.
No iPhone app is claimed on unclutterapp.com. Its sync is described as across your Macs, through a cloud drive you set up, such as iCloud Drive, Google Drive or Dropbox.
The Koala site offers a live demo in your browser, which is separate from the native Mac app. It does not describe a free trial of the native app.
This page is published by Koala, one of the two apps compared here. The Unclutter facts come from the maker's own site — unclutterapp.com, its notes, clipboard and files panels and its features page — and prices and features were checked in October 2026. Also compared: Koala vs SideNotes and Koala vs Quick Note.
Download Koala for macOS 26, or feel the rail first in the live demo. The live demo runs in your browser and is separate from the native Mac app.
