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Alerter vs terminal-notifier: catalog facts
Alerter	terminal-notifier
Best for: Mac users who want scripts to show alerts and read the response	Best for: Getting a macOS notification when a script or build finishes
Free Free to download; the source is published on GitHub.	Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.
macOS, Command line	macOS, Command line
Sends native macOS notifications from the command line Waits for the user's response and prints it for scripts to use All 3 strengths for Alerter Sends native macOS notifications from the command line Waits for the user's response and prints it for scripts to use Small Swift tool that is easy to call from shell scripts	Simple one-line usage from any shell script Uses the native macOS Notification Center All 4 strengths for terminal-notifier Simple one-line usage from any shell script Uses the native macOS Notification Center Supports custom titles, messages and sounds Available as a Homebrew formula
macOS only Command-line only, with no graphical settings All 3 limitations for Alerter macOS only Command-line only, with no graphical settings Licence terms not confirmed in the research	macOS only Requires macOS 10.14 or higher All 3 limitations for terminal-notifier macOS only Requires macOS 10.14 or higher Version 3 differs from version 2, so older scripts may need changes
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Not open source	Open source
License not stated	License: MIT
No account needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Alerter github.com/vjeantet/alerter Catalog checked September 23, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for terminal-notifier github.com/julienXX/terminal-notifier Catalog checked October 1, 2026

“Not stated” means we have not confirmed it. Features can vary by device and plan.