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terminal-notifier vs Alerter: catalog facts
terminal-notifier	Alerter
Best for: Getting a macOS notification when a script or build finishes	Best for: Mac users who want scripts to show alerts and read the response
Free Free and open source under the MIT licence.	Free Free to download; the source is published on GitHub.
macOS, Command line	macOS, Command line
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	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
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	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
Downloadable app	Downloadable app
Open source	Not open source
License: MIT	License not stated
No account needed	No account needed
Offline features available	Offline features available
Official website Full listing and sources Sources for terminal-notifier github.com/julienXX/terminal-notifier Catalog checked October 1, 2026	Official website Full listing and sources Sources for Alerter github.com/vjeantet/alerter Catalog checked September 23, 2026

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