A blazing-fast, keyboard-first launcher that folds clipboard history, window management, snippets, an extension store, and AI into one command bar.
Raycast replaces Spotlight with a command bar that actually keeps up with you. Press a hotkey, start typing, and you are launching apps, running scripts, doing math, managing windows, searching your clipboard history, or asking an AI model — without your hands leaving the keyboard.
Why it makes the list
Most launchers stop at opening apps. Raycast treats the command bar as a platform: a polished core app, a store of thousands of community extensions, and a Script Commands system for gluing in your own tools. It is fast, it is beautifully designed, and it quietly absorbs half a dozen menu-bar utilities you were paying for separately.
Standout features
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Extensions store — Jira, Linear, GitHub, Notion, Homebrew, Spotify and thousands more, installed in one keystroke
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Clipboard history with search, pinning, and image previews
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Window management with tiling shortcuts that rival dedicated apps
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Snippets and text expansion with dynamic placeholders
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Raycast AI — ask questions, rewrite text, and run AI commands inline
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Floating notes, quicklinks, and a built-in calculator that understands units and currencies
Pricing
The core app is free and genuinely complete. Raycast Pro (from $8/month) adds unlimited AI with frontier models, cloud sync, custom themes, and scheduled automations.