Written by Shahzaib Ali
Raycast vs Alfred
For three years, I was one of those Alfred users.
You know the type. Whenever someone on my team would fumble around clicking through folders or using Spotlight to find something, I’d casually mention Alfred, watch them try it, and feel quietly smug when they said “wait, why doesn’t everyone use this?” I had my Alfred workflows dialled in. My clipboard history set up. My custom file search snippets. I’d spent real time building that setup and it worked exactly the way I needed it to.
Then a developer I respect mentioned he’d switched to Raycast and called Alfred “legacy software.” I dismissed it. Then three more people in the same week said something similar. Then I saw Raycast getting mentioned constantly in the Mac productivity corners of the internet I hang around in.
So I gave myself a two-week trial. Two weeks of Raycast as my primary launcher, full commitment, no switching back to Alfred mid-experiment.
That was about seven months ago. I’m still on Raycast. Here’s the honest story of why — and why Alfred might still be the right choice for you.
What Both Tools Actually Do
For anyone who hasn’t used either: both Alfred and Raycast are Mac application launchers that replace Spotlight. You hit a keyboard shortcut (I use Option + Space for both), a search bar appears, and you can launch apps, search files, run calculations, look up definitions, control your Mac, and a lot more — all without touching the mouse.
The pitch for both tools is the same: stop mousing around, stop clicking through menus, do everything from your keyboard at the speed of thought.
That core experience is similar enough between the two that switching feels disorienting at first, like using a slightly different keyboard layout. The differences emerge in the details, the philosophy, and crucially, what each tool lets you do beyond basic launching.
Three Years With Alfred: What I Actually Loved
Alfred has been around since 2010. That’s ancient by Mac software standards, and it shows in the best possible way — it’s deeply stable, has an enormous library of community-built workflows, and does exactly what it promises with zero drama.
The Powerpack is Alfred’s one-time paid upgrade that unlocks the genuinely powerful features: workflows (essentially automation sequences you can build or download), clipboard history, snippets (text expansion), file actions, and more. It costs £34 for a single license or £49 for a mega supporter license, and it’s a lifetime purchase — no subscription, ever.
That pricing model built a loyal user base. Pay once, use forever, get updates for a reasonable period. For people who’ve been on Alfred for years, there’s real psychological value in not paying monthly for a launcher.
The clipboard history is excellent. It saves everything you copy — text, images, file paths — and you can search back through it with Alfred’s search. After a few weeks of having this, losing it feels like losing a superpower.
The workflow ecosystem is the other major win. Because Alfred has been around so long and has a passionate community, there are workflows for almost anything you’d want to automate: searching specific websites, pulling data from APIs, connecting to services, converting file formats, interacting with apps. If you’re willing to spend time browsing the Packal workflow repository, you can build an extremely capable system.
Where Alfred started showing its age for me:
The interface. Alfred’s UI is functional but feels like it was designed in 2015 and hasn’t substantially changed since. Everything works, nothing is broken, but compared to modern Mac apps it looks dated. This sounds superficial until you’re looking at it fifty times a day.
The AI features, or lack of them. Alfred has added some AI capabilities, but they feel bolted-on rather than native. For a tool I’m in dozens of times a day, I started wanting AI assistance that felt genuinely integrated.
Building custom workflows requires either finding one someone else built or learning Alfred’s workflow builder, which is visual but not exactly intuitive. I built maybe four custom workflows in three years and found the process just annoying enough that I usually didn’t bother.
Switching to Raycast: The First Two Weeks
Raycast is free for individuals, with a Pro tier at $8/month that adds AI features and some advanced capabilities. It’s newer — launched around 2020 — and has been built with a modern Mac aesthetic from the ground up.
The first thing I noticed wasn’t a feature. It was speed. Raycast opens faster than Alfred on my M2 MacBook Pro. Not dramatically faster, but perceptibly faster in a way you notice every single time when you’re using a launcher dozens of times daily. The search results appear almost before I finish typing.
The second thing I noticed was the Extensions Store. Raycast has a built-in store of community extensions — similar to Alfred’s workflows but significantly easier to install and configure. You search for what you want, click Install, and it appears immediately in Raycast. No downloading files, no importing, no setup steps. I went from zero to having extensions for GitHub, Linear, Notion, Spotify controls, and a color picker in about eight minutes.
The GitHub extension alone made me wonder why I’d been browser-tabbing to GitHub so much. I can now open a repo, search issues, create a pull request, or check my notifications directly from Raycast without switching to a browser. When you’re doing this kind of thing multiple times a day, the friction reduction compounds.
Where Raycast Actually Beats Alfred in Daily Use
The extensions are easier to use, not just easier to install. Alfred’s workflows often require configuration steps that feel like setup tasks. Raycast extensions tend to have better default states — they work reasonably well immediately and configuration is optional rather than required.
Window management built in. Raycast has window snapping and management commands natively. I used to run a separate app (Magnet) for this. Being able to type “left half” in Raycast to snap my current window, without a separate app, without additional keyboard shortcuts to memorize, is a genuinely better experience.
The Floating Notes feature. This sounds minor and turned out to be something I use constantly. A persistent scratchpad accessible from Raycast that stays exactly where I left it. It’s replaced the sticky note app I’d been using for years for quick temporary text.
AI integration (Pro tier). Raycast AI lets you prompt Claude, GPT-4, and other models directly from the launcher, in a sidebar that doesn’t interrupt your workflow. I can highlight text in any app, open Raycast, and ask for a rewrite, explanation, or summary without switching windows. For how I work, this alone justifies the $8/month Pro subscription.
The Confetti command. You can type “Confetti” in Raycast and your screen fills with confetti. This has zero productivity value and I’ve used it at least fifteen times to celebrate minor victories to myself in my home office. I’m including it because it tells you something about the team’s personality.
Where Alfred Still Wins
Pricing. If subscriptions are a dealbreaker for you — and for some people they genuinely are, on principle or budget — Alfred’s one-time Powerpack payment is the better model. Raycast Pro’s $8/month is $96/year, which over three or four years significantly exceeds Alfred’s Powerpack cost.
Workflow power for technical users. Alfred’s workflow builder, once you’ve learned it, can do things that require real scripting knowledge in Raycast. If you’re a developer who wants to build sophisticated automated workflows with branching logic, Alfred’s mature workflow system has more depth.
Stability. Alfred has been around for 14 years. The codebase is battle-tested in a way Raycast’s isn’t yet. Raycast updates frequently, which means new features arrive constantly — but also means occasional regressions or behavior changes that Alfred users simply never experience.
No AI requirement. If you don’t want or need AI features, Alfred Powerpack covers everything without any ongoing subscription. Raycast’s free tier is solid, but the features that made me switch to Raycast — especially the AI integration — are behind the Pro paywall.
File search. Alfred’s file search, particularly with its indexing options and file action system, is more powerful than Raycast’s for users who do heavy file navigation from the launcher. If you regularly navigate complex folder structures or need sophisticated file operations, Alfred’s file handling is more mature.
How to Actually Get Started With Whichever You Choose
If you’re trying Raycast for the first time:
Step 1: Download from Raycast.com, install, and set your preferred hotkey in Settings → General. I’d recommend Option + Space to match Spotlight’s muscle memory.
Step 2: Go to the Extensions store (type “Store” in Raycast) and install three or four extensions for the tools you use most. GitHub, Notion, Linear, and Spotify are good starting points if they’re relevant to you.
Step 3: Enable Clipboard History in Settings → Extensions → Clipboard History. Set the history period to at least 30 days. This becomes essential within a week.
Step 4: Try the window management commands for a few days before installing any separate window manager app.
Step 5: If you do any writing or research, try the AI features in a two-week Pro trial before deciding if $8/month is worth it for your use.
If you’re going deeper with Alfred:
Step 1: Download Alfred from alfredapp.com and purchase Powerpack if you haven’t already.
Step 2: Enable Clipboard History in Alfred Preferences → Features → Clipboard.
Step 3: Browse the Packal workflow repository (packal.org) and install two or three workflows for your most repetitive tasks.
Step 4: Spend thirty minutes with the workflow builder on a simple automation you’d actually use. Once you’ve built one, the learning curve for subsequent ones drops significantly.
The Mistakes Worth Skipping
Trying to replicate your Alfred setup exactly in Raycast (or vice versa). The tools work differently enough that direct replication misses the point. Spend the first week using Raycast (or Alfred) for its native strengths rather than trying to rebuild what you had.
Installing every extension in the store immediately. I did this and spent a week with a cluttered Raycast that felt overwhelming. Install extensions for tools you actively use. You can always add more.
Switching mid-project when you’re under deadline. Give yourself a quiet week to adjust. The first few days with a new launcher feel disorienting when muscle memory keeps reaching for shortcuts that no longer do what you expect.
Dismissing the free tier of Raycast too quickly. If you try Raycast free and think “this is fine but not dramatically different from Spotlight,” you haven’t installed any extensions yet. The extensions are where the power is.
Where Things Stand For Me
Seven months in, I’m on Raycast Pro and I’ve stopped thinking about switching back. The extension ecosystem, the AI integration, and the modern interface won out for how I specifically work.
But I don’t think Alfred users who try Raycast and prefer to stay on Alfred are wrong. The workflow ecosystem is genuinely more powerful for technical automation, the pricing model is legitimately better for subscription-averse users, and the stability is real.
What I’d push back on is the “legacy software” framing I heard originally. Alfred is still actively maintained and regularly updated. It’s not declining — it’s just mature. Mature software that solves a problem well isn’t legacy. It’s reliable.
The real question is simpler than most comparisons make it: Do you want a one-time purchase with maximum workflow power and a huge community of existing automations? That’s Alfred. Do you want modern design, easier extension setup, and built-in AI that feels native rather than grafted on? That’s Raycast.
Both are better than Spotlight in ways that will be obvious within the first hour. Pick one, actually commit to learning it, and the productivity gains will show up pretty quickly.
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