Raycast is the Spotlight replacement worth installing on any Mac

Raycast is a launcher that does far more than launch apps.

You hit one shortcut, a search bar appears, and from there you run almost anything on your Mac without touching the mouse. It is free, it is fast, and once it replaces Spotlight you do not go back. This one is not about coming from Windows. It is just a very good app for anyone on a Mac.

It came up when I asked what to install on a new Mac, and after a week I get why.

What it replaces

Out of the box, Raycast does the job of several apps at once.

• Launch apps and search files, like Spotlight but faster.
• Window management, snap and resize windows with a keystroke, no separate app needed.
• Clipboard history, get back something you copied an hour ago.
• Snippets, type a short keyword and expand it into a full block of text.
• Quicklinks and a calculator, jump to any page or do quick math right in the bar.

That is the free core, and for most people it is already enough.

Where it gets powerful

The real unlock is extensions.

Raycast has a store with thousands of them, so you can drive your other tools without opening them. Search Notion, manage Linear issues, control Spotify, grab a 1Password login, all from the same bar. There is built-in AI too, so you can ask a question or draft text without leaving what you are doing.

You start with the basics. Over a few weeks, it quietly becomes the center of how you use your Mac.

Getting it

Raycast is free.

• Download it from raycast.com.
• Or with Homebrew: brew install --cask raycast.

In its settings, set it to open with Cmd+Space so it takes over from Spotlight, and give it a week. You will wonder how you used the Mac without it.