What is Raycast?
The elevator pitch is: what if Spotlight on Mac was good—letting you find everything in one search bar, from files, web, contacts, calendars, and more.
That’s a simple rundown, but it does an ungodly amount more. It has one of the best calculators out there and a notes system that acts as both quick notes and a second brain. The ability to turn anything into a shortcut, from an app to a phrase, is incredibly powerful.
It also has a community-driven store with extensions that can add any function you could want. If you somehow can’t find what you need, make it! You can also make your own extension to fit your exact needs.
Why use it?
My reason is that it allows me to merge what would be five or six different apps into one seamless experience. It’s an Alfred replacement, Notes app, calculator, clipboard, AI chat, & even more.
This brings us to my favorite part of Raycast: its willingness to let you take or leave features. If you want to just use it as a Spotlight replacement & never touch any other part of it, you can! If you want to dive in & use it to make your own extension, you can!
Raycast allows you to mold it to you and your workflow. You can use it as a second OS or just a good calculator. Everyone’s Raycast setup will be different, but everyone can find a use for it.
Performance, tools & quirks
Given Raycast’s ability to do anything you would want, you’d think it would feel bloated, slow, or burdensome. Yet Raycast is one of the snappiest apps I’ve ever used. Whether launching many apps while deep in an AI chat and writing notes, it does not slow down.
Raycast’s extensions marketplace (which is completely free) allows you to build your perfect workflow. My favorite extension is SVGl, an SVG library and search tool. It lets you find, copy/save, and paste the chosen SVG right from the command bar. This is such a time saver when adding logos to a webpage or video.
While Raycast isn’t perfect, it is close. One problem I do have is that they can feel pushy with their subscription. Not super pushy, but they will let you know that there is a premium feature you can’t use front & center.
For me it is well worth it to pay for Raycast, and if you don’t want to pay, you still get everything free except the AI stuff & long-term history. But it can give WinRAR freeware vibes at times.
The shine from a Raycast
Raycast has become like a second OS to me. A layer on top of macOS that lets me use my Mac the way I want. I keep finding useful features as well as new ones being added.
Just this month, Raycast for iOS launched, letting you take all the info you use on Raycast from Mac to iOS, while bringing an assortment of useful Raycast features to the platform.
The Raycast team has been one of the most reactive and caring teams I’ve had the pleasure of interacting with. They are on top of bug fixes, feature requests, and general community engagement.
While this isn’t sponsored in any way, I can wholeheartedly recommend Raycast to pretty much anyone who uses a Mac. (Update from 2025 December: Raycast for iOS & Windows beta have launched!)
Also I forgot to mention the amazing emoji picker.
links:
If you want to give Raycast a try, they can be found at Raycast.
Thanks for reading!
If you are lucky, here is a free month of Pro. This code changes every so often: Raycast Pro Referral
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