# LaunchBar

5 Hacker News commenters recommended LaunchBar and 0 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 3 of 13 months.

**Verdict:** Mac launcher people recommend for running common actions and searching quickly, though some say it lost momentum and that Raycast's plugins perform better.

## Why people recommend it

- Handles common actions well (1 comments): "I've yet to find another launcher that handles my most common actions quite as well" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47155575))
- Instantly searches by name (1 comments): "basically works exactly like it should, instantly searching the emoji names" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49160194))
- Solid, fine app overall (1 comments): "a fine app. It seemed to lose momentum after a while" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47185318))

## What people warn about

- Raycast plugins perform better (1 comments): "I loved it, but eventually found that Raycasts approach of having predefined plugins for each use case is more performant" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47150197))
- Lost momentum over time (1 comments): "a fine app. It seemed to lose momentum after a while" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47185318))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Raycast](https://hackerapproved.com/p/raycast.md): 95 recommend
- [Alfred for macOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/alfred.md): 55 recommend
- [Spotlight](https://hackerapproved.com/p/spotlight.md): 43 recommend
- [Tuna launcher for macOS](https://hackerapproved.com/p/tuna.md): 10 recommend
- [Vicinae](https://hackerapproved.com/p/vicinae.md): 9 recommend

## Where to get it

- [Visit the official site](https://www.obdev.at/products/launchbar/index.html)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "LaunchBar", https://hackerapproved.com/p/launchbar/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).