Quicksilver
Shares rank 6 of 8 app launchers by recommenders
Free Mac app launcher people call a revelation and fondly remember. Common caveat: it crashed some users a couple of times a week.
Free Mac app launcher people call a revelation and fondly remember. Common caveat: it crashed some users a couple of times a week.
10 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 8
- criticize it
- 2
- approval share
- 80%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: not recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 8 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- 4 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Remembered fondly as a revelation
“Loved Quicksilver back in the day.”
Comment from 25 Feb 2026 in “Tuna: A new, modern, modal launcher for macOS” “Quicksilver was a revelation.”
Comment from 10 Dec 2025 in “Making macOS Bearable” Works well as a Spotlight alternative
“alfred and quicksilver etc. all work surprisingly well”
Comment from 15 Sep 2026 in “iOS 27, iPadOS 27, and macOS 27” “I use Quicksilver and I have Spotlight disabled.”
Comment from 16 Jan 2026 in “Can You Disable Spotlight and Siri in macOS Tahoe?”
What people warn about
Each mark is one comment
Crashed a couple times a week
“it was the best , even though it crashed my computer a couple of times a week”
Comment from 29 Sep 2026 in “macOS Golden Gate Is a Buggy Mess”
Other app launchers people recommend
The four most recommended other app launchers, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raycast | 95 | 27 | 78% | 12 | — | Approved |
| Alfred for macOS | 55 | 4 | 93% | 12 | 10 yrs3 owners | Approved |
| Spotlight | 43 | 133 | 24% | 11 | 6 yrs5 owners | — |
| Tuna launcher for macOS | 10 | 6 | 63% | 2 | — | — |
| QuicksilverThis page | 8 | 2 | 80% | 6 | — | — |
What people said
10 of the 12 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“The way the novel portrays that time, and my Science heroes, is just fantastic.”
“it was the best , even though it crashed my computer a couple of times a week”
“alfred and quicksilver etc. all work surprisingly well”
“Loved Quicksilver back in the day.”
“especially since it doesn't look maintained anymore”
“I use Quicksilver and I have Spotlight disabled.”
“enjoying Quicksilver on Snow Leopard (10.6) through (Mavericks 10.9)”
“Quicksilver was a revelation.”
“I don't think they stayed relevant enough”
“he features prominently in Quicksilver”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.