# Raycast 95 Hacker News commenters recommended Raycast and 27 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 12 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule. **Verdict:** A keyboard-driven Mac launcher that replaces Spotlight and adds window management, a clipboard manager, hotkeys and extensions, though critics dislike the subscription cost and the push into AI. ## Why people recommend it - Better Spotlight replacement (6 comments): "I turned off spotlight entirely and replaced it with 3rd party software. I couldn't be happier with my choice." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49705922)) "Raycast replaced spotlight for me years ago. Highly recommend replacing your spotlight hotkey with it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47241696)) "That laggy behavior plus indexing not appearing to find some obvious files made me switch to Raycast." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46414347)) - Built-in window management (6 comments): "I just use RayCast Hotkeys to bring mostly full-sized apps of my choice to the forefront and not worry about much" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47711004)) "For this kind of stuff Raycast is more than enough though. I use its window management features extensively." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46581444)) "I set up Raycast with the same keybinds as Magnet because I learned those first and haven't looked back." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46581661)) - Keyboard shortcuts for everyday workflows (7 comments): "I just use RayCast Hotkeys to bring mostly full-sized apps of my choice to the forefront and not worry about much" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47711004)) "I set up Raycast with the same keybinds as Magnet because I learned those first and haven't looked back." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46581661)) "keyboard shortcuts for clipboard manager, basic window management, pomodoro tracking and app launch" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48660567)) - Large extension and integration ecosystem (5 comments): "Raycast is successful because it's an incredibly widely used and adopted integration layer." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49826967)) "having predefined plugins for each use case is more performant , discoverable and usable." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47150197)) "Raycast is krunner but with better UI, more features and more flexibility from plugin." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49826976)) ## What people warn about - Pro subscription is expensive (4 comments): "Raycast is a paid product. Even though they have a free tier, they only have that to get people to use and like the tool enough to pay for it." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47579753)) "the cost of the pro version (about $96 if paid annually) is a bit high just for the software" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49549828)) "paid subscriptions, AI slop, and proprietary ripoffs of popular FOSS tools" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46025109)) - Ad-in-PR controversy hurt trust (4 comments): "Had I not seen this thread, I would have assumed they consented to it, and I'd never willingly interact with Raycast or it's team in any way." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47574042)) "viewing them negatively as a consequence of using pull requests as an advertising canvas" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47575401)) "There's like 100 comments blaming raycast, they should just sue for damages lol." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47573667)) - Pushes AI over core product (3 comments): "As a Raycast paying user, I was a little bent that they have apparently not been focusing on the core product." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47256016)) "the only thing keeping me off of Raycast is the VC funding, the AI-down-throat shoving" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46034010)) "paid subscriptions, AI slop, and proprietary ripoffs of popular FOSS tools" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46025109)) - New version feels half-baked (2 comments): "Sad to see them jettison such a solid native app for this. Most of all I don't understand why they released it half-baked." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48219458)) "As a Raycast paying user, I was a little bent that they have apparently not been focusing on the core product." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47256016)) ## Alternatives hackers 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 - [Quicksilver](https://hackerapproved.com/p/quicksilver.md): 8 recommend ## Where to get it - [Visit the official site](https://www.raycast.com/) ## Cite as Hacker Approved, "Raycast", https://hackerapproved.com/p/raycast/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).