Spotlight Alternatives for Mac
There are many alternatives to Spotlight for Mac if you are looking for a replacement. The best Mac alternative is Alfred, which is free. If that doesn't suit you, our users have ranked more than 50 alternatives to Spotlight and many of them are available for Mac so hopefully you can find a suitable replacement. Other interesting Mac alternatives to Spotlight are Station, ueli, DocFetcher and Raycast.
Spotlight alternatives are mainly Application Launchers but may also be File Search Utilities or Web Search Engines. Filter by these if you want a narrower list of alternatives or looking for a specific functionality of Spotlight.Alfred
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Freemium • Proprietary
- Application Launcher
- File Search Utility
- Clipboard Manager
100 Alfred alternatives- Mac
- iPhone
- iPad
Alfred is a productivity application for macOS, which boosts your efficiency with hotkeys, keywords and text expansion. Search your Mac and the web, and control your Mac using custom actions with the Powerpack.
- - Alfred is the most popular Mac, iPhone & iPad alternative to Spotlight.
Alfred Features
Opinions about Alfred as a Alternative to Spotlight
Station
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Application Launcher
- Tab Manager
- Instant Messenger
28 Station alternatives- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
- Microsoft Edge
- Google Chrome
- Brave
Station is the first open-source smart browser for busy people. A single place for all of your web applications.
- - Station is the most popular Linux alternative to Spotlight.
- - Station is the most popular Open Source alternative to Spotlight.
Station Features
ueli
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo- Free • Open Source
- Application Launcher
- File Search Utility
- Web Search Engine
73 ueli alternatives- Mac
- Windows
Developed with the Electron framework, ueli is the type of tool that adopts simplicity, leaving out any unnecessary options and configuration settings. It creates an icon in the system tray at startup, where it sits silently throughout its runtime, without disturbing you with...
ueli Features
DocFetcher
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo110 DocFetcher alternatives- Free • Open Source
- File Search Utility
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
DocFetcher is a portable German/English open source desktop search application. It allows you search the contents of documents on your computer. - You can think of it as Google for your local document repository.
DocFetcher Features
Opinions about DocFetcher as a Alternative to Spotlight
Raycast
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo43 Raycast alternatives- Freemium • Proprietary
- Application Launcher
- File Search Utility
- Mac
Raycast lets you control your tools with a few keystrokes. It’s designed to keep you focused.
Raycast Features
Comments about Raycast as a Alternative to Spotlight
It’s much more predictable, powerful, fast, and beautiful than Spotlight. Raycast has a big focus on extensions and new ones are coming every day. If you have a little bit of programming experience, you can even develop your own extension very easily. Their documentation, tooling, and code examples are some of the best I’ve ever seen.
0Quicksilver
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo81 Quicksilver alternatives- Free • Open Source
- Application Launcher
- Mac
Quicksilver is a fast and free Mac OS X productivity application that gives you the power to control your Mac quickly and elegantly. Quicksilver learns your habits, making your everyday chores simple and efficient.
Quicksilver Features
Comments about Quicksilver as a Alternative to Spotlight
saves your recent/commonly used apps for quicker searches
0Cerebro
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo42 Cerebro alternatives- Free • Open Source
- Mac
- Windows
- Linux
Cerebro is an open source and free electron-based productivity software alternative to Alfred and Spotlight. It is focused on speed and good UI and UX. In most cases you don't even need to open another application, because you can see results right in Cerebro, like google...
Cerebro Features
Opinions about Cerebro as a Alternative to Spotlight
EasyFind
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo46 EasyFind alternatives- Free • Proprietary
- File Search Utility
- File Manager
- Mac
Think Mac OS Xs Spotlight could use some help? Download EasyFind, an alternative to (or supplement of) Spotlight and find files, folders, or contents in any file without indexing. EasyFind is especially useful for those tired of slow or impossible indexing, outdated or corrupted...
EasyFind Features
Spotter
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo52 Spotter alternatives- Free • Open Source
- Application Launcher
- Mac
Productivity tool that allows to launch everything (e.g. switch the next song, connect Bluetooth device, set a timer, etc.) so you can stay focused on your current task.
Spotter Features
XMenu
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo71 XMenu alternatives- Free • Proprietary
- Application Launcher
- Mac
XMenu adds one or more global menus to the right side of the menu bar. They give you access to your preferred applications, folders, documents, files, and snippets. Launch any application, or insert text snippets or URLs into your email messages or Pages documents with a single...
XMenu Features
Zazu is a new open source productivity app, that allows developers to be in the drivers seat. Unlike other solutions, there is no built-in integrations, so every plugin has the full scope of what Zazu has to offer.
Zazu Features
DiscontinuedRepo archived by authors. No updates or releases, and no recent commits. Based on obsolete versions of underlying tools/platform.
Lacona
Is this is a good alternative?YesNo26 Lacona alternatives- Freemium • Proprietary
- Application Launcher
- Mac
Lacona is a docker app for Mac OSX that accepts natural language commands. Call up Lacona with a keyboard shortcut and type whatever you want to do. It gives intelligent suggestions as you type and then follows your orders.
Lacona Features