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.

Spotlight alternatives page was last updated

Spotlight

Free • Proprietary
File Search Utility

Spotlight is the system-wide desktop search feature built into Apple's OS X operating system since version 10.4...

More about Spotlight

Alfred
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Freemium • Proprietary
Application Launcher
File Search Utility
Clipboard Manager
Mac
iPhone
iPad
100 Alfred alternatives
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.
Suggest and vote on features
Alfred Features
1. Extensible by Plugins/ExtensionsAlfred can be extended with add-ons, plugins and extensions.
2. Dark ModeAlfred supports dark mode for comfortable usage in low light conditions.
3. Full-Text SearchAlfred lets you search for specific words or phrases from inside a document or database.
4. Ad-freeAlfred doesn't contain any form of external advertising.
Launcher
Customizable
Opinions about Alfred as a Alternative to Spotlight
Most users think Alfred is a great Spotlight alternative.
Station
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Application Launcher
Tab Manager
Instant Messenger
Mac
Windows
Linux
Microsoft Edge
Google Chrome
Brave
28 Station alternatives
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.
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Station Features
1. Ad-freeStation doesn't contain any form of external advertising.
App integration
Slack client
Integrated Search
Open API
Knowledge Management
Live Push Notifications
Team Messaging
ueli
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Application Launcher
File Search Utility
Web Search Engine
Mac
Windows
73 ueli alternatives
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...
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ueli Features
1. Portableueli can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
2. Extensible by Plugins/Extensionsueli can be extended with add-ons, plugins and extensions.
Custom commands
Fast file and folder search
Launcher
DocFetcher
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
File Search Utility
Mac
Windows
Linux
110 DocFetcher alternatives
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.
Suggest and vote on features
DocFetcher Features
1. Full-Text SearchDocFetcher lets you search for specific words or phrases from inside a document or database.
2. PortableDocFetcher can be used from a USB stick or similar with no prior installation.
3. Built-in viewerDocFetcher shows you a quick preview of an image, page or file in supported formats.
4. Shared FoldersDocFetcher supports shared folders that can be used to store, search, and access files with multiple people.
Search-in-files
File content indexing
Indexed search
Content Searching
Semantic Search
Reads odt files
Network Scanner
Search in Archives
Opinions about DocFetcher as a Alternative to Spotlight
Most users think DocFetcher is a great Spotlight alternative.
Raycast
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Freemium • Proprietary
Application Launcher
File Search Utility
Mac
43 Raycast alternatives
Raycast lets you control your tools with a few keystrokes. It’s designed to keep you focused.
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Raycast Features
1. Extensible by Plugins/ExtensionsRaycast can be extended with add-ons, plugins and extensions.
2. Support for scriptingRaycast supports scripts and macros to automate or customize tasks.
3. Privacy focusedRaycast is considered a privacy friendly alternative.
Keyboard Shortcuts
Customizable
Comments about Raycast as a Alternative to Spotlight
pros, cons and recent comments
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.
Positive comment•
0
Quicksilver
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Application Launcher
Mac
81 Quicksilver alternatives
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.
Suggest and vote on features
Quicksilver Features
Quick search
Launcher
Comments about Quicksilver as a Alternative to Spotlight
pros, cons and recent comments
saves your recent/commonly used apps for quicker searches
Positive comment•
0
Cerebro
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
42 Cerebro alternatives
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...
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Cerebro Features
1. Extensible by Plugins/ExtensionsCerebro can be extended with add-ons, plugins and extensions.
Theme changing
Multiplatform Export
Launcher
Calculus solving
Electron based
Opinions about Cerebro as a Alternative to Spotlight
Most users think Cerebro is a great Spotlight alternative.
EasyFind
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Proprietary
File Search Utility
File Manager
Mac
46 EasyFind alternatives
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...
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EasyFind Features
1. Ad-freeEasyFind doesn't contain any form of external advertising.
2. Full-Text SearchEasyFind lets you search for specific words or phrases from inside a document or database.
3. LightweightEasyFind consumes less device resources compared to similar apps.
4. No registration requiredYou can use most of the features in EasyFind without registration.
Spotter
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Application Launcher
Mac
52 Spotter alternatives
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.
Suggest and vote on features
Spotter Features
Launcher
XMenu
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Proprietary
Application Launcher
Mac
71 XMenu alternatives
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...
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XMenu Features
Sits in the MenuBar
Zazu
Is this is a good alternative?
Yes
No
Free • Open Source
Mac
Windows
Linux
33 Zazu alternatives
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.
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Zazu Features
1. Extensible by Plugins/ExtensionsZazu can be extended with add-ons, plugins and extensions.
Launcher
Electron based
Discontinued
Repo 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?
Yes
No
Freemium • Proprietary
Application Launcher
Mac
26 Lacona alternatives
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.
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Lacona Features
Launcher