What is Raycast?
I had 6 apps open just to paste an emoji. My dock looked like a digital hoarder’s garage. Raycast collapsed that mess into one search bar.
The calculator is one of the best out there. The notes system pulls double duty as quick capture and a second brain. Shortcuts cover everything from apps to phrases.
Whatever weird function you need is probably in the community extension store already. If it somehow isn’t, make it.
Why use it?
My reason is simple: a command bar earns its place by being faster than the apps it replaces. Raycast clears that bar for Alfred-style search, notes, calculator work, clipboard history, AI chat, snippets, and a lot more.
My favorite part is how little it forces on you. If you want to use it as a Spotlight replacement and never touch anything else, you can. If you want to dive in and build your own extension, you can do that too.
Raycast bends to your workflow.
Given Raycast’s ability to do so much, you’d think it would feel bloated or slow. It doesn’t. Raycast is one of the snappiest apps I’ve ever used. I can launch apps, bounce through notes, and dig around in commands without it dragging.
Raycast’s extensions marketplace is where it gets ridiculous. My favorite extension is SVGl, an SVG library and search tool. It lets me find, copy, save, and paste an SVG right from the command bar. That saves me a surprising amount of time when I’m adding logos to a webpage or video.
Raycast is not perfect. The subscription can feel pushy because premium features stay front and center. For me it is worth paying for. If you do not want to pay, the free version still gives you almost everything except the AI features and longer history. It can give WinRAR freeware vibes at times.
The shine from a Raycast
Raycast has become like a second OS to me. A layer on top of macOS that lets me use my Mac the way I want.
Just this month, Raycast for iOS launched, which is the clearest example of why I keep using it. I can grab the same saved snippets, notes, and quick actions on my phone instead of rebuilding that workflow in three other apps.
Also, the emoji picker is better than it has any right to be.
Not sponsored
Raycast didn’t pay me to write this. It went the other way: I’m the one with the subscription.