Raycast is a keyboard-driven launcher for macOS that developers use to replace Spotlight and stitch together their daily workflows. Hit a hotkey, type a few characters, and you can search files, manage clipboard history, control Spotify, look up documentation, run shell scripts, switch windows, manage GitHub issues, or trigger any of thousands of community-built extensions — all without touching the mouse.
What separates Raycast from other launchers is its extension ecosystem. The Raycast Store has thousands of extensions built with React and TypeScript through a well-documented API. Developers can write custom commands that interact with any service — Jira, Linear, Notion, Slack, AWS — and share them publicly. The built-in script command feature lets you bind any shell script, Python script, or Node script to a searchable command with zero boilerplate.
Raycast added AI features in 2023, embedding a conversational assistant directly into the launcher. You can ask questions, translate text, summarize clipboard contents, or generate code without leaving whatever app you’re in. The company also launched Raycast Pro with AI chat, cloud sync, and custom themes. Founded in Berlin by former Facebook engineers, Raycast has grown to about 80 employees and raised over $30 million. The product is free for individual use with a paid tier for teams and AI features, and it has quietly become one of the most beloved tools in the Mac developer community.
