Boost macOS productivity with a keyboard-first command launcher
Raycast is a macOS keyboard-first productivity launcher and command palette that centralizes apps, system actions, and developer tools into a single bar. It suits power users, developers, and teams who want to automate repetitive tasks, run script commands, and access integrations without leaving the keyboard. Raycast offers a functional free tier for individuals and paid Pro and Team plans for shared commands and premium features, making it accessible for solo users while scaling for teams.
Raycast is a keyboard-first macOS productivity launcher that replaces and extends Spotlight with a command bar that runs apps, script commands, and integrations. Its primary capability is surfacing app actions, snippets, and developer workflows from a single, fuzzy-searchable command palette. Raycast’s key differentiator is an Extensions Store and scriptable command system that lets teams share shortcuts and automate processes without an external automation app. It serves developers, product teams, and power macOS users who want to shave minutes off daily tasks. Raycast offers a functional free tier for personal use plus Pro and Team paid tiers for advanced AI, sharing, and admin controls.
Raycast is a macOS-native productivity launcher that launched to give keyboard-first users a faster way to search, control, and automate their desktops. Founded around 2019, Raycast positions itself as an alternative to Spotlight and Alfred with a stronger focus on integrations, developer-friendly script commands, and a curated Extensions Store. The core value proposition is reducing context switches: instead of opening multiple apps you type once to run a command, launch an app, call an API, or perform a git action. Raycast runs only on macOS and emphasizes low-latency local UI with cloud features for syncing and team sharing.
Under the hood Raycast exposes several concrete capabilities. The command bar offers fuzzy search to open apps, files, or settings and can execute Script Commands that run shell, Node, Python, or AppleScript and return structured results. The Extensions Store hosts community and official extensions for GitHub, Jira, Slack, Notion and more, letting you create commands that list PRs, create Jira issues, or post messages. Clipboard History, Snippets, and Quicklinks store frequently used text and URLs for instant insertion. Raycast also includes Raycast AI — a built-in assistant that can summarize text, explain code, and draft messages; it supports using a user-provided OpenAI API key for GPT-4 access when available.
Pricing is simple and tiered. Raycast’s core app is free for personal users and includes the command bar, many community extensions, snippets, and local script commands. Pro unlocks Raycast AI credits, advanced features such as private extension sharing, and priority support — Pro pricing is approximately $5–$6/month billed monthly or cheaper annually (price may vary). Team plans add centralized billing, shared commands and workspaces, admin controls, and start at a higher per-seat rate (approximately $10–$12/user/month). Enterprise pricing and SSO are sold via custom quotes for large organizations.
Raycast is used by software engineers to run git actions, open pull requests, and run local scripts without leaving the keyboard, and by product managers to triage issues and jump between Jira tickets and Slack channels quickly. For example, a Senior Engineer might cut PR review time by running git diffs and opening PR pages from the command bar, while a Product Manager uses shared commands to create and assign Jira tasks from templates. If you need deep automation sequences or extensive cross-platform support, compare Raycast to Alfred to pick the workflow model that fits your team best.
Three capabilities that set Raycast apart from its nearest competitors.
Current tiers and what you get at each price point. Verified against the vendor's pricing page.
| Plan | Price | What you get | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Free | Free | Command bar, many community extensions, local scripts, no Pro AI credits | Individual users who want core productivity features |
| Pro | Approx. $5–$6/month | Adds Raycast AI credits, private extension sharing, priority support | Power users needing AI features and private commands |
| Team | Approx. $10–$12/user/month | Shared workspaces, centralized billing, admin controls, team sharing | Small teams who need shared commands and governance |
| Enterprise | Custom | SSO, compliance controls, custom onboarding and SLAs | Large organizations requiring SSO and enterprise support |
Copy these into Raycast as-is. Each targets a different high-value workflow.
You are a concise pull-request summarizer. Role: read the PR title, description, and diff summary and produce a reviewer-ready digest. Constraints: 1) Keep summary to 3 short bullets (what changed, why, risk), 2) Add a single-line QA checklist (2 items), 3) Suggest 1-2 ideal reviewers based on touched areas. Output format: Plain text with bullets then QA checklist then reviewer suggestions. Example input: "Title: Improve auth token handling; Diff: auth.js +45/-12, tests updated; Description: fixes token refresh race". Example output: "- What: ..."
You are a ticket author assistant. Role: convert a short sentence and metadata into a ready-to-create Jira ticket body. Inputs: title, priority (P1-P5), component, reporter, short description line. Constraints: 1) Produce a short summary (one sentence), 2) Provide Description with context, steps to reproduce (3 steps max), expected vs actual, acceptance criteria (3 clear, testable items), labels, and suggested sprint. Output format: JSON object with keys: summary, description, steps_to_reproduce, expected, actual, acceptance_criteria, labels, sprint. Example: input: "Login fails on SSO".
You are a release notes writer. Role: take a version and a list of merged PRs (title, PR number, author, labels) and produce concise release notes. Constraints: 1) Output three sections: Highlights, Bug Fixes, Breaking Changes; 2) At most 6 bullets per section; turn each PR into one 10–16 word bullet mentioning effect and PR#; 3) Add a one-sentence upgrade guidance if Breaking Changes exist. Output format: markdown with headings '## Highlights', '## Bug Fixes', '## Breaking Changes', and '## Upgrade Notes' when applicable. Example PR line: "#432: Improve cache invalidation — reduces stale reads (authored by @alice)".
You are an incident comms specialist. Role: from a short incident summary (severity, observed time, system affected, immediate impact), produce (A) a Slack alert and (B) a ticket draft for the incident tracker. Constraints: 1) Slack alert <=240 characters, includes severity, impact, link to ticket placeholder, and CTA; 2) Ticket draft must include Title, Severity, Affected Services, Timeline (entries), Impact, Immediate Mitigation, Next Steps, Owner. Output format: JSON with keys 'slack_alert' and 'ticket' (ticket as nested fields). Example input: "sev2, payments timeout 10:12–10:25, 25% checkout failures".
You are a senior test engineer. Role: given a language (jest/pytest), a exported function/class signature, and a short description, produce a complete unit test skeleton with: 1) a table/list of test cases (name, input, expected output, edge case reason), 2) test file with imports, setup/teardown stubs, mocks/stubs where external deps exist, and example assertions, 3) suggested test data and boundary values. Constraints: include at least 5 distinct test cases including error/edge cases. Output format: start with the test-case table in markdown, then provide the test file code block for the requested framework. Example input: "lang=jest; function: calculateTax(income:number, deductions:number[]); description: progressive tax bands".
You are an SRE creating a deployment runbook. Role: for a service name and target version, produce a numbered, actionable runbook covering pre-deploy checks, exact deployment commands, canary rollout steps, smoke tests (with commands and expected success criteria), rollback commands, post-deploy validations, monitoring thresholds to watch, and stakeholder notification templates. Constraints: 1) Include exact shell/CLI commands where applicable, 2) Provide a 5-minute and 30-minute post-deploy checklist, 3) Include escalation contacts and rollback decision criteria. Output format: a numbered checklist grouped by phase: Pre-deploy, Deploy, Canary, Smoke Tests, Rollback, Post-deploy, Notifications.
Choose Raycast over Alfred if you prioritize a managed Extensions Store and team-shared commands rather than isolated workflows.