I shared the exact same sentiment when I transitioned to Windows after a long period of only using macOS. A few nice candidates I found include Wox [1], Keypirinha [2], and ueli [3].

I eventually began building a C# launcher myself and over time it has become my daily driver - feel free to check it out at https://github.com/dkgv/pinpoint.

[1] https://github.com/Wox-launcher/Wox

[2] https://keypirinha.com/

[3] https://github.com/oliverschwendener/ueli

I guess, the MacOS native Spotlight influenced the growth of more indie “launchers”. Especially, Spotlight being quite limited customization wise.

I personally lately leaning towards niche launchers like:

* https://blipnotes.app for note taking;

* https://shortcat.app for “clicking” interface without a mouse;

* https://dashlook.app for searching git repositories/pull requests (disclaimer: I am the creator).

It just provides better experience compared to Alfred’s community plugins (usually not maintainted).

The problem with separate apps though, is that you need to remember dedicated shortcuts for each of them. On the other hand I had the same experience with Alfred, only that you need to remember specific command/keyword.

If anyone knows more niche “launchers”, I would be very interested to learn about them.

LaunchBar is the original of this style of launcher including using cmd-space, fuzzy search of apps and files, calculator and more actions. LaunchBar originated on NeXT and thus pre-dates Mac OS X. I believe, I started using LaunchBar during the original OS X Beta. It highly influenced QuickSliver, Alfred and Spotlight, Keypirinha, PowerToys Run, etc.

You can still download the old versions all the way back to NeXT:

https://obdev.at/products/launchbar/download-legacy.html

I still using LaunchBar, but it's development has stagnated. I am evaluating the current version of Alfred. Alfred recently added the ability to send the selected file to the application of your choice, which is an essential feature for me.

I heard about LaunchBar, never suspected it was originator of “launcher” apps. Probably because it has quite modern design.

If you are looking for a new alternative, try Raycast. It’s supposedely better than Alfred, though for my taste it had too many features (same could be said about Alfred).

> You can still download the old versions all the way back to NeXT:

I had no idea Launchbar went back so far! Thanks for this. My respect for that app has been enhanced. I was also on the beta of OS X, but didn’t run into this until many years later.

Are you aware of the new Microsoft PowerToys? It includes a number of interesting tools and is open source.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/powertoys/