Tools · Issue #8 ·

Raycast, the keyboard launcher that turned into an AI agent for your whole computer

In one line: Raycast is a free launcher for Mac and Windows (plus an iPhone app): hit one hotkey to open apps, search files, paste from your clipboard history and run thousands of extensions, and on the paid plan it adds an AI agent that can act inside the tools you already use.

What it is

Raycast started as a faster Spotlight and grew into a command bar for your whole computer. One shortcut opens a search box where you can launch apps, find files, pull anything you copied from clipboard history, expand text snippets, snap windows into place, do math in plain language and open saved links. Its store has thousands of community extensions for tools like Linear, Slack, Notion, GitHub, Jira, Spotify and 1Password, so you can create an issue or search your chats without opening the app. The paid side is Raycast AI: Quick AI (ask anything from the same bar), AI Chat with models from OpenAI, Anthropic, Google, Perplexity and others, AI Commands that turn your go-to prompts into shortcuts, and agents that use AI Extensions to take real actions, like "check Linear for tasks assigned to me and create a task in Things for each one." You can build custom agents with their own instructions and model, schedule them to run on their own (a daily inbox check, a weekly changelog), give them Screen Awareness so they can see what you're looking at, and bring your own Claude or ChatGPT subscription or API keys instead of using Raycast's credits.

Who it's for

Anyone who lives on a keyboard and has 15 apps open: developers, designers, PMs and founders who bounce between Linear, Slack, GitHub and a browser all day. The free plan is worth installing just for clipboard history and window management. Pro is for people who want one AI box that works in every app, with every major model, instead of a different chatbot tab for each.

Try this today

Download it free from raycast.com (Mac, or Windows 10+ via the Microsoft Store or winget install raycast) and set the hotkey it asks for during setup. Then do three things: search Clipboard History and paste something you copied an hour ago, open the Store and install the extension for the tool you use most (Linear, Notion, GitHub, Slack), and make one Snippet for the email reply or address you type every week. If you want to test the AI side, start the free Pro trial and give the agent one real errand that touches an extension you installed, like pulling your assigned issues into a to-do list.

The catch

The free plan has no AI at all. Quick AI, AI Chat, agents, AI Extensions, dictation, cloud sync and bring-your-own-key are all Pro features, so the "AI agent" part of Raycast is a paid product with a free trial (the trial includes 500 AI credits, and trial credits expire 7 days after they're granted). You can't buy Pro without AI, though you can switch AI off. AI use runs on monthly credits that are spent at different rates per model, and Pro's 500 credits a month don't include the top-tier models, which need Pro Plus or Pro Max. Free also caps clipboard history at 3 months and Raycast Notes at 5 notes. The Windows version is newer and Raycast says it's still bringing macOS features over, and extensions that need native code may not run on Windows yet. On privacy, Raycast says data is stored locally, AI chats are only saved on its servers if you turn on Cloud Sync, its deals with AI providers forbid training on your chats, and you can use a local model through Ollama.

Pricing

Free plan: $0, for personal and work use, with the launcher, clipboard history, snippets, window management and all extensions, but no AI. Pro: $10 a month, or $96 a year (works out to $8 a month), with Raycast AI and 500 AI credits a month. Pro Plus: $20 a month ($192 a year) with 3,000 credits and top-tier models. Pro Max: $50 a month ($480 a year) with 7,500 credits. Teams: a free Teams plan, then Teams Pro from $15 per user per month (or $144 per user per year), up to $65 per user per month for Max. Enterprise is custom pricing, billed annually. Verified students get 50% off Pro.

Pricing checked on raycast.com/pricing and raycast.com/ai on Oct 22, 2026.