Alfred vs foot

Alfred is a macOS productivity app for launching apps, finding files and web results, and controlling a Mac with hotkeys, keywords, and custom actions. Its search adapts to how someone uses the Mac and prioritizes results. The free core app covers app launching and file searching. Powerpack adds Clipboard History for copied text, images, and file paths, plus Snippets that expand short keywords into saved text. It also provides workflows for connecting objects and automating tasks, and file actions such as previewing, moving, copying, emailing, or revealing files in Finder. Workflows can connect to apps and services, including through APIs, and can be started by hotkey, keyword, or Alfred Remote button. Preferences can sync between Macs using Dropbox or a similar service. The maker says preferences, usage, and settings stay on the Mac, though workflows may contact servers or APIs. Alfred 5.8.1 is listed for macOS 10.14 or later on 64-bit Intel and Apple Silicon. The Single License costs £34 once for one user on two of their own Macs for the current version.

foot is a free Linux terminal emulator for Wayland, with native Wayland support and no dependence on a particular desktop environment. Its server mode lets multiple terminal windows share one process, fonts, and glyph cache. Display features include configurable font fallback, on-the-fly font and DPI adjustment, color emoji, true color, and Sixel images. Users can search scrollback and detect URLs with the keyboard. The feature list also includes SSH support, scripting, text input through text-input-v3, and multi-seat support. Shell integration can open new terminals in the current working directory when the shell supports OSC 7; OSC 133 enables prompt navigation. URLs open with xdg-open by default, and the command can be changed in configuration. Configuration uses a foot.ini file in the user's XDG configuration directory. Installation guidance describes building with Meson and Ninja, with Wayland protocols and ncurses among the requirements. The project says foot is MIT-licensed. Its installation guide notes that full PGO builds using the real binary must run in a Wayland session.