bemenu vs Raycast

bemenu is a dynamic menu library and client program inspired by dmenu. It provides the bemenu and bemenu-run clients, with build targets for curses, X11, and Wayland backends. Users can configure environment variables for options, backend selection, renderer paths, and rendering scale. The project documents default keyboard bindings and an optional Vim-style mode enabled with --binding vim. Wayland use depends on a compositor implementing the wlr-layer-shell protocol, typically a wlroots-based compositor. Clipboard pasting uses wl-paste and xclip at runtime, in that order. Building requires a C compiler, and scdoc is needed to generate the man page. The project also documents macOS build steps using Homebrew prerequisites and a build-osx.sh flow; its provided Nix expression installs only the curses backend. The client program and sources other than the library and bindings use GNU GPLv3 or later, while the library and bindings use GNU LGPLv3 or later. The project lists pinentry-bemenu as an integration. bemenu is free and open source, with no paid plans or usage limits stated.

Raycast is a set of productivity tools organized around an extendable launcher, where a keyboard-focused interface opens tools and runs workflows. Built-in features include Clipboard History, Calendar, Window Management, Snippets, Quicklinks, Notes, file search and Calculator. Its Store offers community-made extensions, with examples for Linear, Slack, Notion, Google Translate, Spotify, 1Password and Jira. Developers can build integrations with an extension API, and Teams can publish private extensions. Raycast AI includes chat, quick AI actions, agents, commands and extensions, and supports models from multiple providers. The free plan includes core features and thousands of extensions, with Clipboard History limited to three months and Notes to five. Pro costs $10 a month and includes 500 AI credits each month, cloud sync, dictation, custom themes, Translator, and unlimited Clipboard History and Notes. Raycast is available on macOS, Windows, iOS and iPadOS, but not Android. Its browser extension supports Chromium-based browsers, Safari and Firefox. Eligible new accounts can start a seven-day Pro trial; advanced AI models are excluded.