PowerToys Command Palette vs Raycast

PowerToys Command Palette is a free Windows interface for launching applications, running commands, searching files, browsing the web and reaching Windows tools. Enable it and keep it running in the background, then use Win+Alt+Space by default. Search covers apps, shell commands, files and folders, web searches through the default browser, and calculator expressions. The interface can navigate Windows Settings, find and install apps with WinGet, switch windows, open clipboard history, manage services, launch Windows Terminal profiles, query the Registry, connect to Remote Desktop, show performance metrics and run system commands. Commands can be pinned to Home or to the persistent edge Dock, with separate pinned bands on each display. Named bookmarks open files, folders, URLs or shell commands. Themes, backdrops, background images and custom colors control appearance. A built-in Gallery manages community extensions, which run in separate processes and communicate through a WinRT API. PowerToys requires Windows 11 or Windows 10 version 2004 (build 19041) or newer on 64-bit x64 or ARM64 processors. Diagnostic data is optional and off by default in version 0.86 and later.

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.