Our take
Pick Hammerspoon if mac users who will stay on Free while they tick Show menu icon, grant Accessibility, and reload a first init.lua hotkey — then keep it at $0, not Keyboard Maestro US$36 first unless they want a GUI action list, and not if they refuse to write Lua. Pick Raycast if mac or Windows users who will stay on Free at $0 (launcher + File Search + community extensions; no AI credits) while they open a first
Best for
Hammerspoon A script you start at a public $
Raycast A launcher you start at a public $
Free plan
Hammerspoon No free plan
Raycast $0 · launcher + community extensions. No AI credits (“AI isn’t available on the Free plan”)
Lowest paid
Hammerspoon Not published by the vendor
Raycast Pro $10/mo
Next step up
Hammerspoon
Raycast Plus $20/mo
Watch out
Hammerspoon Lua required
Raycast AI is not on Free
Last checked
Hammerspoon 2026-10-23 · hammerspoon.org
Raycast 2026-10-23 · raycast.com/pricing
mac users who will stay on Free while they tick Show menu icon, grant Accessibility, and reload a first init.lua hotkey — then keep it at $0, not Keyboard Maestro US$36 first unless they want a GUI action list, and not if they refuse to write Lua.
Read the Hammerspoon pagemac or Windows users who will stay on Free at $0 (launcher + File Search + community extensions; no AI credits) while they open a first .heic list, then Pro at $10/month when they want AI Chat — not Plus $20 unless they need advanced models, and not Max $50 unless they need the top credit grant.
Read the Raycast page
