A Raycast alternative for Windows that searches your own work

Raycast now runs on Windows: version 2.0 came out of beta in August 2026, and the Windows app moved to 2.0 with it. So a search for a Raycast alternative for Windows means something new. You can install Raycast itself. You may still want something else: AI without another subscription, the same tool on Linux, or a search bar that finds your own notes, tasks and meetings instead of your apps.

Barside is a free desktop app for Windows, Linux and Mac. It gives you that search bar, from any app, together with clipboard history, screen text capture and an assistant that uses the AI you connect. It is not an app launcher, and this page says plainly where Raycast, or Microsoft's free PowerToys, is the better pick.

The short answer

Raycast is a keyboard launcher with a lot inside: apps, files, clipboard history, snippets, quicklinks, a calculator that understands plain language, window management, AI and a large extension store. The core is free. AI needs a paid plan.

Barside overlaps with a slice of that. It adds four keyboard tools to Windows and Linux, and to the Mac:

• a search bar (Alt+Shift+Space) that finds notes, tasks, bookmarks, meetings, calendar events, drawings, videos and every Barside command, with aliases, hotkeys, favorites, sums and Quick AI;
• clipboard history (Alt+Shift+V), off until you turn it on and encrypted on your computer;
• screen text (Alt+Shift+S), which copies text from any part of the screen with the text recognition built into your computer;
• an assistant (Ctrl+Shift+A) that can work with your notes and, after asking you, with other apps.

All of it is free, and the AI parts run on your own Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or OpenRouter account. What Barside does not do: launch other apps, search your files, expand snippets, arrange windows or run extensions.

Why people look for a Raycast alternative for Windows

• Raycast started on the Mac. Its Windows version left beta only in August 2026. If you built a Windows setup from other tools in the meantime, you may not want to start over.
• AI costs extra. Raycast's free plan has no AI access. Pro is US$10 a month, or US$96 a year, as of September 2026. Using your own API key is a Pro feature too, and Raycast's manual says requests with Anthropic, Google or OpenAI keys go through Raycast's servers (OpenRouter requests go straight to OpenRouter).
• A different job. You may not need a launcher for apps at all, but one keyboard shortcut that finds a meeting note, adds a task or copies text out of a screenshot.
• One tool on two systems. If you use Windows at work and Linux at home, Barside works the same way on both.

Barside at a glance

Press Alt+Shift+Space in any app, Ctrl+K inside Barside, or the search button on the desktop bar. The screen dims and one box appears. With nothing typed, it shows your favorites, a few questions for Quick AI, quick actions and your recent notes.

• Find your work. Type a few words to find notes by title and text, open tasks, bookmarks, meetings, calendar events, drawings, videos, workspaces, saved workflows and themes.
• Run any command. Every Barside command is in the bar: New note, New task, Capture screen text, Clipboard history, Save to Reading, Transcribe a call, Daily briefing, Research a question and dozens more.
• Aliases. Short words run commands. nn makes a note, meet starts a meeting, rec opens a new recording, cal opens the calendar, and task buy milk followed by Enter adds the task "buy milk".
• Hotkeys. Give any command a hotkey that works from any app in Settings → Hotkeys and aliases. Barside refuses a hotkey another command already has, or one that would break copy and paste, and it tells you when another app holds a combination.
• Sums. Type 1280*0.15 and the answer appears at the top. Enter copies it. The calculator does +, -, *, /, ^ for powers, % for the remainder, and brackets.
• Favorites. Press Ctrl+D on a result to star it. Starred notes, bookmarks and commands wait at the top when the bar opens.
• Quick AI. Type a question and press Tab. The assistant answers right in the bar, and asks before it does anything. Choose Copy answer, Save as note or Open the assistant to keep going.

The full tour is in the guide to the search bar and hotkeys for any app.

Raycast vs Barside on Windows: feature comparison

Pricing compared

Prices are as each company's page shows them, as of September 2026.

Raycast's paid plans also add cloud sync, dictation, custom themes and a translator, and verified students get 50% off Pro. With Barside, the cost of AI depends on how much you use it and on the company you pick. Barside uses each company's API, which bills by use, or your Claude or ChatGPT plan through Claude Code or Codex on your computer (My plan).

What stays on your computer

A tool that sees your clipboard and your screen should be clear about where things go. This is how Barside handles it.

• The search bar searches the notes, tasks and bookmarks in the library on your own disk. Your notes need no account or server to be found.
• Clipboard history is off until you turn it on. It is encrypted on your computer (with Windows encryption, your keyring on Linux, or the macOS Keychain in Barside for Mac), never in backups or sync, and turning it off deletes it.
• Screen text is read by the text recognition on your computer: Windows OCR, Tesseract on Linux, and Apple's Vision framework in Barside for Mac. Nothing is uploaded, and a capture you close without adding to a note is deleted.
• Quick AI and the assistant send your question, and the notes or results it needs, only to the AI company you connected. The request goes straight from your computer to that company with your key, which Barside keeps encrypted on your computer, so no Barside server sits in between.

The privacy guide covers clipboard history, screen text and AI requests in detail.

Where Raycast is better

Raycast is the stronger tool for most launcher jobs. If you live in your keyboard, these points may decide it for you.

• It launches everything. Apps, files and folders, and even games from Steam, Epic Games and Battle.net. Barside's search bar only finds what is inside Barside.
• Extensions. Raycast's store has extensions for tools like Linear, Spotify, Slack, Notion and GitHub. Barside has no extensions.
• Snippets, quicklinks and emoji. Raycast inserts saved text with keywords, opens websites with a word and has an emoji and symbol search. Barside has none of these.
• A smarter calculator. Raycast understands plain language and conversions. Barside's calculator does arithmetic.
• Window management. Raycast snaps windows to halves, thirds and quarters, moves them between displays, saves layouts and cycles through an app's windows (some of it needs Pro). Barside docks its own windows and notes at the edges of your screen, but it does not arrange other apps.
• More AI. Raycast's paid plans include many models, AI Chat that can plan and finish a task, Projects and scheduled Automations, and they can use your ChatGPT or Claude subscription.
• The Mac. Raycast runs on macOS today. ## A keyboard setup that works with Barside

This setup covers the keyboard habits Barside can take over. Launching apps is not one of them.

1. Download Barside and install it. In Settings, turn on Start with Windows (on Linux, Open at login) so it waits in the tray. In Barside for Mac, the setting is Open at login, and Barside waits in the menu bar.
2. Press Alt+Shift+Space and type part of a note title. Press Enter to open it.
3. Open Settings → Hotkeys and aliases. Give a hotkey to the two or three commands you use most, such as New task or Daily briefing, and add aliases you will remember.
4. In Settings, turn on Keep clipboard history. Press Alt+Shift+V to search what you copied, Enter to paste into the app you were using, Shift+Enter to copy only, and Ctrl+P to pin a snippet you paste every day. Pinned items never expire. On Linux, Barside pastes with xdotool when it is installed, and otherwise copies the item for you to paste. Barside for Mac pastes with ⌘V once you give it the Accessibility permission.
5. Press Alt+Shift+S and drag across any text on screen. Choose Copy text, or add the capture to a note. On Linux, install Tesseract first (sudo apt install tesseract-ocr). Barside for Mac reads the text with Apple's Vision framework, so there is nothing to set up.
6. In Settings → AI, connect Claude, ChatGPT, Gemini or OpenRouter. Then press Tab in the search bar to ask Quick AI.
7. Star what you open most with Ctrl+D.
8. For opening apps, keep the Start menu or a launcher such as PowerToys Command Palette next to Barside. Their default hotkeys are different from Barside's.

Clipboard history keeps up to 200 text items and 30 images, stored encrypted on your computer. It skips copies that password managers mark as private, never keeps AI keys, and pauses while the screen is locked. The clipboard history guide has every detail, and the screen text guide shows what Barside does with a capture.

Moving over from Raycast

Barside has no Raycast importer. Here is where each habit goes.

• Quicklinks become bookmarks. Add them to a workspace with Add link; the search bar finds bookmarks by title and address, and Ctrl+D stars them.
• Raycast Notes become Barside notes. Paste each one into a new note (Ctrl+N). There is no limit on notes, and each one can hold checklists, tables, images and code. See the note-taking app guide.
• Snippets become pinned clipboard items for short text, and note templates for longer text like a meeting agenda or a reply you send often.
• Hotkeys go to Settings → Hotkeys and aliases. If a Barside default clashes with one you already use, change it there.
• AI Chat becomes Quick AI and the AI assistant, which can also add tasks, set reminders and, when you approve each step, type and click in other apps on Windows.

You do not have to choose one: you can keep a launcher for apps and add Barside for your notes, clipboard and screen text.

Who should switch, and who should stay

Barside is a good fit if you:

• want one shortcut that finds your notes, tasks, meetings and bookmarks, and runs commands by alias;
• want AI in a search bar without a monthly plan, paying only for what you use;
• want clipboard history that is off by default, encrypted and never in backups;
• copy text out of screenshots, videos or scanned documents;
• use Windows, Linux and Mac, and want the same tool on both.

Stay with Raycast if you:

• launch apps and files from the keyboard all day;
• rely on extensions, snippets, quicklinks or window management;
• want to use your ChatGPT or Claude subscription inside the launcher;
• also work on a Mac and want the same launcher there.

Other Raycast alternatives for Windows

• PowerToys Command Palette. Part of Microsoft PowerToys, a set of free, open-source utilities. Press Win+Alt+Space to launch apps, search files, run commands, do sums, open Windows settings, switch windows and paste from clipboard history, and add extensions from its gallery. PowerToys also has Text Extractor for screen text and FancyZones for window layouts.
• Flow Launcher. A free, open-source launcher for Windows 10 and later. It finds apps and files (with Everything or Windows Search), searches the web and adds plugins. Its default hotkey is Alt+Space.
• Windows clipboard history. Built into Windows: press Win+V. It keeps the last 25 items, up to 4 MB each, and clears them when you restart, except the ones you pin.

For more options, compare the best clipboard managers and the best OCR tools to copy text from the screen.

Works well with the search bar