Raycast
Windmill
| Feature | Raycast | Windmill |
|---|---|---|
| Pricing | Free / from $8/mo | Free / from $10/mo |
| Free Plan | ✓ Yes | ✓ Yes |
| Rating | 4.8 / 5 | 4.4 / 5 |
| Best For | mac-developers, power-users, productivity-enthusiasts, keyboard-driven-workflows | developers, devops-teams, internal-tools, data-pipelines |
| Founded | 2020 | 2022 |
| Launcher | ✓ | ✗ |
| Extensions | ✓ | ✗ |
| Ai Chat | ✓ | ✗ |
| Window Management | ✓ | ✗ |
| Clipboard History | ✓ | ✗ |
| Snippets | ✓ | ✗ |
| Quicklinks | ✓ | ✗ |
| Workflow Editor | ✗ | ✓ |
| Script To Ui | ✗ | ✓ |
| Scheduling | ✗ | ✓ |
| Approval Flows | ✗ | ✓ |
| Multi Language | ✗ | ✓ |
| Self Hostable | ✗ | ✓ |
| Audit Logs | ✗ | ✓ |
✓ Raycast Pros
- Incredibly fast keyboard-driven launcher
- Rich extension store with 1000+ community extensions
- Built-in AI chat with multiple models (GPT-4, Claude)
- Window management and clipboard history included
✗ Raycast Cons
- macOS only (no Windows or Linux support)
- AI features require Pro subscription
- Some extensions less polished than native apps
✓ Windmill Pros
- Open-source and self-hostable
- Supports Python, TypeScript, Go, Bash, SQL natively
- Auto-generates UI from script parameters
- Excellent scheduling and workflow orchestration
✗ Windmill Cons
- Smaller community than Zapier/n8n
- Self-hosting requires infrastructure knowledge
- Less polished documentation for beginners
The Verdict
Raycast is built for mac developers and power users, with a focus on launcher and extensions. Windmill targets developers and devops teams and leads with workflow-editor and script-to-ui.
Pricing is close: Raycast starts at $8/mo versus $10/mo for Windmill — not a deciding factor on its own.
Both offer free plans, so you can test each with your real workflow before committing to a subscription.
Raycast edges out on user ratings (4.8 vs 4.4). While both are well-regarded, that gap reflects real differences in user satisfaction worth considering.
Bottom line: Raycast has a slight overall edge — but if open-source and self-hostable matters most to you, Windmill may still be the right call.