# Alternatives to Flow Launcher

Community-driven Windows launcher.

Flow Launcher ranks #5 of 8 in App launchers, with an Alt Score of 64. It is licensed under MIT, free from Free and available on Windows. 9 of 10 checklist rows are verified against a public source.

Source: https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/flow-launcher/
Category: App launchers

## Overview

- **Who it's for**: Windows 10+ users who prefer keyboard-driven workflows and want faster access to apps, files, and system functions than mouse-based search allows.
- **What you get**: A free, open-source launcher that finds and opens installed applications, searches files via Everything or Windows Search integration, runs web searches and shell/PowerShell commands, and accesses browser bookmarks, system commands, and a calculator. Functionality extends through a community plugin ecosystem, and the interface supports custom themes.
- **How it works**: Press a hotkey (Alt+Space by default) to bring up the search window, then type to match an app, file, command, or plugin action and press Enter to run it.

## Profile

- **License**: MIT (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Pricing model**: Free (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Starts at**: Free (verified 2026-07-09)
- **Platforms**: Windows
- **Status**: active (verified 2026-07-09)

## Ranked alternatives

| # | App | Alt Score | Licence | Platforms |
|---|-----|-----------|---------|-----------|
| 1 | [LaunchBar](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/launchbar.md) | 73 | ? | macOS |
| 2 | [Raycast](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/raycast.md) | 73 | ? | macOS, Windows, iOS, Browser extension |
| 3 | [Alfred](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/alfred.md) | 68 | Proprietary | macOS |
| 4 | [Albert](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/albert.md) | 64 | ? | macOS, Linux |
| 5 | [ueli](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ueli.md) | 60 | MIT | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| 6 | [PowerToys Run](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/powertoys-run.md) | 55 | MIT | Windows |
| 7 | [Ulauncher](https://altcatalog.com/alternatives/ulauncher.md) | 55 | GPL-3.0 | Linux |

Alt Score = Verified coverage (90%) + Visibility (10%). See https://altcatalog.com/how-alt-score-works/

## Feature comparison

Legend: Yes / No / Partial / ? (not verified).

| App launchers checklist | Flow Launcher | LaunchBar | Raycast | Alfred | Albert | ueli |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pricing model | Free | One-time | Freemium | One-time | Free | Free |
| Starts at | Free | ? | $8/mo | £34 | Free | Free |
| License | MIT | ? | ? | Proprietary | ? | MIT |
| Platforms | Windows | macOS | macOS, Windows, iOS, Browser extension | macOS | macOS, Linux | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| Extensions / plugins | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Clipboard history | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Snippets | Partial | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No |
| Calculator & conversions | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial | Yes | Yes |
| File search | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Window management | ? | ? | Yes | ? | ? | No |
| Themes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Partial |
| Open source | Yes | ? | ? | No | No | Yes |
| One-time purchase option | No | Yes | No | Yes | No | No |
| Cross-platform | No | No | No | No | No | Yes |

## Sources

Sources for Flow Launcher. Each alternative is sourced on its own page.

- **Starts at**: Free — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/dev/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software”
- **License**: MIT — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/dev/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “The MIT License (MIT)”
- **Pricing model**: Free — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/dev/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software”
- **Platforms**: Windows — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/dev/README.md> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “A quick file search and app launcher for Windows with community-made plugins.”
- **Status**: active — <https://github.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/releases/tag/v2.1.3> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “v2.1.3”
- **Extensions / plugins**: Yes — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/dev/README.md> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Support wide range of plugins. Visit here for our plugin portfolio.”
- **Clipboard history**: Partial — <https://www.flowlauncher.com/plugins/clipboard-plus/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Provided by a community plugin, not built in.
  - Quote: “This plugin is a clipboard manager for Flow Launcher. It can help you manage your clipboard history and Windows Clipboard History with support for text, images, and files.”
- **Snippets**: Partial — <https://www.flowlauncher.com/plugins/snippets/> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Note: Provided by a community plugin, not built in.
  - Quote: “Simple plugin to save key/value snippets and copy to clipboard”
- **Calculator & conversions**: Yes — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/dev/README.md> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Do mathematical calculations and copy the result to clipboard.”
- **File search**: Yes — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/dev/README.md> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Search for apps, files or file contents.”
- **Themes**: Yes — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/dev/README.md> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “There are various themes and you also can make your own.”
- **Open source**: Yes — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/dev/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “The MIT License (MIT)”
- **One-time purchase option**: No — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/dev/LICENSE> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy of this software”
- **Cross-platform**: No — <https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Flow-Launcher/Flow.Launcher/dev/README.md> (verified 2026-07-09)
  - Quote: “A quick file search and app launcher for Windows with community-made plugins.”

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Ranked by verified data, never by who paid. https://altcatalog.com/trust/