LaunchBar vs Quicksilver

LaunchBar

• Mac users who want to keep their hands on the keyboard
• People who prefer a launcher license bought once over a subscription
• Scripters who extend their launcher with AppleScript or JavaScript actions

Quicksilver

• Mac users who want to act on files, apps and contacts from the keyboard
• People who want a launcher with clipboard history and no paid tier
• Tinkerers who like plugins, triggers and AppleScript actions

LaunchBar

• macOS only. Version 6.24 runs on macOS Tahoe and is also compatible with Sequoia, Sonoma, Ventura and Monterey.
• Without a license, LaunchBar occasionally interrupts with an invitation to take a short break.
• Prices are shown in euros; the vendor's shop gave no US dollar price when it was read.
• The Family License is limited to one household and non-commercial use, and a Single License does not cover several users on several computers.

Quicksilver

• macOS only; the latest version runs on macOS 10.14 or later, with older releases kept for older systems.
• Many features come from plugins, which have to be installed and enabled before they show up.
• It is maintained by volunteer contributors and relies on donations for hosting and development costs.
• On startup it contacts qs0.qsapp.com to check for new versions, which the manual notes a network monitor may flag.

LaunchBar

Adaptive abbreviation search

Finds apps, documents and other items from short acronyms of their names, such as SP for System Preferences. The ranking of results adapts to your usage.

Clipboard History and ClipMerge

Recently copied items stay available, with a paste-as-plain-text option and an ignore list for sensitive data. Pressing Command-C twice merges successive copies into one clip.

Send To and Instant Send

Tab sends the selected item to an app, a folder, an email contact or a search template. Holding Command-Space sends a file or text selection from another app to LaunchBar.

File browsing and operations

Navigate the file system with the arrow keys, including inside packages, and move, rename, compress or tag files and create folders from the keyboard.

Calendar, Reminders and Contacts

Create calendar events and reminders with live feedback on what will be created, and reach contacts to start an email or look up a phone number or address.

Scriptable actions

Custom actions can be written in JavaScript, AppleScript, Ruby, Python, PHP and other languages with the built-in Action Editor, or installed from other users.

Quicksilver

Object, action, argument commands

Commands are built in two or three panes: an object such as a file, an action such as E-mail To, and an argument when the action needs one.

Abbreviation matching that learns

An item matches when the typed letters appear in its name in order, and items you pick often rise in the results, so short abbreviations come to select them.

Its own catalog

Quicksilver builds a catalog of apps, files, bookmarks, contacts and more without depending on Spotlight, and rescans it in the background every 10 minutes by default.

Triggers

A command can be bound to a keyboard shortcut, a mouse action, a gesture or an event so that it runs without opening the command window.

Plugins

Optional plugins add objects and actions for apps such as Mail, Gmail, Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Calendar and Reminders. They are found, installed and updated from the Preferences.

Clipboard history and Shelf

The Clipboard and Shelf plugin keeps a history of what you copy and a Shelf for storing items you want within quick reach.

LaunchBar

• Free use0 €

  LaunchBar 6 without a license. It keeps working after the 30-day trial but occasionally asks you to take a short break.

• Single License35 €

  one-time purchase, license for LaunchBar 6

  Either one user on multiple computers or multiple users on one computer, but not multiple users on multiple computers.

• Family License59 €

  one-time purchase, license for LaunchBar 6

  Up to 5 computers at a time that belong to one household. Non-commercial use only.

Quicksilver

• Quicksilver$0

  The complete launcher with every feature and plugin, as a disk image download or a Homebrew cask. Donations are optional.

LaunchBar

• Other savings

  Reduced-price upgrades for existing licenses

  The order page offers upgrades at a reduced price: owners enter their license key to check which upgrade options are available.

Quicksilver

No public discounts listed.