CopperlightCompare
A Spotlight alternative, free and open source.
Spotlight comes with every Mac, and on macOS 26 it does more than ever. Copperlight is for when you want more from that one hotkey: windows, menus, snippets, translation, timers and your own commands, in an app you can read every line of.
Copperlight vs Spotlight
| Feature | Copperlight | Spotlight |
|---|---|---|
| Comes with macOS | No: a 10 MB download | Yes |
| Source code | Open, under the GPL-3.0 | Closed |
| Apps, files, math and conversions | Yes | Yes |
| Clipboard history | Text and images, searchable, kept 90 days by default, on macOS 15 and later | From macOS 26: kept 8 hours, or up to 7 days from macOS 26.1 |
| Window commands | Halves, quarters, thirds, nudging, other displays and back, typed: :left; layouts you save and bring back | Not in Spotlight; macOS tiles windows from the Window menu |
| Snippets | Pasted by name, with the date, the clipboard or a name filled in | Not in Spotlight; macOS has Text Replacements |
| Your own commands | Quicklinks, scripts and shell lines, in a text file | Shortcuts, and Quick Keys on macOS 26 |
| Settings | One plain-text file you can keep in git | System Settings |
What Spotlight does well
It’s already on your Mac, it searches everything macOS indexes, mail and messages included, and since macOS 26 it runs actions from apps and Shortcuts and keeps a short clipboard history. If that covers your day, you don’t need another launcher.
What Copperlight adds
- Windows and menus from the keyboard. :left, :top left, :nudge left and :restore, saved layouts (:layout work), and any menu item of the app you’re in: :export pdf.
- Whatever you selected, already typed when it opens, and ↑ for what you ran before.
- Your Mac’s numbers: battery, disk, ip, and port 3000 to see and end what’s listening.
- A longer clipboard history of text and images, on macOS 15 too, that skips your password manager.
- Chips. Press Tab on a tool’s name and what you type goes straight to it: translate, stocks, timers.
- Your open tabs, found by their title: Enter switches to the tab instead of opening the page again.
- What’s next, waiting when you open it: the call about to start, reminders that are due, and what you have running.
- The little tools: snippets, notes in Markdown, a pomodoro, timers and a stopwatch, today’s meetings, text from any part of the screen, spelling, Large Type, a color picker, QR codes, date math, emoji, JSON and UUIDs.
- Your own commands in one plain-text file, and any script you drop in a folder.
- Nothing to sign in to, no telemetry, and source code you can read.
Switching from Spotlight
Copperlight opens with ⌥Space, so it can sit next to Spotlight. To give it ⌘Space instead:
- In System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts… → Spotlight, turn off Show Spotlight search.
- Open Copperlight’s Settings, click the shortcut and press ⌘Space.
Files are found through the index Spotlight already keeps, in the folders you choose, so there’s nothing new to index.
Other Spotlight alternatives
Raycast and Alfred are the best-known launchers for Mac, and both are good at what they do. Here’s how Copperlight compares with each.
Questions
What’s the best free Spotlight alternative for Mac?
It depends on what you need. Copperlight is free and open source, with clipboard history, window commands and snippets built in. Raycast is known for its extension store and AI, and Alfred for its workflows.
Does Spotlight have clipboard history?
Since macOS 26, yes: it keeps what you copy for 8 hours, and from macOS 26.1 you can choose 30 minutes, 8 hours or 7 days. Copperlight keeps text and images for 90 days by default, on macOS 15 and later.
Can Copperlight use the ⌘Space shortcut?
Yes. Turn off Spotlight’s shortcut in System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts… → Spotlight, then set ⌘Space in Copperlight’s Settings.
Does Copperlight use Spotlight’s index?
For files, yes. It searches the index macOS already keeps, in the folders you pick, so there’s nothing extra to index.
Can I keep both Spotlight and Copperlight?
Yes. Copperlight opens with ⌥Space, so both work side by side.
Spotlight details from MacRumors and AppleInsider’s macOS 26 coverage. Checked October 2026.
Try it in a minute.
Download it, drag it into Applications and press ⌥Space. The first launch takes one extra click.