Comparison of desktop application launchers
An application launcher is a computer program that helps a user to locate and start other computer programs. An application launcher provides shortcuts to computer programs, and stores the shortcuts in one place so they are easier to find.
In the comparison of desktop application launchers that follows, each section is devoted to a different desktop environment.
Android
Windows
These desktop application launchers work with Microsoft Windows operating systems only.| Creator | Latest stable version | Release date | Software license | Open source | Programming language | Plugin support | |
| Appetizer | Laurent Cozic | 1.4.6.494 | GPL | C++, wxWidgets | |||
| ASuite | SalvadorSoftware | 1.5.1.2 | GPL | Delphi | |||
| Classic Shell | Ivo Beltchev | 4.3.1 | MIT | C++ | |||
| Jean-Charles Lefebvre | 2.2.4 | Freeware | C++ | ||||
| LiberKey | Captel SARL | 5.8.1129 | Proprietary | ||||
| PortableApps.com Platform | Rare Ideas, LLC | 15.0.2 | GPL | Delphi | |||
| SliderDock | Dimitri Roozendaal | 1.21 | Creative Commons | ||||
| Many | 1.3.524 | MIT | C# |
Linux
These desktop application launchers work with Linux operating systems only.| Creator | Latest stable version | Release date | OS | Software license | Open source | Programming language | Plugin support | |
| 9menu | Arnold Robbins | 1.8 | Linux | GPL | C | |||
| Avant Window Navigator | Neil J. Patel | 0.4.2 | Linux | GPL | C | |||
| dmenu | dwm developers | 4.5 | Linux | MIT License | C | |||
| GNOME Do | GNOME Do Developers | 0.95.1 | Linux | GPL | C# | |||
| LXDE Developers | 0.10.0 | February 26, 2019 | Linux | GPL | C | |||
| Katapult | TDE Developers | R14.0.6 | Linux with TDE | GPL | C++ | |||
| Mykolas Peteraitis | 1.3.5 | Linux | MIT License | Rust | ||||
| rofi | Dave Davenport | 1.5.4 | Linux | MIT/X11 License | C | |||
| Unity Dash | Canonical Ltd. | 7.3.0 | Ubuntu | GPLv3 | Vala |
macOS
These desktop application launchers work with the Apple macOS operating system only.| Creator | Latest stable version | Release date | Software license | Open source | Programming language | Plugin support | Runs on macOS Catalina | |
| Alfred | Running with Crayons | 4.0.1 | May 30, 2019 | Proprietary | Objective-C | |||
| Butler | Peter Maurer | 4.3.2 | April 9, 2019 | Proprietary | Objective-C | |||
| DragThing | James Thomson | 5.9.11 | November 16, 2016 | Proprietary | C++ | |||
| LaunchBar | Objective Development | 6.10 | April 24, 2019 | Proprietary | Objective-C | |||
| Quicksilver | Blacktree Software | 1.3.4 | March 12, 2018 | Apache License | Objective-C |
Cross platform
These desktop application launchers work with two or more different operating systems.| Creator | Latest stable version | Release date | OS | Software license | Open source | Programming language | Plugin support | Runs on macOS Catalina | |
| Launchy | Josh Karlin | 2.5.0 | Microsoft Windows, Linux, macOS | GPL | C++ |