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.

Windows

Creator Latest stable version Release date OS Free according to the FSF Software license Open source Programming language Plugin Support
Appetizer Laurent Cozic 1.4 February 13, 2010 Microsoft Windows Yes GPL Yes C++, wxWidgets Yes
ByteCheleby PsyChip 1.2 April 12, 2009 Microsoft Windows Yes GPL No Delphi No
ASuite SalvadorSoftware 1.5.1.2 May 24, 2008 Microsoft Windows Yes GPL Yes Delphi No
Classic Shell Ivo Beltchev 4.0.4 January 18, 2014 Microsoft Windows Yes MIT License (except for skins, logo, artwork etc. which is copyrighted) [1] Yes C++ Yes (via shell namespace extensions inside the menu)
CodySafe[2] ? ? ? Microsoft Windows ? ? ? C++ ?
JetToolBar JetAudio, Inc. 3.8.1 May 4, 2004 Microsoft Windows No Proprietary No ? No
Launchy Josh Karlin 2.5.0 April 4, 2010 Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X Yes GPL Yes C++ (Qt) Yes
LiberKey Captel SARL 5.7.0516 May 18, 2012 Microsoft Windows No Proprietary No ? No
Lupo PenSuite[3] ? ? ? Microsoft Windows ? ? ? C++ ?
PortableApps.com Platform Rare Ideas, LLC 11.2 October 4, 2012 Microsoft Windows Yes GPL Yes[note 1] Delphi No
SliderDock Dimitri Roozendaal 1.21 October 11, 2010 Microsoft Windows No Creative Commons No ? No
SyMenu UGMFree.it 4.08 April 10, 2015 Microsoft Windows Yes[note 2] Freeware No C# Yes
  1. ↑ PortableApps.com branding is trademarked
  2. ↑ It is free according with its own license

Linux

Creator Latest stable version Release date OS Free according to the FSF Software license Open source Programming language Plugin Support
9menu Arnold Robbins 1.8 June 1, 2004 Linux Yes GPL Yes C No
Avant Window Navigator Neil J. Patel 0.4.2 [4] November 27, 2013 Linux Yes GPL Yes C Yes
Cardapio Cardapio Team[5] 0.9 July 9, 2011 Linux Yes GPLv3 Yes ? Yes, including Zeitgeist, Google, Wikipedia, VirtualBox and others[6]
dmenu dwm developers 4.5[7] December 19, 2011 Linux Yes MIT License Yes C No
GNOME Do GNOME Do Developers 0.95.1[8] January 23, 2014 Linux Yes GPL Yes C Sharp Yes
Katapult Katapult Developers 0.3.2.1 July 23, 2008 Linux with KDE Yes GPL Yes C++ Yes
Kupfer Ulrik Sverdrup[9] v208 (latest)[10] June 1, 2012 Linux Yes GPL v3+ Yes Python Yes
Launchy Josh Karlin 2.5.0 April 4, 2010 Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X Yes GPL Yes C++ (Qt) Yes
Synapse Synapse core-team 0.2.10 March 18, 2012[11] Linux Yes GPL Yes Vala Yes
jPort S.Chekanov and jWork.ORG 1.2.0 May 4, 2013 Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X No Proprietary No Java No
Unity Dash Canonical Ltd. 7.3.0[12] June 19, 2014 Ubuntu Yes GPLv3 Yes Vala Yes ("lenses" and "scopes")
The Duck Launcher 0.69[13] January 24, 2015 Ubuntu Yes GPLv3 Yes C No (not sure / not yet)
wbar warlock.cc 2.3.4 September 28, 2012 Linux Yes GPL Yes C No
xfce4-appfinder xfce.org 4.10.1 January 10, 2013 Linux, FreeBSD Yes GPL Yes C No

Mac OS X

Creator Latest stable version OS Free according to the FSF Software license Open source Programming language Plugin Support
Alfred Running with Crayons 2.0.3 Mac OS X No Proprietary No Objective-C Yes
Butler Peter Maurer 4.1.6 Mac OS X No Proprietary No Objective-C Yes
DragThing James Thomson 5.9.11 Mac OS X No Proprietary No C++ Yes
LaunchBar Objective Development 5.6.2 Mac OS X No Proprietary No Objective-C ?
Launchy Josh Karlin 2.5.0 Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X Yes GPL Yes C++ (Qt) Yes
jPort S.Chekanov and jWork.ORG 1.2 Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X No Proprietary No Java Yes
Quicksilver Blacktree Software 1.2.0 Mac OS X Yes Apache License Yes Objective-C Yes
uBar Brawer Software 2.1.8 Mac OS X No Proprietary No Objective-C No

Cross platform

Creator Latest stable version Release date OS Free according to the FSF Software license Open source Programming language Plugin Support
Launchy Josh Karlin 2.5.0 April 4, 2010 Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X Yes GPL Yes C++ (Qt) Yes
jPort S.Chekanov and jWork.ORG 1.2.0 May 4, 2013 Microsoft Windows, Linux, Mac OS X No Proprietary No Java No

See also

References

  1. ↑ Classic Shell FAQ
  2. ↑ Lupo PenSuite and LiberKey
  3. ↑ Lupo PenSuite and LiberKey
  4. ↑ "Awn in Launchpad". https://launchpad.net''. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  5. ↑ "Cardapio team".
  6. ↑ "Cardapio Menu Gets A GNOME Shell Extension".
  7. ↑ "suckless.org software that sucks less". http://suckless.org/''. Retrieved 5 August 2014.
  8. ↑ Rogers, Chris. "Do 0.95.1 released". https://launchpad.net''. Retrieved 4 August 2014. Missing |last1= in Authors list (help)
  9. ↑ "kupfer is a simple, flexible, launcher for Gnome".
  10. ↑ "Kupfer release tag v208".
  11. ↑ "Synapse". Launchpad (website).
  12. ↑ "Unity". https://launchpad.net''. Retrieved 4 August 2014.
  13. ↑ "Github". http://the-duck.github.io/''. Retrieved 24 January 2015.

External links