Comparison
Spotlight is built in and fine for the basics. Walter is faster, fully customizable, and open source — same instant app launching, plus a calculator, unit and currency conversion, custom aliases, 21 themes, and two layouts. Here's the honest comparison, and how to switch.
| Walter | Spotlight | |
|---|---|---|
| Open source | ✓ MIT | Closed (Apple) |
| Price | Free | Built-in |
| App launch speed | Opens in tens of ms | Can wait on indexing |
| Calculator | ✓ | ✓ basic |
| Unit & currency conversion | ✓ both | Partial |
| Custom aliases / shortcuts | ✓ with {query} | ✗ |
| Themes | 21 + custom | ✗ |
| Layouts | List + grid | Fixed |
| Configurable hotkey | ✓ any combo | Cmd+Space |
| Plain-text config | ✓ TOML | ✗ |
| Deep file-content search | Filename search | ✓ full content + metadata |
| System integration (Siri, etc.) | — | ✓ deeply integrated |
Spotlight is competent at launching apps and basic search, but it stops there and it can stall while indexing. Walter keeps the instant app launching and adds the things you keep reaching for: a real calculator, unit and currency conversion, custom aliases (open any URL, file, or shell command with a couple of letters), 21 themes, and a choice of list or grid layouts. And because it's open source with a plain-text TOML config, you control all of it.
Spotlight has two genuine advantages: it's built in (nothing to install) and it does deep file-content search plus tight system integration (Siri Suggestions, dictionary, system actions). Walter focuses on launching and quick computation, not full-disk content indexing. Many people run both — Walter on the main hotkey, Spotlight when they need to find text inside a document.
1. Download Walter, drag it to Applications, and grant Accessibility access when prompted (the global hotkey needs it).
2. To take over Cmd+Space: open System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Spotlight and turn off "Show Spotlight search."
3. Set Walter's hotkey to Cmd+Space in ~/.config/walter/config.toml (or keep the default Alt+Space). Save, and it hot-reloads instantly.
The short version
Need deep file-content search and zero install? Keep Spotlight. Want a faster, customizable, open-source launcher with calc, conversions, aliases, and themes? Use Walter — or run both.
Questions
Walter keeps Spotlight's instant app launching and adds a calculator, unit and currency conversion, custom aliases, 21 themes, and two layouts — all open source and configured in a TOML file.
Download Walter, grant Accessibility access, then turn off Spotlight's shortcut in System Settings → Keyboard → Keyboard Shortcuts → Spotlight and set the same combo in Walter's config.
Yes — it opens in tens of milliseconds and narrows results on every keystroke, with no indexing wait or spinner.
Barely. Walter is fully configurable — hotkey, layout, themes, search engine, and custom aliases, all in plain-text TOML.
Free, open source, 4.3 MB. macOS 13 or later. Faster launching plus calc, conversions, aliases, and themes.