Source: https://mactoolbox.app/vs/toolbox-vs-raycast

# Toolbox vs Raycast

By Nikhil Barik · Published November 3, 2026 · Prices and features checked November 5, 2026

## Quick answer

They are different kinds of app. Raycast is a keyboard-first launcher you use to open apps and run commands. Toolbox is a collection of tools for converting, compressing and editing files. Many people could use both.

## What each one is

Toolbox is a set of 96 small Mac tools for video, audio, images, PDFs, text and Mac housekeeping. It runs on your Mac, needs no account and costs from $19 once.

Raycast is a keyboard-first launcher for macOS with extensions, snippets, window management and clipboard history.

## Feature by feature

Only the areas where the two overlap are compared here.

| Feature | Toolbox | Raycast |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Main job | Work on files: video, audio, images, PDFs, text | Launcher for apps, commands and extensions |
| Calculator or text utilities | Word Counter, Case Converter | Calculator and snippets |
| Translate text | Translate tool, on your Mac | Translator in Pro |
| Clipboard history | Not included | Included, with a 3-month history on Free |
| Window management | Not included | Included |
| Extensions | A fixed set of 96 tools | Thousands of extensions in the Store |
| Price | From $19 one-time, no subscription | Free plan at $0; Pro $10 per month or $96 per year |

## When Raycast is the better choice

Choose Raycast for launching apps, window management, clipboard history, snippets and extensions that connect to services like Slack or Notion. Toolbox has none of these.

Raycast also has a free plan, so you can start without paying.

## When Toolbox is the better choice

Choose Toolbox when the job is a file: shrinking a video, merging PDFs, removing a background or transcribing audio, all on device.

## Frequently asked questions

**Can I use Toolbox and Raycast together?**

Yes. They do not overlap much. Raycast launches things and Toolbox works on files.

**Is Raycast free?**

It has a free plan. Pro adds Raycast AI credits, unlimited clipboard history and cloud sync at $10 per month or $96 per year.

## Tools mentioned

- [**Word Counter**: Count words, characters, sentences and paragraphs as you type, with reading time and the words you use most.](https://mactoolbox.app/word-counter-mac)
- [**Case Converter**: Switch text between UPPERCASE, lowercase, Title Case, camelCase, snake_case, kebab-case and more.](https://mactoolbox.app/case-converter-mac)
- [**Translate**: Translate text, documents and subtitles on device, keeping their formatting and timings.](https://mactoolbox.app/translate-documents-mac)

## Keep reading

- [All guides](https://mactoolbox.app/guides)