Hob vs Raycast
Hob and Raycast are both personal productivity tools. Hob is aimed at freelancers and small businesses, while Raycast is aimed at developers and freelancers. Both have a free plan.
Free open-source desktop AI coworker that runs models on your computer
Extensible launcher for macOS and Windows
| Pricing | Open source | Freemium · $10 |
| Starting price | Not published | $10/mo |
| Free plan | Yes | Yes |
| Free trial | — | — |
| Built for | Freelancers, Small businesses, Developers | Developers, Freelancers |
| Platforms | macos, windows, linux | macos, windows, ios |
| Country | — | GB · 2020 |
| Rating | — | — |
Choose Hob if
Professionals and small teams who want a Claude-style desktop assistant for files and documents without sending data to the cloud.
- Completely free and MIT licensed with no account
- Chats and files stay on your computer, no telemetry
- Picks and installs a suitable model automatically
Look elsewhere if: Users who need the strongest reasoning or team features, or who have low-memory machines (Claude, ChatGPT).
Choose Raycast if
Mac power users and developers who live on the keyboard.
- Replaces several utilities in one hotkey
- Huge extension ecosystem
- Free tier covers most features
Look elsewhere if: Users content with Spotlight or who rarely use shortcuts.
Hob vs Raycast pricing
Hob
- Free$0MIT licensed, no account, subscription or usage limits
Raycast
- Free$0Launcher, extensions, clipboard history, snippets; no AI
- Pro$10/mo$96/yr; 500 AI credits/mo; team seat $15/user/mo
- Pro+$20/mo$192/yr; 3,000 AI credits/mo, advanced models
- Max$50/mo$480/yr; 7,500 AI credits/mo, advanced models
Hob · Key features
- Automatic hardware check and download of a fitting open-weight model
- Works on attached files or project folders with their own instructions
- Sandboxed Python with pandas, openpyxl and on-demand PyPI packages
- Reads PDFs including scans and fills PDF forms on Mac
- Image understanding with a local Qwen vision model
- Local metasearch web search and on-device dictation
Cons
- Local models are weaker than frontier cloud models on hard tasks
- Needs at least 8 GB RAM and 10 to 25 GB of disk
- PDF form filling is Mac only
Raycast · Key features
- Launcher with fuzzy search and aliases
- Clipboard history, snippets and quicklinks
- Window management and system commands
- Extension store with 2,000+ integrations
- Raycast AI chat, commands and model selection
- Notes, focus sessions and cloud sync (Pro)
Cons
- Mac-first; Windows still maturing
- AI features require Pro
- Some extensions depend on third-party APIs
Hob vs Raycast: FAQ
Do Hob and Raycast have a free plan?
Yes, both Hob and Raycast have a free plan; paid plans add more usage and features.
Which is better for small businesses, Hob or Raycast?
Hob lists small businesses as a core audience, while Raycast is aimed more at developers and freelancers.