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Add to SafariWhen comparing Launchy vs Ulauncher, the Slant community recommends Ulauncher for most people. In the question“What are the best app launchers for UNIX-like systems?” Ulauncher is ranked 3rd while Launchy is ranked 11th. The most important reason people chose Ulauncher is:
Ulauncher comes with very reasonable defaults, looks good and just works.
Specs
Question Ranking
Pros
Pro .deb files available for Debian based distros
For those using Debian based distros Launchy is very easy to install as their website has 32 and 64bit .deb files available. For all other diistros Launchy will have to be compiled from source.
Pro Easily themed with many available on the web
Launchy can be easily themedby placing themes into the Launchy theme folder and then selecting that theme from within the apps settings. There are also many user created themes available which is great for those that want their launcher to match the rest of their OS's theme.
Pro Simple
Ulauncher comes with very reasonable defaults, looks good and just works.
Pro Fast
Pro Allows custom shortcuts
Pro Themeable
ULauncher supports themes and comes with a good supply on install but more can also be made.
Pro Supports fuzzy search
You can enter app name with a typo and Ulauncher will still be able to find it.
Pro Supports extensions in Python
With Ulauncher you can easily add and update third party extensions. From kill process to windows switching, many of them work very well. The extension API is documented and if you know Python you can create and share your own extensions.
Pro Actively maintained
Unlike Albert or others, it is actually being maintained.
Pro Good extension ecosystem
Pro Good look
Ulauncher looks modern & can be customized with many themes.
Pro Direct plugin install from GitHub
Can fork, customize, and install instantly.
Pro Extensions are really easy to write by yourself
Pro Quick search
Pro Able to launch Kdialog, Zenity and Bash scripts
Extensions are easily created. Python script is all open to see. Not compiled like some.
Cons
Con Small selection of plugins
The official plugin page on Launchy's homepage hosts just 11 plugins.
Con Abandoned
Launchy was last updated in 2010.
Con Extensions store is confusing, lots of redundant extensions.
There are dozens of extensions, which is good, but as an average user it is hard to find what you are looking for. It is unclear to me how updating plugins work.
Con Needs more posibilities for extensions
Currently, extensions can run only when you type their alias and <space>. There is no way to see results from multiple extensions at once. The output is also limited just to rows.
Con Does not easily fit into a customized desktop without full GTK3 CSD support
