When comparing OS X Launchpad vs Alfred, the Slant community recommends Alfred for most people. In the question“What are the best app launchers for Mac OS X?” Alfred is ranked 1st while OS X Launchpad is ranked 4th. The most important reason people chose Alfred is:
Allows the creation of automated workflows by connecting keywords, hotkeys and actions together without writing code.
Specs
Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking
Pros
Pro Free
Built-in to OS X.
Pro Can add application collections
Pro Design, fade-in animation effect
Pro Searchable
Just start typing to narrow down your search.
Pro Can create custom automated workflows
Allows the creation of automated workflows by connecting keywords, hotkeys and actions together without writing code.
Pro Full keyboard controls
You can do everything using just the keyboard.
Pro Built-in calculator
Alfred is able to handle simple mathematical commands and more extensive expressions alike. Pressing Enter copies the result to the clipboard.
Pro Integrates with 1Password
Alfred allows getting secure and fast access to your 1Password 1Click bookmarks.
Pro Lightweight and smooth
Alfred is a lightweight application for OS X and runs smoothly, even on older devices.
Pro Versatile search
Quickly search for files, applications and web services from the same input.
Pro Productivity booster
Helps speed up your working day one shortcut at a time.
Pro Clipboard history
Alfred offers a clipboard with an extensive history for quick access to your copied text, images and links.
Pro Entry of everything
Pro Allows theming
Alfred allows adjusting colors, fonts, sizes and more to create new themes.
Pro Offers both a free version and a paid version available
The paid version is more customizable, but the free version is still very powerful.
Cons
Con All apps are automatically included, even uninstallers
Con Limited configurability
You can customize a keyboard shortcut to Launchpad but that's about it.
Con Organize and ordering applications is a nightmare
App organisation in Launchpad is the same as the iPad. You can only move one app at a time, if you drop an app on a full page, it will offset all the icons on the pages to the right. As the total of apps could be very important, as all bundles are automatically added by the app, you have to drag each app icon, one after the other, and scroll through the pages, to put it in the wanted location. The difference with the iPad, is that on the iPad this can be done with iTunes.
Con Impossible to find an application by only typing part of the name
Con No expandability
Con Many features require the $25 powerpack add-on
Features like custom workflows, clipboard history, 1Password integrations and others require the powerpack add-on.