Nanolight

Nanolight is a lightweight system launcher and search utility that finds applications, calculates math, and runs extensions.

Nanolight is a fast desktop launcher for macOS, Windows, and Linux built using native Zig. It finds apps as you type, handles typos, ranks frequently used items, and completes queries inline. Users can evaluate mathematical expressions, view Google search suggestions, and inspect search results directly within the panel interface. It also supports Raycast extensions and script commands for extended functionality. Optional account synchronization keeps settings and app launch frequencies updated across multiple computers.

Nanolight at a glance

Best for: Software engineer
Runs on: macOS, Windows, Linux
Pricing: Free
Released: November 2026
Category: AI search engine
Website: github.com/justrach/nanolight

Key features

Finds applications with fuzzy matching and typo tolerance
Completes search queries inline
Calculates mathematical expressions
Displays Google search suggestions and page previews
Runs Raycast extensions and script commands
Syncs settings and usage history across computers
Updates automatically from releases

Use it for

Launching applications quickly using keyboard shortcuts
Evaluating mathematical calculations
Searching the web and viewing pages inside the panel
Running Raycast extensions and script commands

Alternatives to Nanolight

Shlexball — It runs locally on your device to keep files private while searching content.
Gsearch — Runs a real browser over MCP to fetch genuine Google results with zero API keys.
MemFree — It combines hybrid web search with AI summarization and page generation.
SeekStorm — It delivers sub-millisecond lexical and vector search performance in Rust.
Bright Data MCP — Provides an MCP server with access to proxy infrastructure and scraping APIs.
zvec-grep — Unifies ripgrep, BM25, and vector search behind one local-first interface.
PixelRAG — Preserves visual structure like tables and charts that text parsers miss.
DigUp — It searches local files by content and meaning without sending data to the cloud.
Undersheet App — Inspect what search engines, bots, crawlers, and LLMs see on your website.

All Nanolight alternatives