Comparisons
Written plainly, including the things it does not do, because a search tool that overpromises is worse than none.
Builds an index of every filename on every volume, keeps it current, and searches it by scanning rather than querying.
No exclusion list. ~/Library, package contents, caches, system frameworks and drives you have unplugged are all in there.
It does not search inside files. No content indexing at all. That is a real limitation and the reason most people should keep using Spotlight alongside it.
It does not sync. The index is one local file and stays on that Mac.
It is not on the Mac App Store, because a sandboxed app cannot read your filesystem.
The index is two flat arrays in one memory-mapped file — every filename concatenated into a single blob, and a table of fixed-size records beside it. Searching sweeps that blob across every core.
Each keystroke refines the previous result set rather than starting over, so the second letter searches a few hundred records instead of six million. That is why the first keystroke is under 10 ms and every one after is under 2.
Measured figures on a six-million-file index: 31 seconds for the first full scan, 308 MB on disk, under 500 ms to catch up after eight hours closed.
Exact filename matches, then prefix matches, then word-boundary matches, then substring. node_modules, caches and system paths are indexed but demoted, so they appear only when nothing better matches or you ask for them specifically.
⌥Space summons it. ↵ opens, ⌘↵ reveals in Finder, ⌘Y previews, ⌘T opens a Terminal there, ⌘D shows every other copy of a file, ⌘↓ expands to sortable columns, esc dismisses and hands focus back.
$19 once, free for a day first. Activation contacts the payment provider; nothing else does. Thirty-day refund, one email.
No. It indexes filenames only. Spotlight remains the better tool for content search.
The index is memory-mapped — around 308 MB for six million files, and the kernel can evict pages under pressure.
Yes. Searching and indexing never touch the network. Only licence activation does, once.
Everywhere keeps track of every file on your Mac — including the folders Spotlight hides and drives you have unplugged. Free for a day, then $19 once.
Download for Mac