Comparisons

Everywhere vs Find Any File

Updated 2026-07-31 · 4 min read

These two are the closest comparison in the category, and the difference comes down to one design decision.

The core difference

Find Any File searches live. Each search reads the directory tree directly. Nothing is stored, nothing goes stale, nothing needs maintaining.

Everywhere keeps an index. One scan up front, then FSEvents keeps it current. Searches consult memory rather than the disk.

Everything else follows from that.

What live searching gives you

• Results are true at the instant you search, by construction
• No index to build, corrupt, or rebuild
• No background process
• No memory held permanently

What an index gives you

• Results between keystrokes rather than after a pause
• Refinement is nearly free — the second letter searches the first letter's results
• Sorting and filtering by size or date across everything, instantly
• Volumes that are unplugged stay searchable

Where each is better

Find Any File is the better answer when you search rarely, want nothing running in the background, and do not mind waiting a few seconds. It is also cheaper, at around $8.

Everywhere is better when you search constantly, when the wait is the thing that stops you using search at all, or when you need drives that are not attached.

Both beat Spotlight at completeness

Neither has an exclusion list. Both will find things in ~/Library and inside packages. If that is your specific problem, either solves it — pick on speed versus simplicity.

Trying them

Find Any File has a trial; Everywhere is free for a day. On a machine with a large disk, the difference in feel is obvious within a minute of using both.

Common questions

Which finds more files?

Neither excludes anything by design. Find Any File reads the disk live; Everywhere's index covers everything and keeps unmounted volumes as well.

Does an index use a lot of memory?

Everywhere's is memory-mapped — roughly 308 MB for six million files, and the kernel can evict it under pressure.