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Panehop

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Panehop and the alternatives, honestly

Every switcher on this page is good at something, and one of them is free. Here is what each owns, where Panehop differs, and the table to check it against. Prices and statuses as of 29 August 2026.

Feature comparison between Panehop and other macOS window switchers
CriterionPanehopAltTabWitchrcmdRaycast
Search-to-switch across windowsFuzzy, acronym-weighted, over titlesYesNoPartlyPartlyPartly
Two-keystroke Fast SearchHold a modifier, type, releaseYesNoNoPartlyNo
Per-window ⌘TabYesYesYesNoNo
Window sidebar on every displayAuto-hiding dock of open windowsYesNoNoNoNo
Focus a window on another SpaceYesYesYesYesYes
No Screen Recording permissionYesNoYesYesYes
Actively maintainedYesYesYesYesYes
One-time priceYesYesYesYesPartly
Price$14.99 one-timeFree$14~$10–15Free tier

Yes / Partly / No as marked. Names belong to their owners. If we have a fact wrong, tell support and it will be corrected.

One at a time

What each one owns.

AltTab

What it owns. A Windows-style thumbnail grid for ⌘Tab: press the chord and every window appears as a live preview. Open source (GPL), very actively maintained, with an enormous community and years of per-app edge-case fixes.

Where Panehop differs. Thumbnails need the Screen Recording permission, and macOS asks you to re-authorise it every so often. A grid of pictures also stops scaling once dozens of windows are open. There is no search. You scan pictures instead of typing two characters, and there is no sidebar.

Pick AltTab if you think visually, want live window previews, and prefer a free open-source tool over search-first switching.

Witch

What it owns. The closest keyboard model to Panehop's: per-window lists in most-recently-used order, in-panel search, and deep configurability that has been refined for well over a decade.

Where Panehop differs. Search starts after a panel is open and you have moved into it. There is no hold-a-modifier, type-two-letters path, so the common case costs more keystrokes. No window sidebar either.

Pick Witch if you want maximum knobs and a long track record at the same one-time price, and panel-first switching suits you.

rcmd

What it owns. A genuinely fast idea executed well: hold right-⌘ and press a letter to jump straight to an app, with fuzzy window search available inside it.

Where Panehop differs. It is built around apps. The letter picks an app, and that app's windows come second. Two Safari windows on two projects share one letter. There is no per-window ⌘Tab and no sidebar.

Pick rcmd if you think in apps rather than windows. One memorised letter per app is what it does best.

Raycast

What it owns. The best launcher on the Mac, with window search among its hundreds of abilities, and a generous free tier.

Where Panehop differs. Window switching is a launcher flow: summon Raycast, type into a general-purpose search, pick the window row. That is more keystrokes and more visual parsing than a held modifier and two letters, and there is no per-window ⌘Tab or sidebar.

Pick Raycast alone if you already live in it and switch windows only now and then. The two also run side by side without trouble.